Head of Commercial (PR/007205)
Location: Bristol
Role Type: Hybrid
Salary: £85,000 – £100,000 + 15% bonus + benefits
Overview
A leading organisation within the defence sector is seeking an experienced Commercial Leader to head up a high-performing commercial team. This is a pivotal role responsible for driving commercial strategy, ensuring contractual compliance, and supporting complex defence-related programmes.
The Role
Reporting into senior leadership, you will lead and develop a team of approximately 10 commercial professionals, providing direction across a portfolio of service-based and support/maintenance contracts within the defence environment.
You will play a key role in shaping commercial outcomes, managing risk, and ensuring robust governance across contracts, while partnering closely with operational and programme teams.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead, manage, and develop a team of commercial professionals
- Provide strategic commercial oversight across defence service/support contracts
- Drive strong commercial performance, including cost control, margin improvement, and risk mitigation
- Lead on complex contract negotiations, variations, and dispute resolution
- Ensure full compliance with contractual terms and conditions (T&Cs)
- Partner with key stakeholders across finance, legal, and operations
- Support bid activity and contribute to business growth initiatives
Key Requirements
- Proven experience in a commercial leadership or senior commercial management role
- Strong line management experience, with a track record of leading and developing teams
- Essential: Experience within the defence sector
- Ideally experience within service-based, support, or maintenance contracts
- Strong commercial acumen with deep understanding of contract terms & conditions
- Experience managing complex, high-value contracts
- Excellent stakeholder management and negotiation skills
What’s On Offer
- Competitive salary of £85,000 – £100,000
- 15% performance-related bonus
- Flexible/hybrid working
- Opportunity to lead a key commercial function within a growing organisation
If you’re interested in finding out more, contact Jake Currie at Jake.Currie@arguilesearch.com