Commercial Contract Manager - Didcot

Commercial (income) Contract Manager

Contract Type: Open ended

Hours: Full time, flexible working

Location: Rutherford Appleton Laboratory/Remote

Closing Date: 21st November 2021

Interview Date: TBC

What we offer

We recognise and value employees as individuals and aim to provide a pay and rewards package that motivates staff to perform to the best of their ability and maintain a good work/life balance. This includes opportunities to develop your career through training and personal development, 30 days' annual leave plus 10.5 public and privilege days, flexible working hours, an outstanding defined benefit pension scheme, access to employee shopping/travel discounts and salary sacrifice cycle to work scheme.

Location

This role is based in STFC's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, near Didcot in Oxfordshire. Occasional travel is expected to other UKRI sites, most notably the Hartree Centre near Daresbury in Cheshire.

Hybrid Working

UKRI is a very inclusive and flexible employer, and we are open to flexible working patterns. The team generally work from home. However, our commercial managers have to build trust with their target user community, so it is expected that:

• You will attend any on-site meetings needed
• You will be in the office for 1-2 days a month on average
• You may be required to be in the office more at first to build relationships and understanding

The role

We have a new and exciting opportunity for an experienced commercial manager to be based at our Rutherford Appleton Lab (RAL) site in Oxfordshire.

We are looking for income (sales side) commercial professionals to join a team providing professional commercial support for the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), a Research Council and one of Europe's largest science research organisations.

This is not a sales role: you will be providing pre- and post- contract commercial approval, management, and advice for a wide range of projects. The work is challenging, varied and interesting. You'll need to quickly adapt to a wide range of different technologies, negotiating on behalf of UKRI with public and private sector clients ranging from SMEs to multinationals.

Although we work as a team, the role has a high degree of autonomy and you will get pretty much cradle-to-grave responsibility for a number of contracts. You'll need the charisma to challenge and persuade senior staff in different areas of the organisation to do what's needed. Typical activities include but not limited to:

• Supporting business development managers and working as part of bid and project teams within your area of responsibility;
• Advising on commercial and legal risk in RFQs, ITTs and client contracts
• Attending bid reviews, and approving or rejecting potential bids, advising your internal clients on commercial and legal risks and mitigation measures
• Ensuring alignment of pricing, scope and contract terms in bids and contracts and resolving complex commercial issues; engaging with specialist Legal and Intellectual Property teams as required;
• supporting senior management by identifying commercial risk and its potential mitigations so optimal business decisions are made and commercial risk is effectively managed;
• Negotiating with clients, collaborators, and subcontractors
• Drafting, reviewing, and amending contract documents
• Approving and signing agreements within delegated scope of authority
• Managing post-contractual changes and CCNs, working with project teams to address revenue leakage and "scope creep"
• Managing and resolving contractual disputes, referring to the UKRI legal team where necessary

This role will provide support to a number of STFC operating departments, including the Hartree Centre in Daresbury which deals in advanced computing projects, and RAL Space in Didcot, home to the UK's space activities.

About You

• Degree level in a commercial, legal, technical, or engineering discipline or similar, or equivalent experience
• Extensive experience of drafting, negotiating, monitoring, and managing commercial terms and conditions of major projects with corporate clients
• Confident negotiator with track record of securing effective contracts
• A strong technical understanding of commercial and contract management with keen attention to detail and good analytical skills
• Experience of monitoring contract implementation and taking action to ensure that contract margins are maintained and opportunities for improvement taken, engaging directly with customers as required
• Experience in a high technology, project driven, business environment where intellectual property management is a significant factor
• Commercially astute in negotiation situations

How to apply

Applicants are required to include a CV and cover letter outlining their suitability for this role.

Applications are handled by UK Shared Business Services, to apply and to view the full role profile please visit our job board.