Chief Finance and Commercial Officer

• Details
• Reference number
• 475828
• Salary
• £100,000 - £162,500
• A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

GBP

• Job grade
• SCS Pay Band 2
• Contract type
• Permanent
• Business area
• MHRA - Corporate Group
• Type of role
• Commercial
• Corporate Finance
• Working pattern
• Full-time
• Number of jobs available
• 1
• Contents

• Location
• About the job
• Benefits
• Things you need to know
• Apply and further information

Location

10 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London, E14 4PU

About the job

Job summary

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is the UK’s sovereign regulator for medicines, biological medicines, medical devices and blood products. As an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care, it plays a vital role in protecting and improving public health, ensuring that healthcare products meet the highest standards of safety, quality and effectiveness. Operating at the heart of the UK’s health and life sciences ecosystem, the Agency supports innovation, enables access to safe and effective products, and works extensively with partners across the UK and internationally. Funded primarily through fee-generating activities, products and services, MHRA combines scientific excellence, regulatory expertise and public accountability in pursuit of its mission to keep patients and the public safe.

MHRA is now seeking an outstanding Chief Finance and Commercial Officer to join its Executive Committee and Unitary Board. Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, this highly influential role will provide strategic leadership across commercial, finance, estates and infrastructure. The postholder will act as a trusted adviser on financial stewardship, commercial strategy and organisational sustainability, ensuring that the Agency’s business model supports the delivery of its regulatory responsibilities while enabling long-term growth and investment. Leading a directorate of approximately 80 colleagues, the Chief Finance and Commercial Officer will oversee ambitious commercial and fee reform programmes, shape revenue generation and procurement strategies, provide assurance on financial performance and risk, and guide the future development of key laboratory and estate infrastructure, including nationally significant facilities.

Job description

The successful candidate will be a qualified accountant with substantial senior leadership experience gained in a complex, highly regulated environment, ideally within central government or a similarly demanding setting. They will bring a strong track record in strategic financial management, commercial leadership and organisational transformation, alongside experience of managing diverse funding streams, income generation and major procurement activity. Equally important will be the ability to influence at Board and Executive level, build trusted relationships across government and industry, and communicate complex financial issues with clarity and insight. A collaborative and credible leader, they will share MHRA’s commitment to public service, innovation and organisational excellence.

Commercial:

• Responsible for leading and delivering the Agency’s commercial strategy and revenue growth in collaboration with Executive Committee members
• Trusted senior commercial advisor to colleagues at the early stages of policy exploration to test commercial opportunities and arrangements.
• Play a key leadership and change management role in developing a strong commercial function for the Agency and across government

Financial:

• Serve as a strategic finance partner to the Chief Executive Officer/Accounting Officer
• Responsible for managing the Agency’s financial strategic aims, operations and risk. Including the Agency’s medium- and long-term commercial and financial plans and forecasts.

Estate leadership of Infrastructure and Laboratory services:

• Accountable for the strategic management, maintenance and development of the Agency’s estates and facilities, ensuring compliance, efficiency and value, including the provision of on site security.
• Lead on the development of our Future Laboratory requirements, including the investment and location options
• Work across government to ensure the Laboratory Services site, which is a strategic National Infrastructure location, has the right cross government profile that protects the services it delivers

Leadership and Stakeholder Management:

• Lead, grow and develop a team of high performing professionals who are true partners to the business.
• As a key member of the Agency’s senior leadership team, you will play an active role in supporting the leadership and management of the directorate, shaping its development, driving growth and embedding its vision and values to create a supportive working environment for all.
• Ensure a team development plan is in place that creates a high performing, business focused team, committed to supporting MHRA and its leaders in delivering the business objectives.

For full details about the role please read the Candidate Pack available via the link provided. Saxton Bampfylde Ltd is acting as an employment agency advisor to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on this appointment.

Person specification

It is essential that the CV and personal statement provide evidence and examples of your experience in each of the essential criteria listed below and the main duties of the role listed in the previous section: •

A qualified accountant with a substantial track record of success as a senior finance leader in a fast-moving, highly complex central government or similarly regulated operating environment with a range of funding streams including income generation.

• A strategic commercial leader with experience of driving innovation and delivering overall best value for money, by leading teams in a regulated end-to-end commercial and procurement environment, utilising Public or Utilities Contract Regulations.

• Experience of influencing decisions at senior levels, building effective relationships with key stakeholders and suppliers within a highly complex, fast moving, commercial and financial focused environment.

• Experience of navigating and influencing confidently and challenging effectively at executive and board level, and throughout the organisation; uses strong analytical skills and the ability to add insight to communicate complex financial positions clearly and compellingly to senior internal and external stakeholders and the wider organisation.

• Experience in the development of commercial strategies for high value/risk, critical/complex procurements and playing a leading role in the negotiation, implementation and end to end delivery of these.

Qualifications

Candidates must hold at least one of the following accounting qualifications with significant post qualification experience:

• • Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
• • Consultancy Committee of Accountancy Bodies (CCAB)
• • Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)
• • Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA)
• • Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £100,000, Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency contributes £28,970 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides .

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

Saxton Bampfylde Ltd is acting as an employment agency advisor to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on this appointment. Candidates should apply for this role through Candidate Opportunities using code ACAMA. The closing date for applications is 12:00 (Midday) on Monday 7th September 2026 .

Click on the ‘apply’ button and follow the instructions to complete the online equal opportunities monitoring form* and submit your application, providing the documents outlined below:

A two-page CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years;

A Statement of Suitability (no more than 1200 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the criteria listed in the person specification.

Shortlist

You will receive an acknowledgment of your application through the online process. The panel will then assess your application to select those demonstrating the best fit with the post by considering the evidence you have provided against the essential criteria within the person specification. Failure to address any or all of these may affect your application. The indicative timeline in this pack indicates the date by which decisions are expected to be made, and all shortlisted candidates will

be advised of the outcome as soon as possible thereafter.

Assessment

If you are shortlisted, you will be asked to take part in a series of assessments which could include a stakeholder engagement exercise and a short presentation or a scenario-based exercise at the interview. These assessments will not result in a pass or fail decision. Rather, they are designed to support the panel’s decision making and highlight areas for the panel to explore further at the panel interview. Full details of the assessment process will be made available to shortlisted candidates.

Interview

The panel interview will be a more in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence in relation to the criteria set out in the Person Specification and will also include a presentation.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check .

See our vetting charter .

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles .

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy .

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Saxton Bampfylde Ltd
• Email : neve.oliver@saxbam.com

Recruitment team

• Email : neve.oliver@saxbam.com

Further information

In accordance with the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles our recruitment and selection processes are underpinned by the requirement of selection for appointment on the basis of merit by a fair and open competition. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact the Resourcing Team at Careers@mhra.gov.uk, in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive you can contact the Civil Service Commission at: civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk - info@csc.gov.uk - Civil Service Commission Room G/8 1 Horse Guards Road London SW1A 2HQ