Balfour Beatty plc
Head of Commercial - Transmission & Distribution
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About The Role
Balfour Beatty, the UK’s leading infrastructure group, is looking for an experienced Head of Commercial to join our team overseeing the England & Wales Distribution, Cabling & Utilities portfolio.
This is a UK-wide position therefore flexible on location, with regular travel required across the portfolio. Key hub offices include Derby, Cardiff, Leeds, and Middlesbrough. You will take full accountability for commercial performance across this diverse portfolio. This is a strategic leadership role where you will set and deliver the commercial strategy, ensure strong governance, and identify opportunities to maximise value.
In this position, you will lead on cost and income management, negotiations, dispute resolution, and bid support, while building strong relationships both internally and externally. A key focus will be driving margin improvement, managing risk effectively, and embedding a culture of continuous improvement across the business.
What you'll be doing
- Ensure the successful commercial performance across the delivery unit and associated projects.
- Own, develop and execute commercial strategy specific to the portfolio, and contribute to the development of overall commercial strategy for the Region and SBU.
- Identify opportunities to maximise income and margin.
- Build and manage effective, strategic relationships (internal and external) to achieve high levels of customer satisfaction.
- Provide commercial assurance through forecasting and identification of issues giving rise to commercial risk.
- Manage and develop a proactive, industry leading commercial team, including recruitment and deployment to meet business needs.
- Effective resolution of complex disputes across the portfolio.
- Provide commercial support and resources for bid preparation. Lead complex contract negotiations.
- Oversee commercial audit and compliance and identifying areas for continuous improvement in processes.
- Lead excellence in quality, drive continuous improvement in process and ensure full compliance with legal and company requirements, including the Group Minimum Commercial Expectations.
- Play a lead role in demonstrating the Balfour Beatty Values.
- Lead and enable a culture of high performance across all teams.
Who we're looking for
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We’re seeking a commercially astute leader with a track record of delivering results in complex infrastructure or utilities environments. You will combine strategic thinking with hands-on expertise, ensuring robust governance and driving value across a diverse portfolio.
Essential Qualifications:
- BSc or MSc in Quantity Surveying or equivalent discipline.
- Membership or Fellowship of RICS, ICES, or CIOB (or actively working towards).
- CSCS Card (Professional Qualified Person).
Experience & Skills:
- Experience in senior commercial roles within construction, utilities, or infrastructure sectors.
- Strong understanding of contract law, risk management, and dispute resolution.
- Demonstrated ability to lead negotiations and manage high-value contracts.
- Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence at all levels.
- Proven capability in developing and implementing commercial strategies that deliver margin improvement.
Leadership Attributes:
- Collaborative and decisive, with the ability to inspire and lead teams.
- Comfortable operating in a matrix organisation and managing multiple priorities.
- Committed to continuous improvement and driving best practice across the business.
Why work for us
Day in, day out, our teams deliver some of the UK’s most ambitious, exciting and meaningful projects; developing, building and maintaining the vital infrastructure that supports national economies and strengthens communities.
Why join us?
Benefits
As if contributing to and supporting work that makes life better for millions wasn’t rewarding enough, we offer a full range of benefits too. You’ll have the freedom to shape the package that’s right for you and your life. Here are some of our key benefits:
- Smart working, giving you more flexibility such as staggered start and finish times, with up to 40% remote working, where roles allow.
- 25 days paid annual leave (pro rata).
- Family friendly policies which include 28 weeks full pay for maternity/adoption leave and four weeks full pay for paternity/partners leave.
- Pension, share incentive plan, volunteering leave, recognition schemes and much more…
About Us
Balfour Beatty’s Power Transmission & Distribution teams work with regional, national and international electricity network owners and operators to provide technical engineering solutions across the full spectrum of the electricity grid, including overhead lines, cabling, substations and distribution networks.
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From scoping and feasibility, to design, construction and on-going maintenance, our in-house experts, flexible resources and industry-leading innovations support customers in the development of some of the UK’s most ambitious power transmission and distribution projects.
Diversity and inclusion
At Balfour Beatty we believe that diversity and inclusion are essential components of any successful, happy workplace. Through our Value Everyone Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan, we are growing our diverse workforce and developing our inclusive culture where everyone is able to thrive and reach their full potential, regardless of their identity or background. To find out how we are making this a reality, visit www.balfourbeatty.com/diversityandinclusion.
To help and support us with our desired commitment to create an inclusive culture we are members of WISE, enei, Business Disability Forum and the Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers (AFBE). In 2020, we signed the Audeliss and Involve Open Letter to demonstrate our commitment to taking key long term and sustainable actions on Black Inclusion. Balfour Beatty is also a Gold Award holder in the Ministry of Defence 'Employer Recognition Scheme' and actively encourage applications from Armed Forces personnel, veterans and reservists.
As a Disability Confident Employer, we are committed to working with people who have disabilities and long-term health conditions to remove barriers for them in obtaining employment. We are also committed to offering applicants with a disability an interview if they meet the minimum requirements for the role. For more info, visit: https://disabilityconfident.campaign.gov.uk/.
We are looking to continually improve our resourcing process and ensure that it is fair and inclusive for all. If you have any feedback on the process, please share this with us at: candidaterecruitmentqueries@balfourbeatty.com.
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