Lead Commercial Manager

Job Title Lead Commercial Manager
Salary Range Range 6 - PSC
Depot / Department Procurement and Supply Chain
Section / Team Supplier Management
Reports to (job title) Head of Commercial Management
Direct reports (job title(s) Commercial Managers
Commercial Assistants

Overall Purpose of job
The overall purpose of this role is to provide strategic leadership and commercial management across SGN's Supplier Management function, ensuring effective governance, performance and value delivery from strategic suppliers and contractors.
The key responsibilities of the role are:
Leading and developing a team of commercial and supplier management professionals.
Providing commercial leadership across SGN's strategic and long-term contracts.
Developing and implementing commercial strategies to support business objectives and operational delivery.
Driving value engineering and continuous improvement initiatives across the supply chain.
Ensuring robust commercial governance, contract administration and risk management.
Managing complex contractual matters including change control, disputes and supplier performance.
Supporting procurement activities, tender development and onboarding of new contracts.
Developing commercial policies, processes and standards across the function.
Providing commercial advice and support to senior business stakeholders.
Supporting business performance through effective supplier relationship management and contract management practices.
Expertise
The technical skills and job knowledge/experience essential in this role are:
Extensive experience in commercial management, contract management, procurement or quantity surveying environments.
Strong understanding of NEC3/NEC4 contracts and bespoke commercial agreements.
Significant experience managing strategic suppliers and high-value contracts.
Strong commercial, financial and risk management capability.
Experience leading and developing high-performing teams.
Ability to manage complex commercial negotiations and dispute resolution activities.
Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills.
Experience operating within regulated, infrastructure, utility or construction environments.
Strong understanding of commercial governance, contract administration and supplier performance management.
Strong IT skills, including Microsoft Office and commercial management systems.
The following qualifications and experience are desirable:
Degree qualification in Quantity Surveying, Commercial Management, Procurement, Law or related discipline.
Professional membership or accreditation such as CIPS, RICS or NEC accreditation.
Experience within utilities, infrastructure or regulated industries.
Complexity
The typical problems encountered in this role range from strategic commercial decisions through to complex contractual, supplier and operational issues requiring significant judgement and leadership.
Examples include:
Developing and implementing commercial and supplier management strategies.
Managing commercial risk across strategic contracts and supplier portfolios.
Resolving complex contractual disputes and commercial escalations.
Balancing commercial, operational, regulatory and customer requirements.
Leading value engineering and cost optimisation initiatives.
Supporting procurement and tendering activities for major projects and frameworks.
Driving organisational change and process improvement initiatives.
Providing commercial leadership on high-value and business-critical projects.
The role requires strategic thinking, commercial judgement, leadership capability and the ability to influence senior stakeholders whilst managing competing priorities.
Impact
The role has significant impact on SGN's commercial performance, operational delivery, supplier relationships and risk exposure.
Decisions made within the role can influence:
Multi-million-pound contract expenditure and value creation.
Supplier and contractor performance.
Operational continuity and delivery performance.
Regulatory compliance and governance.
Commercial risk and dispute exposure.
Business efficiency and value for money outcomes.
Reputation and stakeholder confidence.
The role directly contributes to SGN's strategic objectives through effective supplier management, commercial governance and delivery of sustainable commercial outcomes.

Influence
The job holder interacts regularly with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders including:
Business Directors
Operations Leadership Teams
Procurement
Finance
Legal
Health & Safety
Engineering and Network Teams
Contractors and Suppliers
External Industry Bodies
The role requires the ability to:
Influence senior stakeholders and business leaders.
Build effective supplier and stakeholder relationships.
Lead complex commercial negotiations.
Challenge constructively and drive decision making.
Communicate commercial and contractual matters clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.
Represent SGN professionally in strategic supplier and stakeholder engagements.
Resource
The job holder leads the Supplier Management team and is responsible for:
Team leadership and development.
Work allocation and resource planning.
Performance and capability management.
Recruitment, onboarding and succession planning.
Coaching and mentoring commercial professionals.
Driving consistency, governance and continuous improvement.
Developing commercial capability, standards and best practice across the wider function.
The role holder is accountable for ensuring the Supplier Management function delivers effective commercial governance, supplier performance and value outcomes for SGN.