Commercial Manager

Cala Consulting Limited; Greater London; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Cala Consulting Limited is seeking a senior Commercial Manager to join its management team. The role focuses on strengthening customer relationships, developing partnerships and winning profitable work across Great Britain and Ireland.

You will manage commercial and financial control, support bids, and help guide strategic growth with a close-knit team. You will work alongside the Managing Director to secure contracts, maintain margins, and build a robust pipeline while overseeing tendering,

Qualifications

• Experience in construction and products industry.
• Track record of developing opportunities and securing contracts.
• Strong tendering and commercial negotiation experience.
• Experience working with developers, housebuilders, main contractors, buyers and quantity surveyors.
• Sound understanding of construction contracts and commercial risk.
• Knowledge of project profitability, cash flow, WIP, applications, retentions and variations.
• Strong relationship-building and negotiation skills.
• The confidence to pursue opportunities, order fulfilment and challenge poor commercial decisions.
• Strong financial and analytical capability.
• Good Excel, reporting and CRM skills.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain long-term client relationships with key stakeholders and decision-makers.
• Grow and diversify the pipeline by targeting new accounts and strategic partnerships.
• Coordinate tenders, bids and quotations, ensuring profitability and compliance with tender strategy.
• Monitor project profitability against tender budgets and report variances to the MD/Board.
• Maintain accurate CRM and pipeline data; provide timely commercial updates and forecasts.
• Support the five-year growth strategy with commercial insights and market analysis.

Skills

Tendering & negotiation

Relationship building

Financial analysis

Excel

CRM skills

Commercial judgment

Cash flow understanding

Tools

CRM software

Job description

Commercial Manager

The Company

Our client is a specialist design-and-build contractor delivering retaining wall and reinforced earth solutions across Great Britain and Ireland. As the business enters its next stage of growth, it is seeking an experienced Commercial Manager to join its management team.

The Role

Reporting to the Managing Director, you will help the business grow profitably by strengthening customer relationships, developing existing partnerships and winning new business. You will also maintain strong commercial and financial control, and help keep projects on target and profitable through to completion. This is a senior, hands-on role spanning key accounts, business development, contract negotiation, project profitability and sales pipeline management.

Key responsibilities

Customer relationships and business development

Working alongside the Managing Director, you will build commercially valuable, long-term relationships with clients, developers, major groundworkers, quantity surveyors, buyers and other key decision makers.

• Position Company as a preferred specialist partner.
• Develop existing customer accounts by identifying opportunities in additional divisions.
• Grow repeat business and identify strategically important new customers.
• Create and deliver plans for key accounts, understanding customers' future workloads and identifying upcoming projects.
• Identify opportunities to expand existing partnerships and develop new customer relationships.
• Help diversify the customer base by developing opportunities in infrastructure and other priority sectors.

Market, pipeline and growth strategy

You will build and manage a sustainable pipeline that supports profitable, long-term growth.

• Manage and maintain the company's HubSpot CRM, ensuring opportunities, customer activity and pipeline information are accurate and up to date
• Analyse opportunities across the UK and Ireland.
• Identify priority regions, sectors and customers, and develop target-client lists.
• Monitor competitor activity and market conditions.
• Coordinate relevant business development and marketing activity to maintain sales pipeline.
• Contribute commercial insight to the five-year growth strategy.

Winning profitable contracts

You will take commercial ownership of opportunities turning a quality pipeline into profitable work and repeat business.

• Work closely with the Managing Director and the Technical and Construction teams to progress opportunities.
• Actively coordinate tenders and follow up quotations and bids systematically.
• Develop commercial strategies for significant opportunities.
• To work with a team to secure contracts while maintaining agreed margins.
• Review unsuccessful tenders to understand why opportunities were lost, assess competitor positioning and identify actions to improve future conversion.
• Identify opportunities for repeat business and develop a strong pipeline of future work to support the company's growth.

Commercial and financial control

You will help ensure projects remain on target commercially and financially, giving the business a clear view of performance and enabling early, informed decisions. You will provide the Managing Director and Board with accurate, timely commercial and financial project information.

• Review and interpret management information, working with colleagues to maintain clear commercial and financial reporting
• Monitor project profitability against tender and budget.
• Maintain and report the rolling cash-flow forecast and identifying issues and cashflow risks to the MD.
• Review monthly management accounts.
• Monitor debtors, creditors and working capital.
• Maintain and report the sales pipeline through CRM.
• Support annual budgets and financial forecasts.

Criteria

You will combine strong commercial judgement and financial understanding with the drive to develop customer relationships, pursue opportunities and secure profitable work.

• Experience in construction and products industry.
• Relevant practical commercial experience will be considered.
• A track record of developing opportunities and securing contracts.
• Strong tendering and commercial negotiation experience.
• Experience working with developers, housebuilders, main contractors, buyers and quantity surveyors.
• A sound understanding of construction contracts and commercial risk.
• Knowledge of project profitability, cash flow, WIP, applications, retentions and variations.
• Strong relationship-building and negotiation skills.
• The confidence to pursue opportunities, order fulfilment and challenge poor commercial decisions.
• Strong financial and analytical capability.
• Good Excel, reporting and CRM skills.

Why Join?

This is an exciting opportunity to join a small, ambitious and growing specialist construction business, where you will become a valued member of a close-knit management team.

You will work directly with the Managing Director and can make a genuine impact on the company's commercial performance, customer relationships and future growth.

The company will offer the opportunity to work across different aspects of the business, influence key decisions and play an important role in shaping its future.

There will be significant opportunities for personal development, increased responsibility and career progression.

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