Warrington / North-West (preferred) - Hybrid (2 days per week)
£86,000
Great British Energy - Nuclear is an arm's length body of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, dedicated to supporting the development and deployment of new nuclear technologies in Great Britain. We play a crucial role in advancing nuclear new build, ensuring the UK's energy security and achieving net-zero carbon emissions. Great British Energy - Nuclear focuses on fostering innovation, facilitating investment, and coordinating efforts across the nuclear industry to build a resilient and sustainable energy future.
Great British Energy - Nuclear's first step was to start the technology selection process for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) in 2023. SMRs can potentially be quicker to deploy and less expensive to build than traditional nuclear power plants because they are smaller, have factory based modular manufacturing and more flexible deployment options. In June 2025, Great British Energy - Nuclear announced that Rolls-Royce SMR had been selected as the preferred bidder to build the UK's first SMRs, following a technology selection process that began in 2023.
Great British Energy - Nuclear is aiming to deliver fast, based on a supportive and collaborative culture which values equality and diversity and creates an inclusive workplace.
Our activities will be driven by our values, which are:
Trust - We prioritise safety, we act responsibly and with integrity.
Collaboration - We work as a team; we value diversity and expertise.
Challenge - We are curious and courageous in the way we think and act.
Care - We are thoughtful, inclusive and respectful of others.
Drive - We get things done and we make a difference.
Job Profile
GBE-N are looking for an experienced Commercial Manager to support the development of the procurement and commercial contracting strategy for the Civils Engineering and Civils Construction element of its SMR Programme. These procurements will be fundamental to delivering the SMR Projects. Spanning an estimated 10 - 12-year term, the aggregate value of the collective procurements will be in excess of £1bn.
The Commercial Manager will be responsible for working with key stakeholders to identify an appropriate packaging, sourcing and commercial strategy for delivering this vast scope of capability. We are looking for an individual with experience in developing commercial and financial models to incentivise performance in a large scale multi-disciplinary civils engineering programme. Experience in Public Sector Procurement is seen as highly desirable.
The Commercial Manager will sit within GBE-N’s Commercial Directorate and report to the Senior Commercial Lead/Commercial Lead. The Commercial Manager will be responsible for managing the delivery of one or multiple procurements for complex, high value construction and engineering contracts exceeding a value of £20m and up to ££ hundreds of millions in value. The successful candidate will be responsible for setting task delivery of commercial and procurement related activity carried out by the Assistant Commercial Manager, and in some cases, depending on experience, line management of Assistant Commercial Managers.
The ideal candidate will be self - motivated and have experience in supporting commercial activity to large scale construction and engineering programmes. Team working and collaboration will be key to delivering this role.
What you'll do:
The Commercial Manager will be responsible for the task management of a small team to ensure the successful delivery of commercial and procurement activity to deliver procurement activities including being responsible for:
- Overseeing the task related activity carried out by the Assistant Commercial Manager in relation to delivery of the procurement and commercial strategy (e.g. - ITT / Pricing Model / Negotiation Plan/ contract development)
- Managing procurement and commercial activity across the full commercial lifecycle from strategy through to contract award in conjunction with business stakeholders.
- Working collaboratively with other stakeholders and functions including colleagues in Finance, Programme Management Office (PMO), Legal and Technical to provide a seamless service offering.
- Managing external contractors and consultants - ensuring budgets are managed appropriately.
- Overseeing the approvals process and Business Case process (requisition, financial and commercial approval).
Principal Responsibilities
Commercial and Procurement Strategy
- The Commercial Manager will be responsible for the task delivery carried out by the Assistant Commercial Manager for supporting the development of and overseeing the delivery of procurements in accordance with those strategies. This will include being responsible for the task delivery carried out by the Assistance Commercial Manager. The Commercial Manager will ensure appropriate commercial mechanisms (e.g. payment mechanisms relevant to the delivery of major complex critical infrastructure programmes) are designed to meet deliver Value for Money (VfM) and meet the strategic aims for the contract as defined by the Commercial Lead. The Commercial Manager be responsible for managing the task delivery of the commercial mechanisms identified in the Commercial Strategy aligning with the commercial drivers and the commercial critical success drivers. The Commercial Manager will be responsible for the identification of the approach GBE-N will take to procure the outsourced components required to deliver the procurement, including but not limited to being responsible for defining the procurement objectives, the routes to market and lotting strategy, market engagement activity and the evaluation strategy. The Commercial Manager will use their experience to show awareness and appreciation of in life contract management during the strategy phase development.
Commercial Policy
- The Commercial Manager will apply their commercial knowledge to proactively deliver on the development of commercial policy, procedures and templates, including maintaining the commercial policy ‘library’, whilst supporting an approach of continuous development from the Assistant Commercial Managers to maintain commercial policy and templates.
Commercial Assurance and Governance
- The Commercial Manager will be responsible for ensuring assurance activities across the commercial lifecycle is controlled and aligned with relevant policies, commercial strategies and relevant security requirements for the procurement that the Commercial Manager is supporting. This may include responsibility for ensuring the Assistant Commercial Manager has followed commercial policy in the completion of commercial activity, any operational and risk management reviews as well as leading the support for any internal and/or external audits. It is expected the Commercial Manager will draft the OBC / FBC documents for approvals.
Market Analysis and Commercial Intelligence
- The Commercial Manager will be responsible for delivering the findings of analysis conducted on key supplier markets to understand the key characteristics of the nuclear and related marketplaces to ensure adequate competition exists to continue to drive value for money. This may also include delivering an assessment of the business needs together with supply market analysis to assist in advising an appropriate market engagement approach.
Procurement Process and Tender Management
- The Commercial Manager will use their procurement experience to oversee the delivery of all stages and tasks of the procurement process under tight timescales from tender initiation to contract award and supplier mobilisation. This would also include drafting the Invitation to Tender (ITT), contract and schedules as well as contract sign off and feedback to unsuccessful tenderers. All stages will be managed through the appropriate GBE-N governance processes which the Commercial Manager will be responsible for ensuring is followed in the completion of task activity before the Commercial Lead reviews deliverables.
What we're looking for:
Competencies
- Competencies are important for the job holder and GBE-N to deliver the desired results. The following competencies and skills are required:
Behavioural Competencies
- Managing and planning for the delivery of results under tight timelines
- Supporting a culture that builds trust, integrity and values diversity and expertise
- Working and adapting with stakeholders at all levels
- Communicating with impact and challenging respectfully
- Be thoughtful, inclusive and respectful to others
- Be curious and work constructively with team members and stakeholders to get activity completed.
- Influencing stakeholders and/or suppliers to support commercial solutions in a complex commercial environment
Professional Competencies
- Relevant experience in a nuclear, construction, engineering and/or critical infrastructure programme (Essential)
- Experience of delivering commercial and procurement activity within the NEC suite of contracts, including drafting and negotiation (Essential)
- Extensive experience of supporting the delivery of commercial, procurement and contract management activity whilst adhering to Government processes (CAB, CO and HMT) and requirements (Essential)
- Extensive experience in overseeing project cost estimation and development of appropriate costs and pricing strategies
- Proven skills and experience in leading and reviewing business case development (Green Book - HMT) and working with multiple stakeholders (Essential)
- Strong personal organisational skills, including time management, and ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure within an agile environment (Essential)
- Experience task managing team members (Essential)
- Experience of navigating commercial and procurement activity within the Crown Commercial Services ("CCS"), e.g. assessing at pace CCS frameworks as potential routes to market (Desirable )
- Extensive experience of working within Public Sector Procurements (PCR and Procurement Act) (Desirable)
- Experience of working in a challenging, fast paced environment, managing competing priorities and delivering to tight deadlines.
If you have a disability and would prefer to apply in a different format or would like us to make reasonable adjustments to enable you to apply or attend an interview, please contact us at
[email protected] and we will talk to you about how we can assist.
