Commercial Contract Specialist Lead

TfGM; Manchester; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading regional transport authority in Manchester seeks a Commercial Contract Specialist Lead to oversee contractual arrangements for major capital projects, improving transportation infrastructure across the region. The ideal candidate must have extensive commercial and contract management experience, particularly in complex negotiations and stakeholder engagement. This role offers a salary of £70,906-£79,805 and generous benefits including flexible working options and free travel across Greater Manchester.

Benefits

28 days annual leave, increased with service

Free travel on buses and rail across Greater Manchester

Local Government pension scheme

Enhanced family-friendly leave policies

Qualifications

• Experience within the public sector or transport industry is advantageous.
• Ability to communicate complex issues simply to key stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Oversee specialist contractual arrangements for capital programme delivery.
• Collaborate with internal teams, contractors, and consultants.
• Lead on complex contract management issues.

Skills

Extensive experience in commercial and contract management for major capital projects

Proven ability to lead on complex contract negotiations

Strong stakeholder management and communication skills

Experience in developing procurement strategies

Ability to distil complex issues

Experience in team management

Knowledge of legal implications surrounding contract management

Education

Educated to degree level in a relevant subject

Postgraduate or professional body qualification (such as MRICS or CiArb)

Job description

Lead Commercial Excellence in Major Transport Projects Shape Greater Manchester’s Future

Are you a senior commercial and contract management professional ready to make a region-wide impact? Join TfGM as our Commercial Contract Specialist Lead and play a pivotal role in delivering innovative, high-profile infrastructure projects that improve lives across Greater Manchester.

Your Role

As Commercial Contract Specialist Lead, you will oversee specialist contractual arrangements for the delivery of our capital programme. This includes working across a diverse and evolving portfolio, from major transport infrastructure such as Metrolink and interchanges, to emerging priorities like reducing congestion, improving air quality, and promoting active travel.

You will collaborate with internal teams, contractors, consultants, and district partners to ensure contract formation, application, and resolution are managed to realise optimal value and benefits. You will lead on complex contract management issues, providing recommendations to senior management, and ensuring best practice throughout the project lifecycle.

For more info see Job Profile below.

Who are we?

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) delivers a wide range of projects, from traditional transport construction such as Metrolink, interchanges, rail stations, highways, and bus priority, to innovative solutions addressing congestion, air quality, and active travel!

As part of the TfGM Commercial Services team, you will be integral to the Capital Delivery of the Infrastructure Pipeline, ensuring contract issues are managed effectively throughout each project.

What you’ll bring

What you do and how you do it is important whatever type of role you work in at TfGM and even small behaviours and actions can have a really big impact. At TfGM, our behaviours bring to life our values of Deliver, Care and Adapt.

We are looking for someone who can demonstrate the following :

• Extensive experience in commercial and contract management for major capital projects.
• Proven ability to lead on complex contract negotiations, dispute mitigation, and resolution.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to build and maintain relationships of trust with contractors, consultants, and internal and external partners.
• Experience in developing procurement strategies, tender and contract formation, and negotiation of contractual matters across a range of construction contracts, including NEC and bespoke forms.
• Ability to distil complex issues and communicate them simply to key stakeholders.
• Experience in team management within a commercially and financially challenging environment.
• Educated to degree level (or equivalent vocational qualification) in a relevant subject; a postgraduate or professional body qualification (such as MRICS or CiArb) is desirable.
• Experience within the public sector or transport industry, and knowledge of legal implications surrounding contract management, are advantageous.

What we can offer you

This is a permanent contract with a salary of £70,906-£79,805 per annum

At TfGM we encourage candidates to discuss flexible working options at any stage of the recruitment process. We are happy to #talkflexibleworking to help colleagues maintain a healthy work life balance.

Our benefits include :

• Generous annual leave starting at 28 days (plus bank holidays), increasing with service, with options to buy more.
• Free travel on buses across Greater Manchester, plus rail or Metrolink travel to and from work.
• Local Government defined pension scheme with life cover of 3x salary and options to boost your contributions.
• Enhanced family-friendly leave policies, including those supporting fertility treatment, alongside flexible and hybrid working and a special leave policy to support a range of unexpected events. Please note that qualification criteria may apply, including a requirement to have been employed with the organisation for a minimum specified period of time.
• Discover more benefits including wellbeing support, Personal and Career Development, Flexible working, financial support and more on our website

What's next?

If you believe you have the skills and experience required, we’d really like to hear from you!

To apply please submit your CV and complete your application ensuring that you provide clear examples against the criteria questions, all appointments will be based on merit. Our short-listing process is anonymised, so please do not include your name or contact details on your CV. If any personal details are included these will be visible to the hiring manager.

We embrace AI to enhance our operations and to innovate our services. However, we value human talent and are looking for passionate individuals to join our organisation. Please ensure you personally complete your application and read all the instructions carefully to maximise your chances of success.

Applications that rely too heavily on AI may be rejected during shortlisting, however we understand that AI may be used as a reasonable adjustment, if using AI to support your application, please give a brief explanation why to help ensure fair selection process.

If you have completed the GM Elevate (Leadership Development) Programme, please indicate this within your application

TfGM is proud to be an equal opportunities employer that encourages and celebrates diversity. We want to recruit and retain a workforce that reflects the communities we serve and welcome individuals from all backgrounds by committing to providing a fully inclusive and accessible recruitment process. We will offer support and reasonable adjustments if required and we also have a Guaranteed Assessment Scheme which you can find out more information on here .

For this opportunity, you must be able to prove you have the right to work in the UK - if in doubt please visit the following link Employers' right to work checklist - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) . Please note we are not a licensed sponsor.

Please note we may close the advert early if we receive a high volume of applications.

NOTE TO AGENCIES we will be accepting direct applications only for this role. No fee will be paid if a candidate is hired for this position as a result of an unsolicited agency or search firm referral CV.