Head of Commercial & Contracts

Your role will be to embed a strong project culture around commercial excellence, balanced with the need to satisfy client, staff and commercial expectations along with business operational performance. You’ll be highly collaborative, a natural problem solver and well used to tackling the myriad challenges that complex infrastructure projects can present.
The behaviours we will see from this role will include a passion and enthusiasm for our work, a constructively challenging mindset and an open, honest and accountable approach. You’ll be tenacious in solving issues, seeking improvement and demonstrating inclusive and respectful behaviours in all your interactions.
Whilst the role is commercially focussed, it requires an individual with proven skills and experience across aspects of business operations including understanding technical issues; people management; application of corporate systems; work winning; recruitment and staff development.

A Typical Week Would Include:

• As an experienced commercial professional, you’ll be used to facing a wide range of commercial and project challenges across complex projects from initial feasibility through to delivery and operation.
• You will be in a leadership role providing a key senior interface to our clients, demonstrating our commitment to deliver their requirements, building strong relationships, and acting as a trusted advisor.
• You’ll work with the leadership teams to ensure that our projects are planned and equipped to deliver. You’ll understand future resource demands for our projects and be supporting the recruitment of the skills we need for our growth projects. You’ll be as passionate about people development, and you’ll ensure that we have excellent commercial leaders coming through the business.
• Using your proven leadership and communication skills, you’ll be proficient at developing relationships internally and externally to the business and leveraging these to build trust, gather intelligence and, ultimately, secure future work.
• You’ll be passionate, engaging, energetic and articulate when bringing diverse, multi-disciplinary teams together to address the range of commercial challenges our projects face. Providing strategic commercial direction of the key elements of projects and their interrelationship to the teams. You’ll also understand the importance of implementing robust systems and processes to ensure that projects deliver value for money in achieving client goals and requirements as well as and cost and programme targets.
• In parallel with project work you’ll support major bids, liaise with clients on their upcoming projects and contribute to and potentially lead wider business initiatives.
• You will provide commercial expertise to ensure that the financial and commercial interests of the Company are optimised, contractual obligations are met, and associated risks are highlighted and actively managed.
• You will be required to draft, review and oversee the commercial terms of bids, contracts and agreements, lead negotiations and ensure that stakeholders are informed of the terms of contract and made aware of the risks/opportunities identified therein.
• You’ll ensure that appropriate contractual governance is applied throughout the lifecycle of a contract (i.e. from proposal to termination/expiration). Commercial policies and procedures shall be communicated and operated so as to achieve the goal of conducting business with integrity at all times

Core responsibilities will involve, but not be limited to:
 

• Analyse and evaluate customer’s Request for Proposals or Tenders providing relevant input to stakeholders (programme management, engineering, quality, subcontracts, procurement, etc.);
• Draft, negotiate with customer and manage all Commercial and Contractual aspects of the engagement whilst ensuring compliance with required corporate governance and approvals.
• Manage the pre and post contract commercial administration of Customer Contracts which may include management of risk, compliance, KPI drafting and maintenance, review of applications for payment, progress review meetings etc.
• Fully understand the contract terms and conditions and manage their flow down as appropriate (including specially NEC3/4)
• Ensure that all tasks are delivered to optimise returns and minimise risk.
• Review, highlight and address any commercial risk areas and address these with the relevant owners
• Provision of weekly/monthly Commercial reports as necessary.
• Maintain a working knowledge of relevant international laws and regulations
• Key Stakeholder relationship management: act as a focal point for key stakeholder correspondence, including but not limited to proposal reviews, post‐award engagements such as change orders, terminations, novation/name changes and other contract related matters;
• Represent the company at client / supplier meetings, which may involve international travel.
  
   

Essential Qualifications, skills and experience:
 

• Relevant professional qualifications.
• Demonstrable experience in reviewing and negotiating contract terms and conditions within a commercial environment.
• Experience of managing customer contracts and/or subcontractor contracts.

• A proven track record of providing commercial and project leadership across a wide range of infrastructure projects through the entire design and construction cycle.
• Detailed experience of the commercial management of multi-disciplinary engineering projects and programmes in the UK and potentially overseas. This will include sound stakeholder management and related relationship and team management skills.
• An ability to establish, build, sustain and share strong, professional relationships with relevant groups both inside and outside the organisation. You’re naturally driven to exceed client expectations.
• An ability to reason logically and apply a systematic process to finding solutions, proactive in responding to problems, able to apply sound logic in situations of ambiguity and problem-solving methodologies across a range of circumstances.
• A deep understanding of what our major clients need, how we best tailor our services, and build trusting relationships.

• Excellent commercial and contract management skills and a good recognition of commercial risk.

• A sound understanding of H&S legislation, CDM requirements, Safe by Design principles and how they can affect our operations and approach.
• A desire to constantly improve, motivate and encourage others, potentially leading and implement change programmes within a project context, inspiring colleagues and driving an innovative and supportive culture.
• A forward-thinking mindset, capable of visualising and planning for the longer term. Designs, communicates, engages and drives the implementation of design and technical initiatives and strategies
• Actively champion sharing knowledge, ideas and intelligence. Strong presentation skills, able to lead and facilitate workshops, training sessions and one to one learning. Influential and persuasive internally and externally, encourages open dialogue and feedback.
• A desire to develop and secure opportunities through active business development and work winning activities.
• Experience of dispute resolution
• A passion for developing the next generation of commercial and contracts specialists
• A commitment to driving the sustainability of projects toward a target of net zero.

Why Westinghouse?

Westinghouse Electric Company Is The Global Nuclear Energy Industry’s First Choice For Safe, Clean, And Efficient Energy Solutions.
We Enable Our Delivery Of This Vision By Living Our Value System:
 

• Safety and Quality
• Integrity and Trust
• Customer Focus and Innovation
• Speed and Passion to Win
• Teamwork and Accountability
   

Westinghouse offers competitive benefits to all our employees around the globe to keep them healthy and enhance their well-being. While our Global Headquarters are located in Cranberry Township, PA, we have over 9,000 employees working at locations in 19 different countries. You can learn more by visiting http://www.westinghousenuclear.com .

EOE of Minorities / Females / Vets / Disability.