Principal Commercial Officer

BAE Systems.; Barrow-in-Furness; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading defense contractor is seeking a Principal Commercial Officer based in Barrow-in-Furness to handle contract negotiations and management. This role involves mentoring junior team members and maintaining client relationships. Ideal candidates will have strong communication skills and defense sector experience. Competitive salary and benefits offered.

Benefits

Competitive pension scheme

Employee share plans

Flexible health and lifestyle benefits

Relocation support packages

Qualifications

• Strong background in contract negotiation and management.
• Experience in the defence sector is preferred.
• Ability to manage and develop team members.

Responsibilities

• Negotiate and finalize contracts and agreements.
• Provide contract management support and administration.
• Develop relationships with stakeholders.
• Mentor junior team members.

Skills

Excellent communication skills

Experience in drafting contracts

Client relationship management

Presenting in senior management

Job description

Job Title

Principal Commercial Officer

Location

Barrow-in-Furness (3 days per week on-site)

Salary

Competitive

What you'll be doing

• Reviewing, drafting, negotiating, and finalising contracts and commercial agreements with customers and suppliers
• Provision of contract management support, including contract administration, managing change, contract configuration and contract closure
• Customer relationship management: applying a high degree of customer focus, developing and maintaining relationships with both internal and external stakeholders
• Managing, developing and mentoring junior members of the team

Your skills and experiences

Essential

• Excellent communication skills
• Experience in drafting, writing and negotiating contracts
• Demonstrable client/customer relationship management; ability to forge strong working relationships
• Ability to present in senior management forums

Desirable

• Knowledge of terms and conditions, types of contracts, commercial skillset, risks and opportunities
• Defence sector experience
• Experience in managing and developing others
• Business acumen and Submarines product knowledge

Benefits

As well as a competitive pension scheme, BAE Systems also offers employee share plans, an extensive range of flexible discounted health, wellbeing and lifestyle benefits, including a green car scheme, private health plans and shopping discounts – you may also be eligible for an annual incentive.

The Commercial team

As a member of the Commercial Team, you will work cross-functionally and with the customer. Your primary role will be to support the contact preparations, negotiation, bidding, writing and drafting, configuring, and managing of contacts. These consist of multi-function teams, such as Project Management, Engineering, Technical Specialist, and Supply Chain. Career Development is fully supported within the team, with the opportunity to move up to management level along with skillset development through further education and recognised training to facilitate lateral moves within the wider BAE business. We offer relocation support packages across all Submarines roles, subject to meeting eligibility criteria.

Why BAE Systems?

This is a place where you'll be able to make a real difference. You'll be part of an inclusive culture that values diversity of thought, rewards integrity, and merit, and where you'll be empowered to fulfil your potential. We welcome people from all backgrounds and want to make sure that our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible. If you have a disability or health condition (for example dyslexia, autism, an anxiety disorder etc.) that may affect your performance in certain assessment types, please speak to your recruiter about potential reasonable adjustments. Please be aware that many roles at BAE Systems are subject to both security and export control restrictions. These restrictions mean that factors such as your nationality, any nationalities you may have previously held, and your place of birth can restrict the roles you are eligible to perform within the organisation. All applicants must as a minimum achieve Baseline Personnel Security Standard. Many roles also require higher levels of National Security Vetting where applicants must typically have 5 to 10 years of continuous residency in the UK depending on the vetting level required for the role, to allow for meaningful security vetting checks.

Closing Date

19th November 2025 – We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.