Head of Commercial

We are currently recruiting a Head of Commercial for a long-standing client to support their Bus divisions.

The Bus Division Head of Commercial is responsible for coordinating and leading all commercial activities across the Bus entities, ensuring that quotes, tenders, costings and commercial terms are robust, competitive and aligned with the Group profitability objectives.

The role acts as the central commercial authority across the Bus Division, managing tender pipelines, leading complex bid activity, standardising commercial processes, and working cross‑functionally with Sales, Marketing, Operations, Engineering, Procurement and Finance to convert opportunities into profitable orders.

• Coordinating the Bus Division commercial activities, including quotations, tenders, cost models and commercial terms and conditions for quotes and contracts, working side‑by‑side with the Head of Sales and the Group Marketing Manager.
• A key part of the role is influencing product and sales strategy road‑maps with insight on our commercial performance.
• Coordinate weekly commercial planning sessions with key stakeholders (e.g. Sales leadership and commercial team) to align resources and priorities.
• Coordinating the preparation of cost and quote proposals for the Bus Division through the Bus Division commercial team.
• Lead the creation of winning tenders through full bid lifecycle from Bid / No‑Bid business case to customer negotiation and contract award, in coordination with the Bus Division sales team.
• Lead ad‑hoc and complex tender submissions (e.g. large tenders, new product launches, framework submissions and similar public sector opportunities), coordinating cross‑functional teams as required.
• Develop and maintain standardised quotation templates, incorporating inputs from Operations, Procurement, Engineering and Finance for all products.
• Build and maintain EBITDA‑based commercial models to support pricing decisions and profitability assessment.
• Challenge internal cost assumptions and support cost‑down initiatives to improve competitiveness and margin performance.

• Produce regular commercial reporting for Business Reviews, Sales meetings and SLT meetings, including:
• Order intake and conversion rates.

• Streamline and improve commercial processes in coordination with Sales and Operations, from initial quote to order placement and hand‑over of orders to Operations.

Head of Commercial
• Bolton, England, GB