Senior Commercial Manager – Contracts
Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Industry: Construction
Function: Contracts Administration
Experience: 15 years commercial and contracts experience
Job Type: Full-time
Overview
Senior Commercial Manager – Contracts in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia is a senior construction opportunity with Parsons Corporation for an experienced commercial leader who can manage contractual, financial, procurement, claims, and cost management activities across major projects or a large programme. The role is focused on protecting commercial interests, improving profitability, strengthening contract administration, managing risk, leading negotiations, and supporting successful project delivery from bid stage through closeout.
Responsibilities
- Develop and implement commercial strategies that support project objectives, margin targets, cash flow requirements, and long-term business goals.
- Provide commercial leadership to project teams and ensure consistent application of company procedures, governance standards, and commercial best practices.
- Support business planning, budgeting, tender reviews, bid decisions, and strategic project decisions with clear commercial insight.
- Lead or support negotiations for major contracts, variations, claims, settlements, procurement packages, and commercial agreements.
- Review, negotiate, and finalize prime contracts, subcontracts, consultancy agreements, and FIDIC-based contract documents.
- Ensure strong contract administration covering notice provisions, change management, claims procedures, correspondence, approvals, and contractual compliance.
- Draft and review contractual correspondence to protect the company’s position and manage disputes before they escalate.
- Advise project managers, procurement teams, commercial staff, and senior leadership on contractual rights, obligations, risks, and required actions.
- Oversee project budgets, cost plans, cash flow forecasts, cost reporting, cost‑value reconciliations, earned value analysis, and margin reviews.
- Monitor financial performance across projects, identify cost variances, and recommend corrective actions to protect profitability and cash position.
- Validate major cost commitments, payment applications, variations, final accounts, and commercial settlement documentation.
- Establish and manage change control processes across projects, ensuring variations and scope changes are properly recorded, valued, and negotiated.
- Review, prepare, and negotiate variations, extensions of time, loss and expense claims, and other commercial claims.
- Coordinate with planning, legal, technical, procurement, and project controls teams to substantiate, defend, and resolve claims.
- Manage dispute resolution processes including negotiation, mediation, adjudication, or arbitration support where required.
- Support procurement strategies for key work packages, including tendering, commercial evaluation, negotiation, recommendation, and contract award.
- Negotiate subcontractor and supplier terms to optimize cost, performance obligations, risk allocation, and delivery certainty.
- Monitor subcontractor commercial performance, including payment applications, variations, claims, and final account progress.
- Identify commercial risks and opportunities across the project lifecycle and maintain accurate risk registers and action plans.
- Ensure compliance with corporate governance, delegation of authority, internal controls, audit requirements, and commercial reporting standards.
- Act as a primary commercial interface with clients, partners, joint venture entities, project directors, and senior internal stakeholders.
- Present commercial performance, risks, recovery strategies, claims status, and key financial matters in management and client meetings.
- Lead, mentor, and develop commercial managers, quantity surveyors, contract administrators, and related commercial team members.
- Allocate resources effectively across projects and promote a culture of integrity, accountability, continuous improvement, and high commercial performance.
Ideal Profile
- Bachelor’s degree in Quantity Surveying, Commercial Management, Construction Management, Law, Finance, or a related field.
- Around 15 years of progressive commercial, contracts, quantity surveying, or cost management experience.
- Strong experience on large‑scale construction, infrastructure, utilities, industrial, or major programme delivery environments.
- Proven ability to lead commercial strategy and contract management across complex projects or portfolios.
- Strong knowledge of FIDIC contracts, standard contract forms, commercial principles, change control, claims management, and contract administration.
- Experience working in a client, consultant, or Tier1 contractor environment on complex multi‑stakeholder projects is preferred.
- Exposure to joint ventures, PPP, P3, alliance contracting, or major partnership delivery models is desirable.
- Familiarity with project controls, planning, earned value management, cost forecasting, and commercial reporting systems.
- Professional membership or relevant commercial, contract, quantity surveying, or construction management certification is preferred.
- Strong commercial and financial acumen with advanced analytical, negotiation, and problem‑solving capability.
- Excellent understanding of contract law, risk allocation, dispute resolution mechanisms, governance, and internal control requirements.
- Confident communicator with the ability to influence senior stakeholders, manage difficult conversations, and present commercial positions clearly.
- Proven leadership and people management skills with experience developing high‑performing commercial teams.
- High proficiency in Microsoft Excel and commercial or contract management tools.
- Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, stakeholders, and commercial risks in a fast‑moving project environment.
Skills Set
- Commercial management
- Contract administration
- FIDIC contracts
- Construction contracts
- Cost management
- Cost forecasting
- Cash flow forecasting
- Cost‑value reconciliation
- Earned value analysis
- Margin analysis
- Budget management
- Commercial strategy
- Contract negotiation
- Contractual correspondence
- Change management
- Variation management
- Claims preparation
- Claims negotiation
- Extension of time claims
- Loss and expense claims
- Dispute resolution
- Risk management
- Risk registers
- Procurement strategy
- Tender evaluation
- Subcontract administration
- Supplier negotiation
- Final accounts
- Payment applications
- Commercial reporting
- Project controls
- Financial analysis
- Stakeholder management
- Team leadership
- Microsoft Excel
- Contract management tools