Commercial Manager

Search Talent; Dublin; On-site; EUR 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Search Talent is recruiting a Divisional Commercial Manager for Ireland to own the commercial and operational performance of a field-based service division. You will lead revenue growth, pricing, customer relationships and cash flow, with accountability to senior leadership.

The role requires senior commercial/GM experience, proven P&L responsibility and a track record of managing both sales and operational teams in a reactive services environment.

Qualifications

• Senior commercial/general management experience with P&L responsibility.
• Experience leading both sales and operational teams in service-based businesses.
• Strong pricing, negotiation and contract-management capability.

Responsibilities

• Take full ownership of divisional revenue, margin, profitability and cash-flow performance.
• Prepare and manage annual budgets, forecasts and divisional business plans.
• Monitor financial performance against targets and take corrective actions.
• Review pricing structures and contract profitability.
• Ensure work is scoped, priced, delivered and invoiced.
• Maintain control over WIP, variations, PO's and debt collection.
• Improve order-to-cash speed and accuracy.
• Provide management information and reports to senior leadership.
• Develop and deliver the division’s growth strategy.
• Lead tendering, frameworks, and major contract negotiations.

Skills

Senior leadership

P&L ownership

Sales leadership

Pricing strategy

Negotiation

Cash-flow management

Customer relationships

Contract management

Tools

CRM systems

ERP systems

MS Excel

Job description

Divisional Commercial Manager – Environmental Services

Location: Ireland – Multi-Site/Field-Based

Employment Type: Permanent

Package: Excellent senior management salary and benefits

The Opportunity

An established and growing provider of specialist environmental and infrastructure services is seeking an experienced Divisional Commercial Manager to take ownership of a strategically important service division.

This is a broad business leadership position with responsibility for the division’s commercial performance, sales activity, people, service delivery and cash flow. The successful candidate will effectively operate the division as a business within the wider organisation, with the authority and accountability to improve performance, develop the team and deliver sustainable growth.

This is not a traditional estimating, quantity surveying or purely finance-based Commercial Manager position. It will suit a commercially driven operational leader who understands how to manage a mobile, customer-facing service business.

Candidates may come from facilities management, environmental services, utilities, waste management, industrial services, infrastructure maintenance, technical field services or another reactive and planned-service environment.

The Role

Reporting to senior leadership, the Divisional Commercial Manager will assume responsibility for the overall commercial and operational performance of the division.

You will lead sales development, customer relationships, pricing, people performance, resource planning, margin control, cash collection and continuous improvement.

The role will require a visible, hands-on leader who can move comfortably between customers, operational teams and financial performance.

Key Responsibilities

Commercial and Financial Management

• Take full ownership of divisional revenue, margin, profitability and cash-flow performance
• Prepare and manage annual budgets, forecasts and divisional business plans
• Monitor financial performance against agreed targets and introduce corrective actions where required
• Review pricing structures, quotation processes and contract profitability
• Ensure work is correctly scoped, priced, authorised, delivered and invoiced
• Maintain strong control over work in progress, variations, purchase orders, billing and debt collection
• Improve the speed and accuracy of the order-to-cash process
• Analyse customer, contract and service-line profitability
• Identify commercial risks and ensure contractual obligations are properly managed
• Provide clear management information and performance reports to senior leadership

Sales and Business Development

• Develop and deliver the division’s commercial growth strategy
• Manage the sales pipeline from initial opportunity through quotation, negotiation and contract award
• Strengthen relationships with existing customers and identify opportunities to expand services
• Develop new business across commercial, industrial, facilities, infrastructure and public-sector markets
• Support tenders, framework applications and major contract negotiations
• Ensure quotations and proposals are commercially sound, competitive and operationally deliverable
• Introduce greater structure, accountability and measurement across sales activity
• Work closely with marketing and wider group functions to develop new routes to market
• Represent the business professionally at client meetings, site visits and industry events

Operational Leadership

• Work with operational managers to ensure reliable delivery of planned, project-based and reactive services
• Balance customer priorities with labour, fleet, equipment and specialist resource availability
• Monitor response times, job completion, productivity, utilisation and service quality
• Ensure appropriate systems are in place for scheduling, job allocation, reporting and customer communication
• Improve coordination between sales, operations, finance and administration
• Review operational performance and identify opportunities to improve efficiency and profitability
• Support the resolution of escalated customer or service-delivery issues
• Ensure commercial commitments made to customers can be delivered safely and effectively

People Management

• Lead, motivate and develop a multidisciplinary team across commercial, operational and administrative functions
• Establish clear responsibilities, performance expectations and measurable objectives
• Build a commercially accountable and customer-focused culture
• Conduct regular performance reviews and support management development
• Identify organisational or capability gaps and assist with recruitment and succession planning
• Promote effective communication across office-based and field-based teams
• Create an environment in which employees understand how their performance contributes to customer satisfaction and divisional profitability

Governance, Compliance and Risk

• Ensure divisional activities comply with relevant environmental, waste, safety and transport requirements
• Work closely with health and safety, quality and compliance colleagues
• Ensure customer contracts, service records and operational documentation are complete and accurate
• Maintain strong governance around pricing, approvals, subcontractors and commercial commitments
• Ensure the division operates consistently with company policies and recognised management standards
• Monitor business risks and escalate material issues appropriately

The Person

This position requires a commercially astute general manager who is capable of taking full responsibility for a service-based business unit.

You should be equally comfortable discussing financial performance with senior management, negotiating with customers and working with operational teams to improve delivery.

The successful candidate is likely to have:

• Senior commercial, general management or divisional leadership experience
• Previous responsibility for a P&L, budget, margin and cash-flow performance
• Experience managing both sales and operational teams
• A strong understanding of service-based or contract-based businesses
• Experience delivering services through mobile or field-based workforces
• The ability to interpret financial and operational information and convert it into practical action
• Strong pricing, negotiation and contract-management capability
• Experience improving sales pipelines, quotation processes and customer retention
• Excellent people-management and leadership skills
• The ability to create structure, accountability and performance disciplines
• Strong customer-facing and stakeholder-management skills
• A practical, decisive and solutions-focused approach

Preferred Backgrounds

Applications are particularly welcome from candidates with leadership experience in:

• Facilities management
• Environmental or waste services
• Drainage, utilities or infrastructure maintenance
• Mechanical, electrical or technical field services
• Property maintenance and compliance services
• Fleet-based or mobile service operations
• Reactive maintenance and emergency-response businesses

Direct sector experience would be beneficial but is not essential. The ability to manage a commercially driven service division is more important than experience with one specific technical service.

What Success Will Look Like

During the first 12 months, the successful candidate will be expected to:

• Establish clear visibility over the division’s financial and operational performance
• Strengthen commercial controls and improve margin management
• Improve quotation conversion, invoicing and cash collection
• Build a measurable and accountable sales pipeline
• Strengthen key customer relationships and generate sustainable new business
• Improve coordination between sales, operations and finance
• Develop a capable and motivated management team
• Create a clear strategy for the division’s continued growth

Why Apply?

• Take ownership of an established division with significant growth potential
• Operate with genuine autonomy and direct access to senior leadership
• Influence commercial strategy, people, systems and operational performance
• Lead a business unit rather than manage one narrow function
• Join a stable and ambitious organisation investing in continued growth
• Excellent senior management salary and benefits package
• Strong long-term opportunity for progression as the division expands

All applications and enquiries will be treated in the strictest confidence.