Job Description

About Our Client

Our client is a global engineering, procurement, and construction company specializing in high-tech facilities for advanced industrial and technology sectors.

The Senior Commercial Manager is a project-based leadership role overseeing commercial governance, risk management, and financial performance for large-scale, multi-billion-dollar projects. This role ensures robust commercial execution from bid development through project delivery, focusing on maximizing cash generation, margin protection, and dispute avoidance. The manager champions standardized frameworks, digital tools, and talent development to achieve on-time, on-budget, and on-margin project delivery.

Key Responsibilities

• Support pre-submission reviews of tender documents for commercial aspects, ensuring alignment with business objectives and risk appetite.
• Provide expert support for commercial inputs in bid proposal submissions.
• Lead comprehensive risk and opportunity analyses for commercial, financial, and fiscal components of tender proposals.
• Partner with cross-functional teams (legal, finance, technical) to optimize bid positioning and contractual frameworks.
• Ensure structured analysis of key contractual deviations and provide recommendations to senior management.
• Accountable for end-to-end commercial performance across the assigned project.
• Oversee all post-contract commercial functions, including:
• Prime Contract Management.
• Change Management (including estimating).
• Claims Management (including strategy ownership, steering external experts, executive-level reviews, early dispute avoidance, and settlement strategies).
• Cost Control and forecasting.
• Procurement and Subcontract Management (including packaging strategy, governance, long-lead equipment, supply chain risk, and early award recommendations).
• Cash Leadership (including client billing strategy, certification management, working capital optimization, payment collection, and retention recovery).
• Ensure disciplined commercial governance frameworks are consistently applied.
• Safeguard contractual rights and manage obligations to optimize commercial outcomes.
• Lead monthly commercial project management and cost control reviews with the Project Director/Manager.
• Oversee and drive consistent reporting standards for cash flow, cost/value forecasting, budget setting/tracking, and risk/opportunity identification.
• Ensure alignment between project forecasts and overall business financial targets.
• Drive capability building, standardization, and continuous improvement within the function.
• Collaborate on workforce planning for commercial, subcontract management, and cost control.
• Develop succession planning and talent pipelines, coaching future Commercial Managers.
• Establish and maintain healthy client relationships, ensuring professional engagement and trust.
• Review and ensure contractual obligations are fulfilled while protecting the company’s commercial and legal position.
• Act as a Client escalation point for high-value commercial matters, complex disputes, and negotiations.
• Provide leadership and oversight across the project commercial team.
• Drive consistency in forecasting, reporting, and internal business reviews.
• Lead reviews and tracking of project commercial and schedule performance.
• Promote a culture of accountability, transparency, and proactive risk management.
• Adopt, use, and maintain company standardized reporting and forecasting tools.
• Ensure data accuracy, transparency, and consistency across the project.
• Promote the use of dashboards for real-time commercial insights.
• Partner with Project Controls (Planning & Scheduling) teams to align commercial strategy with the critical path.
• Assess and manage schedule-related commercial exposure.
• Lead commercial assessment of acceleration, disruption, and delay events.
• Ensure change and claims strategies support program recovery objectives.
• Ensure effective internal and corporate communication.
• Oversee compliance and follow-up of all commercial project aspects.
• Influence clients, partners, and senior stakeholders to achieve commercial objectives.
• Anticipate commercial risks and opportunities well in advance.
• Successfully lead complex, high-value negotiations.
• Lead teams through rapidly changing project environments.

Requirements

• 20+ years of senior commercial, contracts, and project leadership experience within EPC, infrastructure, utilities, construction, and development environments.
• Chartered Quantity Surveyor (MRICS) with a strong foundation in Quantity Surveying, Commercial Management, and Contract Administration.
• Extensive experience in large-scale EPC / EPCC / PPP / BOT / BOOT / DBO projects.
• Proven track record in joint venture (JV), consortium, and partnership formation, including alignment of commercial frameworks and stakeholder interests.
• Strong experience supporting projects from bid stage through project execution and close-out, not just post-award delivery.
• Commercial strategy and contract management leadership, covering both upstream client contracts and downstream subcontractor arrangements.
• Hands-on experience in change management, claims management, and dispute avoidance strategies.
• Experience leading and managing complex commercial disputes, arbitrations, and settlement negotiations across multiple jurisdictions.
• Familiarity with international arbitration, including involvement in formal proceedings and dispute resolution processes.
• Exposure to project financing and financial close activities, particularly for PPP and concession-based projects.
• Strong stakeholder management with the ability to engage clients, JV partners, lenders, legal advisors, government agencies, and senior steering committees.
• Experience across multiple geographies including Singapore, Middle East (Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia), Malaysia, UK, USA, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Philippines.