Commercial Manager

Sento Talent; West Midlands; Hybrid; GBP 68,000 - 83,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work

Bonus potential

Job summary

Sento Talent is recruiting a Commercial Manager for a Midlands-based, hybrid role focusing on Building Services repairs and planned maintenance. You will own contract commercials, oversee valuations and cost control, and guide subcontractor payments and final accounts.

You will work directly with directors to establish and run the commercial function, building strong governance and robust reporting across multiple contracts in housing associations and local authorities.

Qualifications

• Currently a Commercial Manager, Senior Quantity Surveyor or Managing QS in repairs and maintenance, or a strong QS ready to lead a region.
• Proven experience on responsive repairs, voids and planned maintenance contracts for housing association or local authority clients.
• Experience producing cost-value reconciliations and monthly reports that stand up to scrutiny.

Responsibilities

• Owning the contracts commercially with full ownership of repairs, voids, planned works and larger projects.
• Lead valuations, applications and variations, ensuring timely and accurate payments.
• Manage cost control across Labour, materials, sub-contractor costs and plant.
• Oversee subcontractors from orders to final accounts and ensure terms align with clients.
• Provide clear monthly reporting to directors covering turnover, cost, margin and risks.
• Help design and implement the commercial function and related processes and systems.

Skills

Commercial Manager

Senior Quantity Surveyor

Managing QS

Quantity Surveyor

Repairs contracts

Education

Degree in Quantity Surveying

HNC/HND in Quantity Surveying

Tools

Job management software

Scheduling software

Job description

Role: Commercial Manager - Building Services Sector/Repairs/Planned Maintenance

Location: Hybrid/Midlands - Home based with Travel within Midlands

Package: up to £75,000, excellent benefits and Bonus

My client are an established and growing Building services company that focus of providing Construction/building/Repairs elated framework services with local authorities, housing associations and commercial clients across the Midlands. From project inception to completion, they are committed to delivering excellence at every stage.

They are recruiting for a commercial Manager to take ownership of the finances on every contract they deliver in the region: valuations, applications, variations, cost control, subcontractor accounts and the reporting that tells them whether each contract is actually making what it should. This is a hands-on job in a business that's still building its structure with a growing order book, a set of schedules of rates, and a lot of information that needs pulling together properly. The person they appoint will have real autonomy, direct access to the owners, and the chance to set up the commercial function the way they think it should run.

Duties:

• Owning the contracts commercially. Full commercial ownership of every contract in your area - responsive repairs, voids, planned works and larger projects.
• Valuations and applications. Monthly (or as the contract requires) valuations and applications for payment on every contract, accurate and on time. Chasing certification and payment through, and dealing with disputes before they become a problem
• Variations and pricing. Pricing variations and additional works against the schedule of rates, making sure they're agreed and instructed before the work goes ahead where possible, and recovered where it isn't. Keeping the uninstructed and unrecovered work to a minimum.
• Cost control. Understanding what each contract costs them to deliver (Labour, materials, van stock, subcontractors, plant) and working closely with the Operations Manager on productivity and improving margins.
• Subcontractors. Subcontract orders, valuations, payments and final accounts. Making sure they are being paid for what's been done, and that the terms with subcontractors match the terms with the client.
• Reporting. A clear, honest monthly report to the directors on each contract: turnover, cost, margin, cash position, risks and opportunities. A cost-value reconciliation that people can trust and act on.
• Contract administration. Knowing the contracts signed - terms, payment mechanisms, KPIs with a financial consequence, notice periods, retention. Flagging areas of exposure and making sure obligations are achieved
• Tenders and new contracts. Supporting the directors on pricing new work: reviewing schedules of rates, building up rates where needed, sense-checking tenders against what it costs to deliver. As New work is won, setting it up commercially from day one.
• Building the function. Putting in the processes and systems the commercial function needs

Key Skills:

• Currently a Commercial Manager, Senior Quantity Surveyor or Managing QS in repairs and maintenance, or a strong Quantity Surveyor ready to take on a region in their own right.
• Proven experience on responsive repairs, voids and planned maintenance contracts for housing association or local authority clients. You'll know your way round a schedule of rates, NHF or similar, and how these contracts actually get paid.
• A track record of looking after more than one contract at a time and keeping them all under control.
• Can produce a cost-value reconciliation and a monthly report that stands up to scrutiny, and explain it in plain terms to people who aren't surveyors.
• Experienced with subcontractor accounts from order through to final account.
• Comfortable working closely with an operations lead - sharing information both ways, challenging constructively, and backing each other with the client and the directors.
• Organised and self-sufficient. Happy setting up processes from a low base rather than inheriting them.

Preferred Skills

• Experience with a Tier 1 property services contractor or a large housing association client.
• A degree or HNC/HND in quantity surveying or a related discipline, or working towards RICS or CIOB membership.
• Experience mobilising a contract commercially or helping a business through a period of growth.
• Familiarity with job management or scheduling software and how commercial data can be pulled from it.