Commercial Lead

Ogilvy; Makati; On-site; PHP 2,600,000 - 5,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Ogilvy in Manila is seeking a senior commercial leader to drive revenue growth, governance, and compliant business decisions across the organization. You will review proposals from a financial risk and commercial perspective, lead client and vendor negotiations, and ensure pricing models deliver competitive advantage.

You will partner with APAC regional teams to develop AI-enabled pricing strategies, shape regional escalation, and foster a commercially astute culture while mentoring

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience in commercial management and negotiation, business finance, contracts negotiation and compliance, or strategic commercial roles.
• Strong expertise in commercial negotiations, contract management, compliance, and formal communication.
• Exceptional stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to align cross-functional teams and collaborate effectively with regional leadership.
• Experience in business proposal review and comprehensive commercial evaluation.
• Deep understanding of financials, pricing models, margins, and risk assessment, with a forward-looking perspective on AI monetisation and outcome-based pricing.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities, with an agile approach to data and market dynamics.

Responsibilities

• Lead local commercial strategy for market-level pitches under regional threshold.
• Escalate high-value pitches to APAC Deal Desk with summaries.
• Collaborate with APAC teams to explore cross-sell and AI-enabled pricing.
• Drive local pipeline and engage with APAC Open AI opportunities.
• Partner with Deal Desk to leverage AI in pricing models.
• Provide governance on pricing and contract terms.

Skills

Commercial Negotiations

Contract Management

Compliance

Stakeholder Management

Pricing & AI monetisation

Job description

About the Role

This individual will be responsible for driving top-line revenue growth, commercial governance, and ensuring commercially viable and compliant business decisions across the organization. The successful candidate will review business proposals from a commercial and financial risk perspective, lead client and vendor negotiations, manage contract compliance, and foster a commercially astute culture within the market. Furthermore, this role acts as the critical nexus between the local market and the APAC regional commercial infrastructure, partnering closely with leads to develop innovative, AI-enabled pricing strategies and secure a competitive advantage.

What You’ll Do

Regional Collaboration, Deal Desk & AI Innovation

• Manage and lead commercial strategy for all local market-level pitches below the designated regional escalation threshold.
• Escalate high-value pitches (threshold TBC), and new capability opportunities to the APAC Deal Desk and Pricing Council, submitting comprehensive deal summaries for review and approval.
• Partner with the APAC Deal Desk Lead to consult on local opportunities, identify cross-sell avenues for wider WPP services, and transition commercial models from traditional input-based to outcome-based pricing.
• Identify, monitor, and proactively drive the local pipeline, actively engaging with the APAC WPP Open AI Commercial Lead, on all possible AI and WPP Open opportunities.
• Collaborate with both the Deal Desk and WPP Open leads to effectively leverage AI and WPP Open capabilities within local pricing and commercial models.

Commercial Strategy & Revenue Growth

• Proactively partner with the Deal Desk Commercial Lead, business development and client service teams to identify new revenue streams, and drive top-line growth.
• Develop and structure innovative, growth-oriented commercial models to meet evolving client needs and secure competitive advantage.
• Support leadership in strategic business planning, commercial modelling, and revenue optimisation initiatives.
• Utilise data-driven insights to understand local market dynamics, anticipate competitive activities.
• Track local industry benchmarks, agency remuneration models, and competitor commercial practices.

Governance, Risk & Financial Management

• Review and evaluate new client proposals, commercials, pricing structures, margins, payment terms, and overall feasibility from a business perspective.
• Review client profitability and the working capital position of existing clients, ensuring a strong return on investment (ROI) for agency activities.
• Identify commercial risks including protecting “back door”, and recommend solutions aligned with organisational objectives.
• Work closely with the regional team to manage Client conflict.

Negotiation & Contract Compliance

• Actively participate in the pitch and renewal stages, leading commercial negotiations with clients to achieve favourable business outcomes.
• Work closely with the new business team, finance, legal, and servicing teams for new and existing client agreement renewals.
• Review local contracts in partnership with the legal team and negotiate terms with clients to ensure compliance and risk mitigation.
• Drive contract governance and ensure strict compliance with agreed-upon contract terms.

Leadership & Stakeholder Management

• Foster a commercially astute culture within the market by mentoring cross-functional teams and elevating overall commercial awareness by assisting the regional team with the commercial training programme.
• Act as a trusted advisor to market leadership, influencing stakeholders at all levels to steer successful outcomes in a complex matrix environment.

What You’ll Need

• 12+ years of experience in commercial management and negotiation, business finance, contracts negotiation and compliance, or strategic commercial roles.
• Strong expertise in commercial negotiations, contract management, compliance, and formal communication.
• Exceptional stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to align cross-functional teams and collaborate effectively with regional leadership.
• Experience in business proposal review and comprehensive commercial evaluation.
• Deep understanding of financials, pricing models, margins, and risk assessment, with a forward-looking perspective on AI monetisation and outcome-based pricing.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities, with an agile approach to data and market dynamics.

How We’ll Support You

Ogilvy celebrates its people. Fully. Enthusiastically. Unhesitatingly. We’ll empower you with the tools you’ll need to succeed. We’ll give you the autonomy to seek out new paths and better ways of doing things. We’ll support you with colleagues who are experts in their disciplines, drawn from across the Ogilvy network. And we’ll provide opportunities for you to do work of which you’ll be proud, with people you’ll be proud to call your teammates. At Ogilvy, our people are at the heart of what we do: a creative agency that sparks game-changing ideas across culture and business through collaboration, integrity, and a celebration of self-expression. We believe in building powerful teams with purpose - and we relentlessly curate transformative initiatives that make our commitment to fairness, and equity a reality. Our ultimate mission is to leave a positive impact on the world, creating a better future for all, while supporting and uplifting the global communities we serve. This is central to our mantra of Borderless Creativity.

Ogilvy is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without discrimination or regard to particular characteristics. We are committed to fostering a culture of respect in which everyone feels they belong and has the same opportunities to progress in their careers.

If you need any assistance seeking a job opportunity, or if you need reasonable accommodation with the application process, please contact us at [e-mail]. Please note that this contact is only for candidates who are requesting accommodation. Emails for other purposes, including application status requests, will not receive a response.