Contracts Manager

Transport for Wales; Cardiff; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Pullman Rail, based in Cardiff, seeks an experienced Contracts Manager to lead and commercially manage a portfolio of customer contracts within a fast-paced engineering environment.

You will work closely with Production, Engineering, Procurement and Planning to ensure delivery meets contractual obligations, customer requirements and financial targets, while identifying opportunities to enhance contract value.

Qualifications

• Experience leading contracts in engineering, rail or high-value services.
• Strong commercial and financial discipline required.
• Proven ability to manage tenders from RFP to award.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication.

Responsibilities

• Contract Delivery – lead multiple contracts to ensure on-time, safe, profitable delivery.
• Commercial Performance – monitor budgets, profitability, and forecasts.
• Customer Management – primary contact for programme and commercial issues.
• Programme & Risk Management – monitor delivery, mitigate risks, forecast costs.
• Contract Change & Variations – manage scope changes and quotations.
• Contract Governance – maintain records of outputs, POs, invoices.
• Cross-Functional Delivery – collaborate with Production, Engineering, Planning.
• Customer Reviews – lead review meetings and actions.
• Warranty & Customer Requirements – handle claims and urgent needs.
• Business Development & Tenders – support bids for new/renewed contracts.
• Continuous Improvement – analyse KPIs to improve efficiency.

Skills

Contract management

Rail/Engineering experience

Financial forecasting

Tender management

Education

Degree in Engineering/Commercial Management

Job description

This advert is placed on behalf of Pullman Rail, a subsidiary of Transport for Wales

Contracts Manager

At Pullman Rail we value diversity. It makes us stronger, helps us understand our customers better, make better decisions and be more innovative. Everyone’s different and has their own perspective, so we’re building a diverse team that mirrors the communities we serve. Through this we’re determined to be one of Wales’ leading inclusive employers.

Who we are

At Pullman Rail (part of the Transport for Wales family), we’re on a mission to be the engineering and overhaul partner of choice to the UK transport network. From our purpose-built facility in Cardiff, we provide comprehensive services including vehicle overhauls, heavy maintenance, component repairs and system upgrades to a large proportion of the UK rail fleet.

Safety, quality and continuous improvement are at the heart of everything we do. Our skilled engineers, technicians and support teams play a vital role in supporting the reliability and performance of the UK rail network — and we are proud to contribute to the industrial strength of South Wales.

We are an open and inclusive place to work, where everyone is welcome and supported to reach their full potential.

Role responsibilities

We are looking for an experienced Contracts Manager to lead and commercially manage a portfolio of customer contracts, ensuring safe, on-time and profitable delivery across both short and long-term agreements.

Working closely with Production, Engineering, Procurement, Planning and other internal teams, you will take responsibility for the commercial performance of assigned contracts, ensuring customer commitments, technical requirements and contractual obligations are clearly understood and successfully delivered.

You will act as a key commercial interface between Pullman Rail and its customers, building strong relationships, managing risk and change, maintaining accurate financial and performance forecasts and identifying opportunities to protect and enhance contract value.

This is an excellent opportunity for a commercially focused contract management professional who enjoys working closely with customers, managing multiple priorities and driving successful delivery within a fast-paced engineering environment.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Contract Delivery – Lead the successful delivery of multiple customer contracts covering overhaul, refurbishment, spares management and associated activities, ensuring contractual obligations and customer requirements are met.
• Commercial Performance – Take commercial responsibility for assigned contracts, monitoring budgets, profitability, cost performance, invoicing and financial forecasts to ensure effective commercial control.
• Customer Management – Act as the primary point of contact for programme, contractual and commercial matters, developing strong and collaborative customer relationships and resolving issues in a professional and timely manner.
• Programme & Risk Management – Apply robust project and contract management principles to monitor programme delivery, identify and mitigate risks, manage emerging issues and maintain accurate forecasts of cost and performance.
• Contract Change & Variations – Manage changes to contract scope through the company Change Management process, securing formal agreement of variations and preparing quotations for additional or revised customer requirements.
• Contract Governance – Maintain accurate records of contract outputs, purchase orders, applications for payment, invoices, customer materials and other commercial deliverables to ensure full transparency and control.
• Cross-Functional Delivery – Work collaboratively with Production, Engineering, Procurement, Planning, Administration and Commercial teams to ensure customer delivery schedules and technical requirements are achieved.
• Customer Reviews – Lead Contract Review Meetings, preparing programme, commercial and performance information and taking ownership of resulting actions.
• Warranty & Customer Requirements – Manage warranty claims in accordance with contractual obligations and respond effectively to urgent customer requirements, including casualty components and additional works.
• Business Development & Tenders – Support bids for new and renewed contracts, including tender activity from Request for Proposal through to contract award, helping to ensure competitive pricing, commercial robustness and quality compliance.
• Continuous Improvement – Analyse contract performance, KPIs and financial information to identify opportunities for improvement, increase efficiency and support sustainable business growth.

Who we’re looking for

• An experienced Contracts Manager, Commercial Manager or similar professional with experience in engineering, manufacturing, heavy maintenance, rail or another high-value service environment.
• Degree qualified in Engineering, Commercial Management, Business or a related discipline, or able to demonstrate equivalent relevant experience.
• Sound knowledge of contract management principles, commercial procedures, risk management and contract governance.
• Proven experience managing high-value customer contracts and taking responsibility for commercial and financial performance.
• Experience managing tender processes from initial Request for Proposal through to contract award.
• Demosntrable project management capability, including programme control, cost tracking, risk management and performance forecasting.
• Proven ability to manage contractual and commercial disputes while maintaining positive customer relationships.
• Demonstrable commercial acumen with the ability to prepare costings, quotations and contract variations and identify opportunities to protect and improve contract value.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the confidence to build effective relationships with customers and colleagues at all levels.
• Excellent analytical skills with the ability to interpret KPIs, financial information and contract performance data to support informed decision-making.

This advert will close at midnight on the day of the application closing date stated above. We encourage early applications as we reserve the right to close this vacancy early if sufficient applications are received.

Please note:

You must hold the permanent right to work in the UK. We are not currently able to provide sponsorship.