Menu
Departments
Back to main menu
Professions
Back to main menu
Life in the Civil Service
Back to main menu

The Civil Service

What do Civil Servants say?

Entry Routes
Back to main menu

Early Careers

Experienced Hires

Supported Schemes

Application Guidance
Back to main menu

Applying for a Job

Supporting your Application

Try our career matcher
Apply for jobs
About The GCF

Our people at
Government Commercial Function

Our results speak volumes.

Our team is passionate about their work. They’re on a unique trajectory, ensuring the Government Commercial Function is the best commercial function in the UK – and we’ve got the stories to prove it.

We’re a great place to work. Our projects are highly varied. Our workplaces are supportive. Every member of our team is on a valuable learning curve. We’re all involved in the types of tasks that are ideally suited to commercially-savvy individuals. In short, we can offer a workplace like no other. Don’t just take our word for it – here are just a few examples of what we’ve achieved recently…

Meet Our People

Meet our people


“In my wildest dreams, I never imagined I would be chartering planes and bringing home British nationals through a global pandemic”


Rakhee Dave-Shah

Deputy Director Complex Transactions at Government Commercial Organisation

What inspired you to work for the civil service?
My journey into the civil service was driven by a desire to be involved in meaningful and ethical work. In October 2019, I received an exciting offer at the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office, it would give me global experience & exposure and a generous benefits package. 

What is the most interesting project you have been a part of in your role?
In March 2020, Covid-19 hit, I received an urgent call from the FCDO Chief Commercial Officer Tracey Williamson: “We have thousands of British nationals stranded across the globe, planes aren’t flying, we need to bring them home”. Alongside Tracey Williamson, I set up a Covid Response Repatriation operation. The next 3 months of my life grew into a huge initiative to bring British nationals back home.  We had the first flight out of Ghana to bring back nationals.

In my wildest dreams I did not think I’d be doing this, I am so grateful that I took the job in the Government Commercial Organisation.


What are you most excited about for the future of GCO?
GCO has created a really amazing thing in the centre of government. It is a professional function that delivers incredible work for government departments and the delivery shows for itself. It has a pivotal role as a cross departmental function in the centre of Government to work as part of a mission-driven government and deliver the 5 Missions.

What inspired you to want to work for the Civil Service/ Government?
The work done here in Civil Service affects us all, what happens in Government truly does affect everyone in the country. To be able to play a part in bringing better and effective services to society really enticed me into a career at GCO, I knew it would give me enrichment in my role and my work.

What is the most interesting project you have been a part of in your role?
One of the projects that stick out to me is the Scallop Disco Pot trial. This project involved creating a bespoke piece of fishing equipment that uses LED lights to attract scallops and adheres to Defra’s commitment for more sustainable fishing practices.

We ensured that the contract delivered the best value for money, we managed to deliver 1,5000 bespoke scallop traps for the project. The project
aligned with environmental goals that will drive industry-wide change. 

How does the GCO support you in your development?
I have nothing but positive things to say about GCO. There is a huge portfolio of support available. Soon after joining GCF I started a funded training program for accredited commercial leads that enhanced my communication and negotiation skills.

The mentoring scheme is a great product the GCO has created. I have now joined the mentoring scheme as a mentee.I actually still keep in touch with my mentee, 18 months on, and we have become friends- we talk monthly and help each other through. 

My development as a procurement professional has gone 0-100, recently I achieved my Fellowships for CIPS, thanks to the support and opportunities provided by GCO. Here I have the freedom to volunteer in culture and wellbeing groups and work on D&I strategies to make us a better employer.

“I can happily say that the decision has worked out well for me since joining GCO in September 2021.”

David Stack


Senior Category Manager Research & Development at Government Commercial Organisation

Home page

Back to the homepage

About us

About the GCF

How to apply

How to apply to GCF

Rewards and benefits

Why work in GCF

See vacancies in GCF