Commercial and Cost Manager - Aviation

Parsons; Riyadh; On-site; SAR 446,400 - 624,960; Full time

Job summary

Parsons is recruiting a Commercial and Cost Manager - Aviation to lead the commercial strategy and governance for a major airport infrastructure program in Riyadh. The role oversees budgets, forecasts, procurement activity, and claims management across multiple packages.

The ideal candidate will have 15+ years in commercial/cost management within PMCM, EPC/EPCM contexts, and a strong grasp of FIDIC/NEC contracts, with leadership experience across multi-contract environments.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, construction management, or related field.
• Master’s degree preferred.
• Minimum 15 years of commercial and cost management experience.
• Experience with large airport/infrastructure or megaproject programs.

Responsibilities

• Develop and lead the commercial strategy for the airport infrastructure program.
• Align commercial objectives with client requirements, budgets, and delivery priorities.
• Establish commercial procedures, approval routes, controls, and performance indicators.
• Manage program budgets, cost plans, forecasts, cash flow, commitments, and expenditure reporting.
• Monitor financial performance against baselines and funding.
• Lead negotiations of variations, claims, and amendments.
• Coordinate with legal, contracts, and project controls on complex claims.

Skills

Commercial management

Cost management

Budget management

Cash flow forecasting

Financial governance

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering

Master's degree preferred

Tools

SAP

Oracle

Aconex

ERP integration

Job description

Commercial and Cost Manager - Aviation

Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Industry: Airlines/Aviation. Function: Cost Estimating.

Job Type: Full-time. Salary Range: SAR 40000-56000 (approx). Gender: Any. Candidate Nationality: Any.

Overview

Commercial and Cost Manager - Aviation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia is a senior Airlines/Aviation opportunity responsible for leading commercial strategy, cost governance, contract administration, procurement coordination, financial forecasting, and claims management across a major airport infrastructure program. Parsons Corporation is hiring an experienced commercial leader to protect the client’s interests, maintain financial transparency, and optimize value throughout the project lifecycle. The role will oversee budgets, cash flow, cost forecasts, payment certification, variations, procurement activities, commercial risks, and contract negotiations across multiple packages. The successful candidate will work closely with program directors, project controls teams, procurement specialists, PMCM consultants, contractors, and external stakeholders to ensure that commercial performance remains aligned with strategic, operational, and financial objectives.

Context

The Commercial and Cost Manager will lead the commercial management function for a complex airport infrastructure portfolio involving multiple contracts, consultants, contractors, systems, facilities, and operational stakeholders. The position will establish the controls required to manage cost exposure, contractual entitlement, procurement value, financial reporting, and commercial risk. Reliable commercial governance is essential to preventing unsupported commitments, managing claims, protecting approved budgets, and ensuring that senior decision-makers receive accurate information. The role will also support value engineering, benchmarking, contract negotiations, and financial forecasting throughout planning, design, procurement, construction, commissioning, and operational readiness.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and lead the commercial strategy for the airport infrastructure program.
• Align commercial objectives with client requirements, corporate policies, approved budgets, and delivery priorities.
• Establish commercial management procedures, approval routes, controls, templates, and performance indicators.
• Manage program budgets, cost plans, forecasts, cash flow, commitments, and expenditure reporting.
• Monitor financial performance against approved baselines and authorized funding.
• Prepare cost forecasts at completion and identify potential budget overruns.
• Develop mitigation measures for emerging cost pressures and commercial exposure.
• Administer contracts, amendments, variations, payment certificates, and commercial correspondence.
• Ensure contractual obligations, approval requirements, and commercial procedures are consistently followed.
• Review contractor and consultant payment applications.
• Verify that claimed progress, quantities, rates, and supporting records justify payment.
• Prevent overpayment, duplicate recovery, unsupported costs, and unauthorized commitments.
• Lead the assessment and negotiation of variations, claims, and contract amendments.
• Review entitlement, substantiation, valuation, time implications, and commercial risk.
• Support claims management, dispute avoidance, and negotiated settlement processes.
• Coordinate with legal, contracts, project controls, and technical teams on complex claims.
• Lead procurement planning for major packages, services, materials, and specialist systems.
• Oversee tender documentation, commercial evaluations, bid comparisons, and award recommendations.
• Support negotiations with bidders, contractors, consultants, and suppliers.
• Secure commercially competitive and contractually balanced outcomes.
• Conduct cost benchmarking against comparable airport and infrastructure projects.
• Lead value engineering reviews to improve cost efficiency without compromising safety, performance, quality, or operational requirements.
• Establish policies and metrics for cost control, procurement, contract management, and commercial reporting.
• Identify and assess financial and commercial risks across contracts and work packages.
• Maintain commercial risk registers and monitor agreed mitigation actions.
• Coordinate commercial information with project controls schedules, progress data, risk registers, and change logs.
• Work closely with procurement teams to align sourcing activities with project milestones.
• Coordinate with PMCM teams, program directors, consultants, and contractors.
• Ensure commercial objectives are incorporated across design, construction, systems integration, and operational readiness.
• Support commercial reviews of design changes, scope developments, technical deviations, and programme adjustments.
• Assess the cost and contractual effects of proposed changes before approval.
• Prepare executive commercial reports, forecasts, dashboards, and management summaries.
• Present cost status, claims exposure, procurement progress, cash flow, and key decisions to senior stakeholders.
• Promote consistent commercial governance across all project packages.
• Support audits, financial reviews, contract close-out, final accounts, and settlement activities.
• Apply data analytics and automated reporting to improve commercial visibility.
• Lead, mentor, and develop commercial managers, quantity surveyors, cost specialists, and contract professionals.
• Encourage accountability, accuracy, ethical conduct, and continuous improvement across the commercial team.

Ideal Profile

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, quantity surveying, construction management, business administration, or a related discipline.
• Master’s degree in a relevant subject is preferred.
• Minimum 15 years of commercial and cost management experience.
• Significant experience supporting large airport, aviation, infrastructure, or megaproject programs.
• Proven record managing contracts, claims, procurement, budgets, forecasts, and financial reporting.
• Strong leadership experience within a PMCM, EPC, or EPCM environment.
• Detailed understanding of FIDIC, NEC, and bespoke EPC or EPCM contract frameworks.
• Experience managing multiple high‑value contracts and complex delivery packages.
• Strong knowledge of cost planning, cost control, cash flow forecasting, and financial governance.
• Proven ability to assess claims, variations, amendments, and commercial entitlement.
• Experience managing tendering, bid evaluation, procurement negotiation, and contract awards.
• Strong commercial judgement, negotiation, and dispute‑resolution capabilities.
• Familiarity with airport infrastructure, operational systems, or terminal development is highly advantageous.
• Understanding of Operational Readiness and Airport Transfer processes is beneficial.
• Strong analytical and financial modelling skills.
• Ability to interpret cost, schedule, risk, progress, and contract information together.
• Experience using SAP, Oracle, Aconex, cost databases, or comparable project systems.
• Familiarity with enterprise resource planning integration and digital commercial tools.
• Experience using data analytics and automated reporting to support management decisions.
• Excellent leadership, presentation, communication, and stakeholder‑management abilities.
• Ability to influence clients, executives, contractors, consultants, and commercial teams.
• Strong attention to detail, accountability, integrity, and professional judgement.
• Professional certification such as MRICS, MCIOB, AACE, or PMP is highly desirable.
• Chartered membership of RICS, CIOB, or AACE is advantageous.
• Advanced education in contract law, project finance, or dispute resolution is beneficial.

Skills Set

• Commercial management, Cost management, Airport infrastructure, Cost forecasting, Budget management, Cash flow reporting, Financial modelling.
• Contract administration, Payment certification, Variation management, Claims management, Contract negotiations.
• Procurement planning, Tender management, Bid evaluation, Cost benchmarking, Value engineering, Commercial risk management.
• Financial governance, Final accounts, Contract close‑out, FIDIC contracts, NEC contracts, EPC contracts, EPCM contracts, PMCM environments.
• Project controls coordination, Cost and schedule integration, SAP, Oracle, Aconex, ERP integration.
• Commercial dashboards, Data analytics, Automated reporting, Stakeholder management, Team leadership.
• Dispute resolution, ORAT coordination.

Why Join Us

This role provides the opportunity to shape commercial performance across a major airport infrastructure program in Riyadh. The Commercial and Cost Manager will influence procurement strategy, contract outcomes, financial governance, cost forecasting, claims resolution, and value optimization across complex multidisciplinary packages. The position offers senior‑level engagement with clients, program directors, PMCM teams, contractors, consultants, and operational stakeholders. Parsons Corporation provides access to major aviation developments, advanced project delivery systems, international commercial practices, and long‑term professional growth within Saudi Arabia’s expanding airport sector.