Project Commercial Manager

Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

HDR is seeking a Project Commercial Manager in London to lead the commercial and financial performance of multi-disciplinary projects from bid through close-out. You will ensure cost control, forecasting, governance, and profitability while safeguarding against overruns.

The role requires a proactive, client-facing professional with strong leadership, communication, and risk-management skills to drive value and deliverables across complex programs in a collaborative environment.

Qualifications

• Excellent presentation and communication skills.
• Extensive experience in commercial management of projects; minimum 10 years.
• Experience monitoring contract staff or third-party appointments desirable.
• Experience in the same or similar position is desired.
• Proficiency in MS Word, Excel, Outlook & PowerPoint.
• Positive and professional attitude at all times.
• Educational qualifications to a degree level or equivalent are desired.
• Incorporated status preferred and ongoing pursuit of Chartered status and business qualifications if not already achieved.
• Personable and a 'can do' attitude with resource management experience.
• Able to establish rapport and good working relationships within the project team and Clients.
• Strong leadership and people management skills and experience.

Responsibilities

• Develop and own project cost control plans, establishing cost baselines, budgets, recovery plans and key financial performance indicators.
• Monitor project expenditure against budget on a monthly basis, identifying variances and implementing corrective actions to protect margin.
• Challenge project teams on resource utilisation, productivity, scope management and cost efficiency opportunities.
• Proactively identify, quantify and document scope changes, additional services and out-of-scope activities arising during project delivery.
• Work with Senior Project Managers and project teams to ensure all scope changes are promptly communicated to clients and managed in accordance with contractual notification and change management procedures.
• Maintain a comprehensive change register, tracking the status, value and commercial recovery of all proposed and approved changes.
• Ensure no additional work is undertaken without appropriate commercial authorisation and contractual protection where practicable
• Lead project cost reviews and commercial performance meetings, ensuring accountability for cost performance across project teams.
• Drive early identification of cost overruns and develop mitigation strategies to minimise adverse financial impacts.
• Maintain cost-to-complete forecasts and ensure accuracy of Estimate at Completion (EAC) reporting.
• Establish, manage and maintain project budgets, forecasts, cash flow and financial reporting in line with internal and client requirements.
• Monitor project performance against agreed commercial targets, identifying risks and opportunities and implementing mitigation or enhancement actions as required.
• Lead cost control, change control and commercial governance processes across assigned projects.

Skills

Presentation skills

Commercial management

Leadership

People management

Stakeholder management

MS Word

MS Excel

MS Outlook

MS PowerPoint

Education

University degree or equivalent

Tools

MS Word

MS Excel

Outlook

PowerPoint

Job description

At HDR, our employee-owners are fully engaged in creating a welcoming environment where each of us is valued and respected, a place where everyone is empowered to bring their authentic selves and novel ideas to work every day. As we foster a culture of inclusion throughout our company and within our communities, we constantly ask ourselves: What is our impact on the world?

Watch Our Story: ' https://www.hdrinc.com/our-story'

Each and every role throughout our organisation makes a difference in our ability to change the world for the better. Read further to learn how you could help make great things possible not only in your community, but around the world.

We believe building engineering is more than systems and structures, it's about powering progress and enabling innovation. As part of HDR's Building Engineering Services Group, you'll help design the critical infrastructure that supports the digital age and shapes the spaces where people work, connect, and thrive. From high-performance data centres driving the future of AI to dynamic commercial environments, your work will directly support technological advancement, sustainability, and human experience. We bring together mechanical, electrical, structural, and civil engineering experts to solve complex design challenges with precision, creativity, and collaboration. Whether you're optimizing energy efficiency, integrating resilient systems, or engineering the backbone of next-generation facilities, your contributions will help define the future of the built environment. This isn't just a job, it's a chance to lead innovation, engineer impact, and build a legacy of excellence.

About the Role

As a Project Commercial Manager you will lead and manage the commercial and financial performance of projects from bid through to close-out, ensuring rigorous project cost control, accurate forecasting, effective risk and opportunity management, strong commercial governance, and delivery of agreed margin and profitability targets. The role is responsible for safeguarding project financial performance through proactive cost management, early intervention, and robust change control through rigorous cost control, proactive management of scope change, robust change control processes and effective recovery of additional services.

About You

We are looking for a commercially astute, proactive and confident professional with strong interpersonal and leadership skills. You will be comfortable operating in a client-facing environment, able to influence at senior levels, and capable of managing commercial risk and opportunity across complex, multi-disciplinary projects. You will bring a collaborative mindset, sound judgement, and the ability to work under pressure while maintaining focus on value, profitability and governance.

Responsibilities

As a Project Commercial Manager will count on you to perform the following responsibilities but not limited to:

• Develop and own project cost control plans, establishing cost baselines, budgets, recovery plans and key financial performance indicators.
• Monitor project expenditure against budget on a monthly basis, identifying variances and implementing corrective actions to protect margin.
• Challenge project teams on resource utilisation, productivity, scope management and cost efficiency opportunities.
• Proactively identify, quantify and document scope changes, additional services and out-of-scope activities arising during project delivery.
• Work with Senior Project Managers and project teams to ensure all scope changes are promptly communicated to clients and managed in accordance with contractual notification and change management procedures.
• Maintain a comprehensive change register, tracking the status, value and commercial recovery of all proposed and approved changes.
• Ensure no additional work is undertaken without appropriate commercial authorisation and contractual protection where practicable
• Lead project cost reviews and commercial performance meetings, ensuring accountability for cost performance across project teams.
• Drive early identification of cost overruns and develop mitigation strategies to minimise adverse financial impacts.
• Maintain cost-to-complete forecasts and ensure accuracy of Estimate at Completion (EAC) reporting.
• Establish, manage and maintain project budgets, forecasts, cash flow and financial reporting in line with internal and client requirements.
• Monitor project performance against agreed commercial targets, identifying risks and opportunities and implementing mitigation or enhancement actions as required.
• Lead cost control, change control and commercial governance processes across assigned projects.

Ensure timely and accurate reporting of commercial performance to Project Managers, Programme Managers and senior management.

Skills and Requirements

• Excellent presentation and communication skills.
• Extensive experience, especially in commercial management of projects, minimum 10 years’ industry experience.
• Experience of monitoring contract staff or third-party appointments would be desirable.
• Experience in the same or similar position is desired.
• Competency in MS Word, Excel, Outlook & PowerPoint.
• The ability to project a positive and professional attitude at all times.
• Educational qualifications to a degree level or equivalent are desired.
• Incorporated Status in chosen discipline preferred and ongoing pursuit of Chartered status and business qualifications if not already achieved.
• Personable and a 'can do' attitude with resource management experience.
• Able to establish rapport and good working relationships within the project team and Clients.
• Strong leadership and people management skills and experience.

To be able to work as part as a team and collaboratively and co-operatively

What We Believe

HDR is our company. Together, we build on each other's life experiences and perspectives to make great things possible every day. This shapes our collaborative culture, encourages organizational trust and connects us closer to the clients and communities we serve.

Our eight Employee Network Groups (Asian Pacific, Black, Hispanic/Latino(a), LGBTQ+, People with Disabilities, Veterans, Women, Young Professionals) help create a sense of belonging and foster a supportive environment where everyone is empowered to engage and contribute. Each group has an executive sponsor and is open to all employees.

Primary Location

United Kingdom-England-London

Other Locations

United Kingdom-Scotland-Glasgow, United Kingdom-England-Manchester

Industry

Construction, Project Controls & Design/Build

Schedule

Full-time

Employee Status

Regular

BusinessClass : Commercial Management

At HDR, we are committed to the principles of employment equity.

We are an Affirmitve Action and Equal Opportunity Employe r.

We consider all qualified applicants, regardless of criminal histories, arrest and conviction records.