Commercial Operations - Quantity Surveyor

National Highways; Cambridge; Hybrid; GBP 34,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

National Highways is seeking Quantity Surveyors to join their expanding team, responsible for leading contract management of various projects. This role requires a strong understanding of commercial practices and a relevant qualification, providing a unique opportunity to work within a significant infrastructure environment. Ideal candidates will possess solid experience in contract administration and project delivery, ensuring compliance and effective management of resources across multiple schemes.

Qualifications

• Experience in contract administration, ideally with NEC contracts.
• Background in delivering quantity surveying functions in civil engineering.
• Mentor for junior staff and graduates.

Responsibilities

• Lead commercial and contract management for projects valued £1m to £30m.
• Manage communication, notifications, and compensation events.
• Conduct cost audits and prepare budget forecasts.

Skills

Commercial Awareness

Contract Administration

Project Delivery

Education

Degree in Quantity Surveying or relevant technical qualification

Professional qualification (e.g. MRICS, MCInstCES)

Tools

CEMAR

Confirm

Excel

Job description

We are expanding our commercial management team to support National Highways' annual £1bn investment programme to maintain the Strategic Road Network. As part of this, we have exciting opportunities for Quantity Surveyors to join our team.

You will either:

• lead on the commercial and contract management of a portfolio of schemes individually varying in value from £1m to more than £30m.
• lead on the commercial management of cyclic, reactive and minor capital works delivered through a long-term contract worth approximately £30m per annuum, working closely with the wider regional commercial team, operational colleague and our service provider.

The nature and diversity of the portfolio ensures the opportunity for you to enhance your skills, capabilities and experience in a complex delivery environment.

The role will be primarily based in our Bedford, Cambridge or Ipswich office. In all cases we have a flexible hybrid working approach, meaning the role will be a combination of office/agile home working with a general expectation of office working at least 2 days per week.

• Provide contractual advice to the business and the service delivery team, acting as first line escalation for contract and/or commercial differences.
• Provide day to day contract and commercial management including managing communication and notifications to timescales, managing and valuing compensation events and early warnings and review and agree final account using CEMAR contract management portal.
• Assess payment applications using National Highways 'Confirm' Enterprise Asset Management portal.
• Lead on regular cost and contract audits to ensure contractor compliance with contract conditions.
• Monitor actual costs against budget and prepare contract forecasts, identification of risks and opportunities to Opex and Capex budgets.
• Act as a line manager and mentor to Assistant Quantity Surveyors, Graduates and Apprentices and provide on-going support in their professional development.

About you.

• Degree in Quantity Surveying or other relevant technical qualification. This requirement may be waived for those who have secured a relevant professional qualification (as below).
• A relevant professional qualification at Chartered/Member status e.g. MRICS, MCInstCES, or equivalent. In the absence of this, you must be able to demonstrate substantive and direct personal experience working as a quantity surveyor having regard to the experience requirements listed below.
• Demonstrable experience of contract administration, desirably using NEC forms of contract.
• Demonstrable experience of delivering quantity surveying/commercial functions, preferably in a civil engineering/infrastructure environment.
• Excellent commercial awareness and experience of successfully delivering multiple projects in a comparable environment working for either the client or contractor.
• Proficient user of excel and familiarity with contract management and administration software systems (e.g. CEMAR, Confirm).

About us.

Here at National Highways, we manage and improve England's motorways and major A roads, helping our customers have safer, smoother and more reliable journeys. Our priorities are safety, customers and delivery, and at the core of this, are our values of passion, integrity, safety, teamwork and ownership.

Operations is at the heart of keeping the strategic road network moving and ensuring our customers get the best possible experience when using our roads.

We address over 39,000 customer enquiries every month, plan and deliver all maintenance activities on the network, drive efficiencies and improvements across our systems and roads, and respond to incidents across 4,500 miles of motorways and major A-roads that we manage. All to make sure National Highways customers have safer, smoother, and more reliable journeys.

External candidates will be offered a starting salary at the lower end of the pay scale, while current employees will be appointed in accordance with our established pay policy.

We are committed to creating a diverse environment and welcome applicants from all backgrounds.