Senior Commercial/ Contracts Manager

Job Summary

The Senior Commercial & Contracts Manager will head contract administration across all major works packages, ensuring absolute compliance with NEC/FIDIC procedures. This includes managing the monthly commercial cycle, maintaining Cost Value Reports (CVR), forecasting final accounts, mitigating commercial exposures, and leading high-stakes contractor negotiations at key project milestones.

Qualification

• Mandatory Educational Background: A formal University Degree in Quantity Surveying, Commercial Management, or a related technical discipline.
• Preferred Professional Credentials: MRICS (Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) or MCIOB (Member of the Chartered Institute of Building) status is highly preferred.
• Contractual Framework Mastery: Deep, functional knowledge of NEC4 ECC and/or FIDIC Yellow/Red Book contract administration.
• Core Professional Strengths: Highly analytical with strong attention to detail, a confident negotiator, and an excellent communicator.

Experience

Candidates must demonstrate a distinguished, progressive track record of commercial stewardship on heavy capital builds:

Commercial Tenure & Procurement Diversity

• Overall Industry Tenacity: A minimum of fifteen (15) years of direct, verifiable experience in commercial and contracts management on major capital projects.
• Procurement Layout Exposure: Demonstrable experience working across both Design and Build and traditional procurement routes.
• Strong Quantity Surveying Background: A solid, foundational technical capability rooted in heavy quantity surveying practices.
• Geographic Preference: Experience working within Sub-Saharan Africa or East Africa, particularly on internationally financed infrastructure developments, is strongly preferred.

Negotiations, Claims & Interface Management

• Complex Contract Administration: Proven capability to administer complex contract mechanisms and resolve critical commercial workstreams simultaneously under pressure.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Confident history engaging constructively with contractors, private clients, and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs).
• Team Mentorship: Successful background providing direct mentorship, professional guidance, and performance management to junior commercial staff within a PMC environment.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Contract Administration & Commercial Cycles

• Lead Contract Administration: Run contract administration across all major works packages, ensuring absolute compliance with NEC/FIDIC procedures including early warnings, compensation events, programme submissions, and payment processes.
• Manage Monthly Commercial Cycles: Oversee contractor applications for payment, assess multi-disciplinary valuations, and recommend certified amounts in tight coordination with the cost consultant.
• Govern Financial Reporting: Maintain the project Cost Value Report (CVR), accurately forecast final account positions, and present detailed commercial performance updates to the Project Board.
• Advise Project Leadership: Act as the primary advisor to the Project Director regarding long-term contract strategies, procurement decisions, and commercial exposures.

Risk Management, Variations & Negotiations

• Mitigate Commercial Exposures: Identify, quantify, and manage commercial risks and opportunities, systematically maintaining the project commercial risk register.
• Evaluate Contractor Claims: Review, analyze, and assess complex contractor claims, variation requests, and Extension of Time (EoT) submissions to deliver robust commercial responses.
• Direct Change Control Processes: Manage the comprehensive change control process from a commercial perspective, ensuring all variations are properly authorized, accurately costed, and transparently recorded.
• Lead Key Milestone Negotiations: Orchestrate and lead formal commercial negotiations with contractors at key milestones, including interim settlements and final account agreements.
• Input into Procurement Tendering: Provide vital commercial input into tender documentation, bid evaluations, and final contract award recommendations.

Skills Required:

• Civil / Engineering / Cotm