Assistant Capability Manager

Key Information

Job title: Assistant Capability Manager – Commercial Capability
Salary: Circa £41,000
Grade: Band 2 Contract type: TfL Reference: 6111
Team: Procurement & Commercial [AK1.1]Directorate: Chief Financial Officer
Contract details: Combination Location: Palestra, with hybrid working
Hybrid working within this role enables a balance of 50 per cent of time split between the office and home over a 4-week period. Hybrid working arrangements can evolve subject to business requirements

Application closing date: 15 November 2026 @ 2359

All offers of employment are subject to satisfactory right‑to‑work checks. Candidates must be able to demonstrate their right to work in the UK. At the present time TfL is unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role.

Overview of project/role

Help shape the future of London’s transport

London is a world-class city, home to 8.6 million people and visited by millions more each year. Keeping the capital moving safely, efficiently and sustainably is a complex challenge - one that depends on smart commercial decisions, strong supplier relationships and appropriate, effective procurement options.

Join our Procurement and Commercial team

Our Procurement and Commercial (P&C) team plays a vital role in meeting this challenge, making a positive and lasting impact across TfL assets and services, suppliers and markets. Through effective sourcing and strong collaboration, we help move London forward safely, sustainably and inclusively. We give our people the opportunity to make a real difference while growing their procurement and commercial careers in a supportive environment. Our new category-led operating model brings a more agile way of working, enabling colleagues to broaden their experience and progress their careers. We offer clear career progression opportunities, a strong focus on inclusivity and diversity, and a culture that recognises the importance of a healthy work-life balance.

Deliver commercial excellence for London

Join us and you’ll play a pivotal role in enhancing the commercial strength and people capability of our P&C team. You’ll drive the development and continuous improvement of commercial capability, ensuring our people have the skills, tools and confidence to deliver high quality commercial outcomes. Operating within the P&C capability framework, you’ll design and refine commercial processes, guidance and tools that are practical, user friendly and aligned to wider TfL processes.

As an Assistant Capability Manager, you'll support the development, delivery and continuous improvement of Procurement & Commercial (P&C) capability across a designated area of the P&C management framework. Working closely with a Capability Manager, you'll help ensure capability processes remain effective, relevant and aligned to business needs.

Key Accountabilities

• Support continuous improvement activities by identifying opportunities to enhance Procurement & Commercial capability processes, translating requirements into practical and sustainable solutions
• Contribute to capability development through the creation and ongoing improvement of training materials, standards, guidance and knowledge-sharing activities that promote commercial best practice across the organisation
• Support communication and change activities by preparing clear and timely communications, engaging stakeholders through a variety of channels, and helping to embed process and capability improvements
• Maintain capability performance reporting by monitoring key metrics, producing dashboards and reports, and highlighting compliance trends, risks and areas of non-conformance to support informed decision-making
• Analyse data and insights to identify trends, evaluate process effectiveness, develop recommendations and support the delivery of improvement plans
• Collaborate with stakeholders across TfL to resolve process challenges, improve efficiency and effectiveness, and ensure capability processes remain aligned with business needs
• Support the development of data quality standards and best practice by working with Capability Managers to improve the quality, consistency and value of management information and insights
• Build effective working relationships across Procurement & Commercial, Business Services, Tech & Data, and wider stakeholder communities to support the successful delivery of capability objectives
• Conduct benchmarking and research activities to identify external best practice, assess process performance and support the continuous enhancement of capability frameworks, tools and approaches

Skills, Knowledge & Experience

Skills

• Good ability to understand the stakeholder landscape and manage and influence senior stakeholders (Essential)
• Excellent ability to communicate and engage with a range of stakeholders, verbally and in writing (Essential)
• Excellent ability to organise, prioritise, plan and deliver projects and workstreams (Essential)
• Excellent ability to present data in an easily understandable format that drives action (Essential)
• Proven ability to build strong and effective relationships (Essential)
• Computer literate and experienced in use of standard spreadsheet and word processing software packages (Essential)
• Good commercial acumen and the ability to apply this to practical situations (Essential)

Knowledge

• Knowledge of procurement and commercial lifecycle, including forms of contract and current public sector regulations (Essential)
• Understanding of process analysis, design, implementation, monitoring and improvement (Essential)
• Understanding of business process management (Essential)
• Knowledge of continuous improvement methodologies (Essential)
• Good knowledge of designated capability area (Highly Desirable)
• Good knowledge of best practice for their designated process, including how other organisations do this (Highly Desirable)

Experience

• Experience supporting projects in accordance with agreed specifications, delegations and timelines (Essential)
• Experience of global process ownership, advisory, and controls (Essential)
• Experience of working in CAPEX and OPEX environments (Essential)
• Experience or understanding of the development of commercial capability (Highly Desirable)
• Experience of commercial capability services across categories (Highly Desirable)
• Experience in the infrastructure sector (Desirable)

Additional information

Interviews for this role are expected to take place during the week commencing 11 January 2027.

Application Process

Thinking of using AI for your application?

AI can help, but over-reliance often makes applications sound generic and less personal. We want to get to know you - let your own voice and experiences come through in your application.

• Please apply using your CV only – cover letters will not be considered
• Think carefully about the skills, knowledge and experience in the advert and cover this in your CV
• PDF format preferred and do not include any photographs or images

Equality, diversity and inclusion

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and aim to reflect the diverse communities we serve. We believe that a diverse workforce enables us to deliver better services and outcomes. Our goal is to make our recruitment as inclusive as possible. As a Disability Confident Leader, we actively encourage applications from disabled people. As part of the Disability Confident scheme, we aim to offer an assessment or interview to candidates who apply via the scheme where the minimum essential criteria for skills, knowledge and experience have been met. In some circumstances, it may not be practical to offer an interview or assessment to every candidate who applies through the scheme and meet the minimum essential criteria; in these situations, we select candidates who best meet the minimum criteria for the job rather than interviewing all who meet them.

Across all recruitment activity, we recognise that selection methods may vary depending on the nature and scale of the campaign and will be applied fairly, consistently and proportionately in line with our Disability Confident commitments.

Benefits

In return for your commitment and expertise, you will enjoy excellent benefits and scope to grow. Rewards vary according to the level of role but mostly include the below:

• Final salary pension scheme
• Free travel for you on the TfL network
• Reimbursement of 75% of the cost of a standard class Ticket for National Rail travel from home
• 30 days annual leave plus public and bank holidays
• TfL is committed to work-life balance, operating a hybrid working approach where business and role requirements allow
• Private healthcare discounted scheme (optional)
• Tax-efficient cycle-to-work programme
• Retail, health, leisure and travel offers
• Discounted Eurostar travel

We will make every effort to give you as much notice as possible, however some interviews/assessments could be organised at short notice.

Vetting Process

At Transport for London, safety, trust and fairness sit at the heart of how we recruit. Our Vetting Charter (https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/careers/our-vetting-process) explains the checks we carry out before you join us, helping ensure we create a safe, inclusive and reliable network for everyone who depends on our services. We simply ask that the information you provide is honest and accurate so we can progress your application smoothly. If something doesn’t match or can’t be verified, we may not be able to move forward with your application, but we’ll always treat you with transparency, respect, and clear communication throughout.