Job Description

Commercial Manager (Contract) or Contracts Manager (Contract)

PCD270042

Contract Details
Hybrid working, City location, 6-month contract, £450 per day, IR35: Inside (Umbrella).

Role Purpose
This role owns the full commercial lifecycle across supplier contracts, supporting delivery teams to move at pace while protecting margin, reducing commercial leakage, and managing contractual risk. You will act as the commercial lead across contract mobilisation, governance, change control, variations, claims, and supplier performance, ensuring the organisation maintains control over cost, scope, obligations, and outcomes. The environment is fast-moving and stakeholder-heavy, so you will need strong judgement, confidence to challenge, and the ability to turn contract detail into practical, executable actions.

Responsibilities
You will manage contract governance, ensuring contractual obligations, approvals, and compliance requirements are understood and followed, and that commercial decisions are documented and audit-ready. You will take ownership of change control, leading contract variations from early identification through assessment, negotiation, approval, and implementation, ensuring pricing, scope, delivery impact, and dependencies are transparent. You will develop and negotiate commercial positions with suppliers, protecting the business from unfavourable terms and ensuring value for money, while maintaining constructive supplier relationships. Where required, you will manage claims, disputes, and settlement discussions, working closely with delivery, procurement, finance, and legal teams to resolve issues efficiently and minimise commercial exposure.

You will oversee supplier performance management, tracking supplier delivery against KPIs, SLAs, milestones, and contractual commitments, and escalating non-performance where needed. You will ensure risks, assumptions, and dependencies are visible, actively managed, and reflected in commercial reporting and governance forums. You will support procurement and tender activities, contributing to sourcing strategy, tender documentation, bid evaluation, clarification questions, and contract award recommendations, and you will lead or support supplier mobilisation to ensure a smooth handover into delivery. You will produce clear commercial reporting for leadership, covering contract status, financial exposure, variation pipeline, supplier performance, key risks, and decisions required.

Required Experience
You will have a strong background as a Commercial Manager or Contracts Manager within complex delivery environments, with hands-on experience managing supplier contracts through the full lifecycle. You will be confident interpreting and applying contract terms, leading negotiations, and managing change control and variations. You will have strong stakeholder management skills, able to influence delivery teams, procurement, finance, and legal stakeholders, and you will be comfortable challenging positions that create unacceptable commercial risk. Experience working in regulated or governance-led environments is beneficial, as is familiarity with structured contract governance and reporting routines.