Junior Commercial Manager

Location: West of England

Job Description

Job Title:

Junior Commercial Manager

Job Location:

G  Bristol - Assembly, G  Bristol CTRL TE, G  Chippenham Methuen Park House

Location:

Bristol or Chippenham

Advertised Salary:
Competitive

Clearance:
You MUST be eligible for Security Cleared level clearance (at least 5 years' continuous residence in the UK)

About the role

This is an opportunity to join our Defence business in a commercially focused role that goes well beyond contract administration.

Working within the Contract & Business Development team, you’ll help bring together the commercial, financial, contractual and customer considerations behind successful contract delivery. You’ll work closely with customers and colleagues across commercial, programme, legal, finance, procurement and operational teams, giving you broad exposure to how complex Defence services are delivered.

You’ll take responsibility for areas including contract performance, risk, forecasting, billing and commercial governance, while looking for opportunities to improve margins, simplify processes and make the way we work better.

We’re not looking for someone who simply wants to follow an established process. We want someone curious and proactive who can analyse what’s happening, identify risks and opportunities, and suggest better ways of doing things.

There’s also plenty of opportunity to develop. As your knowledge grows, you’ll be trusted with greater ownership and encouraged to build your commercial and contract management capability within a supportive team.

What you’ll be doing

• Manage customer and supplier contracts across their lifecycle, supporting effective delivery, renewal and commercial governance.
• Build strong working relationships with customers, becoming a trusted point of contact and developing an understanding of their requirements and priorities.
• Monitor contractual obligations, deliverables, milestones and key dates, identifying issues early and helping keep delivery on track.
• Identify commercial and contractual risks, assess their potential business and financial impact and help develop practical mitigation plans.
• Own areas of P&L performance across Defence contracts, monitoring revenue, costs and financial risks and identifying opportunities to improve margins.
• Deliver monthly billing and financial forecasting activities, using data to build a clear picture of contract performance and future requirements.
• Analyse contract and commercial data, using spreadsheets and other information sources to identify trends, issues and opportunities for improvement.
• Improve existing processes by challenging how things are done, identifying efficiencies and helping deliver meaningful transformation and continuous improvement.

Essential Skills / Experience

• Practical understanding of risk management, including identifying a risk, assessing its potential impact and considering appropriate mitigation actions.
• Experience in commercial, contract management or a related environment.
• Analytical skills, with confidence working with data and spreadsheets to identify trends, issues and opportunities.
• A proactive continuous improvement mindset, with examples of identifying better, simpler or more effective ways of working.
• Ability to understand commercial or contractual information and turn it into clear actions and outcomes.

Desirable Skills / Experience

• Experience with in Defence, aerospace, engineering, infrastructure, public sector or another regulated environment.
• Knowledge of public sector procurement or commercial frameworks.
• Experience with contract management systems or commercial reporting tools.
• Capable Microsoft Excel skills and experience using data to support commercial analysis and decision-making.
• Understanding of established risk management methodologies or a…