Highways Commercial Strategy Lead

Lancashire County Council; Preston; On-site; GBP 69,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

26 days annual leave

Flexible working opportunities

Health and wellbeing support

Family-friendly policies

Financial and travel benefits

Training and development opportunities

Job summary

Lancashire County Council is seeking a Strategic Lead to strengthen how highways services are commercially managed, assured and improved. You will turn strategy into practical changes, scrutinise business cases, and drive value for money across programmes and projects.

You will lead complex improvement work, use data and benchmarking to challenge assumptions and ensure evidence-led decisions, influencing senior stakeholders while collaborating across finance, engineering, procurement and legal

Qualifications

• A relevant degree-level qualification or equivalent experience in commercial management, finance, engineering, business or programme/project management.
• Significant experience leading commercial improvement, assurance or complex programmes, ideally in highways or capital programmes.
• Strong knowledge of commercial governance, financial control, risk, value for money and project assurance.
• Analytical ability to interrogate costs, forecasts and benchmarks and translate findings into recommendations.
• Experience improving services and delivery models with continuous improvement and benefits realisation.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills for senior stakeholders.
• A professional qualification or willingness to work towards one in project, programme, procurement or change management.

Responsibilities

• Lead commercial improvement and assurance work, using data, benchmarking and insight to scrutinise business cases and costs.
• Develop gateway controls and improve cost predictability across services and projects.
• Advise senior leaders and governance forums while building cross‑functional relationships with suppliers and partners.
• Turn improvement opportunities into measurable results and build commercial capability across the organisation.
• Provide constructive challenge to enable evidence‑led decisions.

Skills

Commercial management

Programme leadership

Governance & assurance

Data analysis

Stakeholder influence

Change management

Professional qualification

Education

Degree-level qualification

Job description

Lancashire County Council is seeking a Strategic Lead to strengthen how highways services are commercially managed, assured and improved. You will turn strategy into practical changes, scrutinise business cases, and drive value for money across programmes and projects.

You will lead complex improvement work, use data and benchmarking to challenge assumptions and ensure evidence-led decisions, influencing senior stakeholders while collaborating across finance, engineering, procurement and legal