Commercial Analyst

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South West Water keeps the South West flowing with safe, reliable drinking water and wastewater services across some of the UK’s most stunning landscapes.

We’re proud to be part of Pennon Group, a leader in the UK water sector, working towards a greener future. Our goals? As well as lowering our carbon footprint, we’re working with partners to plant 300,000 trees, restore peatlands and supporting farmers and landowners to improve water quality and wildlife.

Whether you’re starting out or seeking a new challenge, our scale and ambition create opportunities for you to shape your own career.

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We're looking for a commercially minded and analytical Commercial Analyst to join our Operations Contracts Team. This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in managing and analysing the financial and operational performance of our contractor-delivered services, with a particular focus on Network Repair & Maintenance (R&M) contracts.

You’ll be responsible for transforming large volumes of operational and commercial data into meaningful insights that support decision-making, cost control, and contract governance. Working closely with operational teams, finance colleagues, contractors, and commercial specialists, you’ll help ensure contract performance is effectively monitored, risks are identified early, and expenditure is accurately managed.

This role is ideal for someone who enjoys working with complex data, challenging existing processes, and driving improvements that deliver greater financial assurance and operational efficiency.

• Managing the full contract data lifecycle, including extracting, cleansing, analysing and modelling high-volume operational data.

• Developing and maintaining commercial reporting dashboards using Power BI and Excel.

• Producing cost forecasts and monitoring expenditure across operational contracts.

• Analysing cost and performance trends to identify risks, opportunities and efficiencies.

• Supporting monthly contract performance reviews through insightful reporting and analysis.

• Implementing and maintaining financial and commercial controls to strengthen contract governance.

• Auditing contractor costs, including labour, plant, materials and subcontractor expenditure, ensuring accurate allocation and compliance with NEC contract requirements.

• Providing detailed analysis and recommendations to support commercial and operational decision-making.

• Acting as the key commercial interface between contractors, operational teams, finance colleagues and quantity surveyors.

• Supporting procurement and operational teams to optimise contractor performance and spend.

• Identifying opportunities to improve processes, reporting accuracy and financial controls.

• Delivering meaningful commercial insight that contributes to the successful delivery of operational objectives.

• Previous experience in a financial, commercial or business analysis role.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to interpret complex data sets.

• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills.

• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.

• Strong organisational skills with the ability to prioritise workloads effectively.

• Ability to work accurately under pressure and meet tight deadlines.

• Commercial awareness and a proactive approach to continuous improvement.

• Confident, self-motivated and capable of working collaboratively across multiple teams.

• Degree qualified in Quantity Surveying, Finance, Commercial Management or a related discipline.

• AAT qualification or equivalent financial qualification.

• Membership of a relevant professional institution.

• Experience with in the water,…