Commercial Director; Woodlands, TX

ROLE WHC LLC (A Surerus Murphy Company) (WHC), is seeking to recruit a Commercial Director to lead the commercial function across our Pipeline, Facilities, and Power sectors. This is a senior leadership role with company-wide accountability for how WHC wins, contracts, and delivers work profitably - from bid strategy and prime contract negotiation through change management, claims, subcontract controls, and commercial reporting to executive leadership.

The Commercial Director will set the standard for commercial discipline across the business, build and lead a high-performing commercial team, and act as a trusted advisor to operations and the executive team. The role suits a commercially astute leader who combines deep energy-construction contract expertise with the judgement to protect margin, manage risk, and build lasting client relationships.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Commercial Leadership & Strategy
  • Lead the commercial function across all sectors, setting strategy, standards, and priorities aligned with company objectives and growth plans.
  • Build, lead, and develop a team of commercial and contracts professionals, defining roles, capability requirements, and succession.
  • Serve as a member of the leadership team, advising executives on commercial performance, risk appetite, and opportunity.
  • Establish and maintain commercial policies, procedures, delegations of authority, and governance, ensuring consistent application across projects.
• Bids, Tenders & Prime Contracts
  • Lead the commercial review of tenders and proposals, including contract risk assessment, pricing strategy input, and go/no-go recommendations.
  • Lead the commercial negotiation of prime contracts and master service agreements, working with legal counsel, who lead formal legal review and execution.
  • Develop and maintain the company’s contracting positions, including preferred terms, acceptable fallbacks, and escalation thresholds.
• Subcontract & Procurement Governance
  • Oversee subcontract and procurement strategy, ensuring agreements are drafted, negotiated, and awarded in line with company standards and prime contract flow-down obligations.
  • Maintain oversight of subcontractor performance, valuations, payment processes, and back-charges.
• Change Management, Claims & Disputes
  • Own the change management framework, ensuring entitlement is identified, notified, and recovered on time.
  • Lead the preparation, negotiation, and resolution of significant change orders, claims, and disputes, including delay and disruption, engaging external specialists and legal counsel where required.
  • Ensure contractual notices and records are issued and maintained to protect the company’s position.
• Commercial Reporting & Performance
  • Lead monthly commercial reporting – including cost-value reconciliation, forecast final outcome, margin, cash, and subcontract liability – and present results to executive leadership.
  • Drive forecast accuracy and early warning of commercial risk and opportunity at project and portfolio level.
  • Work with project controls to ensure commercial, cost, and schedule performance are reported on a consistent basis.
• Risk Management
  • Lead commercial and contractual risk identification, mitigation, and governance across the portfolio, contributing to company-wide risk management.
  • Ensure lessons learned from contracts, claims, and disputes are fed back into bid, contracting, and delivery practices.
• Relationships & Capability
  • Build and maintain strong, trust-based relationships with clients, partners, subcontractors, and suppliers at senior level.
  • Develop commercial capability across operations through mentoring, training, and clear guidance on contract administration, change, and claims.