Commercial Director (Major Projects)

Key Responsibilities

Bid, Positioning and Negotiation Phase

• Provide senior commercial leadership on large or complex bids once the opportunity has reached preferred status, or where there is a high probability of conversion and material commercial exposure.
• Partner with regional leadership, bid teams, legal, finance and technical leads to shape commercially robust, risk-balanced and best-for-business outcomes.
• Review and challenge proposed commercial models, pricing assumptions, payment mechanisms, risk allocation, liability positions, insurance requirements, programme obligations and key delivery dependencies.
• Lead or support client-facing negotiation of commercial terms, scope boundaries, exclusions, assumptions, payment milestones, variation mechanisms, programme relief and risk-sharing arrangements.
• Identify material commercial red flags before commitment, including low-margin work, onerous liability positions, ambiguous scope, aggressive programme requirements, unpriced deliverables and weak variation entitlement.
• Define the commercial strategy for the bid-to-award transition, including risk contingency, governance approvals, negotiation parameters and project handover requirements.

Project Launch and Commercial Mobilisation

• Lead or oversee the commercial mobilisation process following award, ensuring that bid commitments, contractual obligations, commercial risks and delivery assumptions are converted into clear project controls.
• Develop, or provide senior review of, the project Commercial Management Plan, including contract administration protocols, change control procedures, billing requirements, delegations, project controls interfaces, risk registers and reporting cadence.
• Ensure a disciplined handover from bid to delivery, with clear documentation of scope, exclusions, assumptions, pricing basis, negotiated positions, key risks and client commitments.
• Establish the project’s commercial governance rhythm, including monthly reviews, cash and WIP monitoring, variation registers, risk escalation, project controls interfaces and senior leadership reporting.
• Set expectations with the Project Director, Project Manager and commercial team on contract discipline, escalation triggers, commercial behaviours and the controls required from day one.

Delivery Phase: Commercial Management and Project Controls Interface

• Provide senior oversight of commercial performance, including revenue recognition, cost-to-complete, margin protection, cash collection, Net WIP, invoicing, aged debt, time-sheeting accuracy and staff cost allocation.
• Ensure commercial reporting is aligned with project controls, finance and delivery leadership, including programme progress, resourcing, earned value, forecast cost, change control and project health indicators.
• Maintain contract administration discipline, ensuring notices, correspondence, deliverable acceptance, payment applications, extensions of time, claims and variations are prepared and issued in accordance with contract requirements.
• Ensure variations are identified early, evidenced properly, pursued where entitlement exists and escalated where client behaviours or internal delivery issues threaten recovery.
• Work with programme management leads to ensure delay, disruption, acceleration, resequencing, access constraints and client dependency impacts are recorded, assessed and commercially managed.
• Lead commercial risk reviews and ensure project risk registers are current, financially quantified, actively mitigated and aligned with legal, finance and executive reporting requirements.
• Challenge project teams constructively on under-recovery, weak forecasting, scope creep, unresolved claims, billing discipline, documentation quality and accountability.

Intervention, Recovery and "When Things Go Wrong"

• Provide experienced senior intervention where commercial, legal, programme or delivery risk has materialised, including margin erosion, unmanaged scope growth, disputed variations, delayed payment, adverse client positions or project distress.
• Lead rapid diagnostic reviews of project records, contractual entitlement, programme evidence, commercial position, cost exposure, recovery options and escalation pathways.
• Develop recovery plans with project leadership, legal, finance and regional management, including negotiation strategy, claim substantiation, settlement options, governance approvals and communication protocols.
• Represent the business in difficult client discussions, steering committees, executive escalations and commercial negotiations requiring senior judgement and calm issue management.
• Convert lessons from distressed projects into improved bid governance, contract negotiation positions, project launch controls, training material and commercial assurance processes.

Project Close-Out

• Oversee commercial close-out planning to ensure final accounts, outstanding variations, claims, deliverables, payment milestones, warranties, lessons learned and contractual obligations are closed in a structured and timely manner.
• Drive final billing, cash collection, WIP reconciliation, settlement of commercial issues and confirmation of residual liabilities.
• Lead or support post-project reviews to assess margin performance, variation recovery, forecasting accuracy, contract lessons, client behaviours and governance effectiveness.
• Ensure close-out insights inform future bids, pricing strategy, negotiation playbooks, project launch processes and commercial training.

Porfolio, Governance and Regional Responsibilities

• Act as Commercial Director on a major multidisciplinary project in Singapore or provide part-time senior commercial oversight across a portfolio of complex, medium to large, or high-risk projects.
• Serve on project steering committees for major or high-risk projects, providing senior commercial challenge, escalation support and governance oversight.
• Establish and maintain a disciplined monthly cycle of project commercial review meetings with Regional Sector and Sub-Sector Operations Directors and key project leaders.
• Ensure projects are monitored consistently for time-sheeting accuracy, staff cost allocation, invoicing discipline, cash collection, WIP management, variation entitlement, risk movement and forecast margin.
• Where direct attendance across the full regional portfolio is impractical, cascade review requirements to sub-regional or sub-sector operations teams and require consistent reporting through agreed templates.
• Consolidate monthly commercial information from regions, sub-regions, sectors and sub-sectors into a clear summary for B+C Commercial Finance and the Global Head, Commercial Operations.
• Remain responsive to ad-hoc requests from B+C Commercial Finance and Commercial Operations on project red flags, cash collection, Net WIP, aged debt, commercial exposures and other performance indicators.
• Support the development of unified reporting templates, project performance dashboards, PowerBI-style outputs, automated commercial workflows, AI-enabled review tools and data-led early warning indicators for Buildings & Cities executive visibility.

Leadership, Mentorship and Capability Building

• Mentor project commercial managers, project managers, project directors and emerging commercial leaders on major project commercial discipline, contract awareness, negotiation strategy and recovery practice.
• Build commercial capability across the region by developing and delivering practical training modules on commercial management, variation management, WIP control, project launch discipline, risk escalation and close-out.
• Promote a commercially mature culture that balances client service, delivery excellence and disciplined protection of business interests.

About you

• Significant senior commercial leadership experience on major projects, preferably within professional services, engineering consultancy, infrastructure, buildings, cities, transport, water, environment or multidisciplinary delivery environments. Minimum 15+ years’ experience preferred.
• Demonstrated experience across the full project lifecycle, including bid strategy, preferred-bidder negotiation, project launch, delivery, change management, risk management, project recovery and close-out.
• Strong working knowledge of commercial project governance, contract administration, project controls interfaces, programme-related commercial issues, claims, variations, WIP and cash management.
• Experience operating with senior clients, joint venture partners, legal teams, finance teams, regional operations leadership and executive stakeholders.
• Track record of mentoring commercial and project teams and improving commercial governance across a portfolio, region or business line.
• Singapore or Asia regional project experience is preferred, particularly on complex, high-value or high-risk consulting, design, programme management or advisory projects.

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