Commercial Manager

The Crowd; Greater London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

The Crowd, a prestigious architecture and design practice, is seeking a Commercial Manager to join its London team. This full-time, office-based role will drive commercial management, business development and project delivery across the EMEA region.

You will develop robust fee proposals, support the commercial strategy, assess tender information and shape pricing while working with UK and international studios. The position offers a collaborative culture and opportunities for career growth.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in commercial management or bidding in architecture/design
• Ability to interpret tender information and translate into fee/resource requirements
• Strong budgeting, pricing and financial modelling skills
• Experience with risks assessment and contract considerations
• Excellent written proposals and documentation skills
• Highly organised with multiple proposals and deadlines
• Proactive ownership and collaboration with BD, Legal and project teams
• Advanced MS Office/Adobe tools proficiency

Responsibilities

• Lead the preparation of commercial proposals and fee submissions for new opportunities and services
• Assess tender information to define scope, programme, deliverables and commercial expectations
• Shape fee structures and resourcing with project teams
• Identify commercial and contractual issues early and propose practical solutions
• Review pricing, fee models and supporting data before submission
• Maintain accurate commercial records across internal project systems
• Collaborate with BD, Studio Leads, Legal and Project Controlling to resolve queries
• Support client negotiations and contract documentation
• Transition successful bids to project delivery
• Develop internal commercial resources and pricing tools

Skills

Commercial management

Fee proposals

Bid/tendering

Budgeting

Pricing models

Risk assessment

Project controls

Stakeholder management

Organisational skills

Communication skills

Proposal writing

Tools

Excel

Word

InDesign

Acrobat

Job description

The Crowd is working with a prestigious, internationally recognised architecture and design practice to appoint a Commercial Manager to join its London team. This is a full-time, office-based position with a key role across commercial management, business development, and project delivery. The successful candidate will be responsible for developing robust fee proposals and supporting the commercial strategy behind both new and existing opportunities.

Working closely with Business Development, Legal, Project Controlling and project teams in the UK and international studios, you’ll play an important role throughout the bid process, from initial assessment and pricing through to negotiation and handover into project delivery, for projects across the EMEA region. This is an opportunity for someone who is commercially astute, adaptable, highly organised and curious about improving processes, tools and ways of working within a fast-paced international environment.

The successful candidate will bring strong experience across fee proposals, commercial bids, project budgets or similar commercial work. You’ll need to be comfortable interpreting complex project and tender information, assessing commercial risk and translating scope, programme and resourcing requirements into clear, accurate and commercially considered proposals.

The opportunity also allows contribution to your career growth by working within a top practice that will elevate your development. Our client offers a competitive benefits package, people-focused work culture and collective environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the preparation of commercial proposals and fee submissions for new opportunities and additional project services
• Assess project information at tender stage, getting to grips with scope, programme, deliverables and commercial expectations
• Work with project and business development teams to shape appropriate fee structures and resourcing assumptions
• Identify potential commercial and contractual issues early and help develop practical approaches to managing them
• Review and refine pricing, fee models and supporting information before proposals are submitted
• Keep commercial information and agreed fees accurately recorded across internal project management systems
• Work alongside Business Development, Studio Leads, Legal and Project Controlling to resolve queries and ensure proposals are commercially robust
• Support negotiations with clients and assist with contractual documentation, clarifications and amendments where required
• Take part in the transition from successful bid to project delivery
• Develop and improve internal commercial resources, including benchmarking information, templates and pricing tools

Key Skills/Requirements

• Proven experience (3+ years) in a commercial, fee management, estimating or bidding/new business role within architecture, design, construction or relevant practice
• Good understanding of the commercial side of design and construction projects
• Able to interpret project briefs and tender information and translate them into clear fee and resource requirements
• Comfortable working with budgets, pricing models and financial spreadsheets, with strong attention to accuracy
• Experience assessing commercial risk and understanding the impact of scope, programme and resourcing changes
• Familiarity with construction processes, procurement methods and the different stages of a design project
• Strong written skills, with the ability to produce clear and well-structured proposals and commercial documentation
• Highly organised, with the ability to manage several proposals and deadlines at once
• Commercially astute and able to make considered decisions while balancing project opportunity and risk
• Proactive and comfortable taking ownership of tasks, following up with others and keeping work moving
• Strong Excel skills, with good working knowledge of Word, InDesign and Acrobat
• Comfortable working across international projects and adapting to different markets, contractual requirements and ways of working
• Naturally curious, adaptable and interested in finding more efficient ways to approach commercial processes and tools

The Crowd is an equal opportunities employer and agency.