Spirax-Sarco Ltd.
Head of Commercial Operations (ETS)
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Head of Commercial Operations (ETS)
Head of Commercial Operations (ETS)
Pt of Spirax Group, Electrical Thermal Solutions (ETS)—comprising Chromalox, Durex Industries, Vulcanic, and Thermocoax—engineers advanced electrical process heating and thermal management solutions for demanding industrial applications, including heaters, systems, trace heating, and component technology.
Since its 1920s founding, Chromalox has remained a pioneer in thermal technologies, delivering precision solutions that reduce risk, optimise costs, and meet customers' highest expectations. Join us to shape the future of industrial heating—where innovation meets operational excellence.
About the Role
The Head of Commercial Operations will ensure robustness across the value chain by integrating customer demand, contract risk, delivery performance, contract programme controls, and revenue recognition, driving excellence from order intake to final invoicing. You will lead commercial governance, operational leadership, and risk mitigation to align delivery capabilities with contractual obligations while ensuring financial predictability.
Key responsibilities include:
- Defining and embedding commercial best practices across supply chain, finance, legal, and PMO
- Collaborating with leadership to design operating rhythms, dashboards, and governance procedures that connect customer expectations, supply chain capacity, financial performance, and risk visibility
Scope and Accountability
You will set commercial priorities across S&OP, demand visibility, contract performance, and revenue recognition, aligning teams to deliver:
- Execution discipline: Bringing structure and rigor to all stages of the order lifecycle—enhancing control while fostering collaboration.
- Risk transparency: Identifying, escalating, and implementing proactive mitigation for commercial, contractual, and delivery risks.
- Stakeholder trust: Serving as a strategic commercial lens for decision-makers, integrating insights into S&OP, resource planning, and growth initiatives.
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Responsibilities
Core Focus Areas
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Cross-Functional Integration
- Bridge the gap between commercial, operations, finance, legal, and PMO teams, ensuring seamless alignment of customer commitments with delivery plans.
- Key Actions:
- Integrate customer requirements into S&OP and forecasting.
- Align delivery commitments with operational constraints to flag and escalate risks early.
-
Order & Contract Risk Management
- Establish governance frameworks for monitoring open orders and risk exposure, implementing clear escalation and corrective frameworks for underperformance.
- Ensure real-time visibility into:
- Delivered vs forecasted revenue.
- Risk exposure tied to contract terms, dependencies, or supply gaps.
-
Large Order/PMO Oversight
- Lead programme management for high-value contracts, tracking:
- Key milestones, milestone-based invoicing.
- Delivery dependencies (internal & external).
- RAID (risks, actions, issues, dependencies) and financial forecasting.
- Lead programme management for high-value contracts, tracking:
-
Revenue Recognition Governance
- Partner with Finance to ensure processes align with IFRS 15, tying operational delivery to contractual performance obligations.
-
Customer Obsession
- Delivery: Track performance vs commitments, identify root causes of delays, and drive corrective measures.
- Insight: Monitor customer health (retention, share of wallet) and identify organic growth opportunities.
- Dispute Resolution: Oversee structured resolution of commercial disputes involving Legal and Finance teams.
-
Customer Engagement Standardisation
- Define repeatable engagement processes for high-value accounts, including preparation tools and follow-up accountability.
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- Leadership & Continuous Improvement
- Champion a culture of transparency among senior teams, proposing structured operating models and process enhancements.
Requirements
To excel, you must demonstrate expertise in:
- Core disciplines: Commercial operations, contract/programme management, and financial/business operations.
- History: Proven expertise in B2B, contract-heavy environments, with hands-on experience managing chapter lifecycle, delivery risk, and revenue recognition (IFRS 15).
- Soft skills: polished stakeholder management, peer influence, and direct report experience in large teams.
Industry Preferences:
- Stronger relevance in priority growth markets: North America, Americas ex-US, or high-growth industries such as oil & gas, semiconductor, chemicals.
- Telecom or automotive OEM markets viewed as a plus.
Success Metrics
- Operational Readiness: Reduced fire-drills via holistic contract oversight and risk visibility.
- Execution Alignment: 100% alignment between demand forecasting, supply capabilities, and commercial commitments.
- Contract Value Insight: Ability to pre-emptly track and eliminate mitgation/financial impact of unmanageable commercial surprises.
- Best Practice Embed: Formalisation of replicable PPM processes and prioritisation of high-value strategies via data-driven insights.
Employee Commitment
At Chromalox, it’s not just our work—it’s our people. We compassionately champion an inclusive, equitable work culture: ✓ Zero tolerance for discrimination or harassment under any regulatory or ethical category. ✓ Hiring diverse talents across backgrounds to enrich collaboration and innovation.
We’re an equal opportunity employer, and we appreciate the curiosity, talent, and unique identities of our people. Everyone here belongs.
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