My client owns an established manufacturer and supplier of niche engineered products, delivering bespoke solutions to a wide range of engineering challenges across multiple industry sectors. With their in-house capabilities, the business is uniquely positioned to provide custom-engineered solutions on an exceptionally fast turnaround.
Operating with a lean, highly skilled and dedicated team from our [Norwich] site, and are entering our next stage of commercial maturity ahead of a planned leadership transition.
The successful candidate will take immediate operational ownership of our core commercial functions. For the individual who delivers to our very high standard the appointment carries the opportunity to earn equity through a structured earn-in arrangement aligning long-term reward directly with the value created.
We are not looking for a corporate functional specialist content to stay in a single lane and delegate downward. We are looking for a versatile, high-energy all-rounder — equally comfortable inside a margin spreadsheet, leading a high-value customer negotiation, or setting the pace across the team.
Commercial Manager responsibilities:
* Enquiries - Own the inbound enquiry pipeline end to end, protecting our fast-turnaround USP through rapid, accurate quoting (compound selection, tooling, lead times) and strong enquiry-to-quote conversion.
* Orders - Manage the order book and order processing, owning on-time-in-full delivery and the commercial accuracy of every job entering production.
* Support Tickets - Own customer service and after-sales response — technical queries, complaints and resolution — as a core retention and reputation lever.
* Supplier Management - Lead raw material and compound purchasing, supplier negotiation, lead-time and supply security, and direct control of cost of goods sold.
* Financials - Take ownership of the P&L: margin analysis by product and customer, pricing strategy, management accounts and cash flow.
* Operational Alignment - Bridge commercial and production — aligning the sales pipeline with capacity and scheduling, and leading the commercial integration of the acquired moulding business into the Norwich site.
Commercial Manager Profile:
* Proven commercial & financial acumen — ownership of both top-line growth and bottom-line protection (purchasing, COGS and full P&L mechanics), with an instinctive grasp of how purchasing and pricing decisions flow through to cash.
* SME manufacturing / engineering background — deep experience within an agile SME, ideally in technical manufacturing, engineering or industrial distribution, where rapid response times and cross-functional agility are the norm.
* Natural leadership & presence — a self-starter with the emotional intelligence and authority to earn respect, rally a tight-knit team, and lift operational pace through personal standard-setting.
* Executive ambition — tailored for a high-potential operator ready to step up: the strong “number two” in a larger business, or a manager who has outgrown their current ceiling, seeking the autonomy to run — and ultimately own a stake in — an enterprise.
* Commercial tempo and tight daily control — comfortable running the operation with genuine pace and rigour, raising the commercial awareness and ownership of the team rather than simply administering it.
* Rapid, high-quality decision-making — in bespoke manufacturing, friction and delay translate directly into lost margin; you digest technical and commercial data quickly, cut through noise, and make firm, accurate calls.
* A genuine all-rounder — able to move fluidly across a purchasing contract, an urgent enterprise enquiry, a scheduling bottleneck and the week’s cash flow without losing a step.
* Meticulous attention to detail — our products are highly engineered to precise specification, and errors in quoting, compound selection or scheduling are costly. Speed must be matched by structural accuracy.
Commercial Manager and Company Culture:
The company's biggest asset is its team a close-knit, energetic group with a genuine can-do attitude and no passengers. Therefore need someone whose instinct is to lead through coaching and development, not command and control.
The right person will:
* Earn authority through credibility and example — commanding respect through fairness, consistency and standards rather than hierarchy or volume.
* Bring people with them — setting a high bar and a strong pace while actively developing the team’s capability and confidence.
* Lead with emotional intelligence — reading the room, giving constructive feedback, and creating the conditions for people to do their best work.
* Strengthen a positive, low-politics environment — building on the healthy, collaborative culture we already have, never imposing one of pressure or fear.
In short, we are looking for someone the team will want to follow — a leader who raises the bar by lifting people up.
The successful candidate will take immediate, hands-on accountability for the commercial performance of the business and total command of the back-office function — ensuring smooth operational flow and high customer satisfaction from first enquiry through to cash. Day-to-day responsibility for the production floor sits with the operations team; this role owns the commercial engine that drives it.
This is not a static mid-management appointment. It is a structured executive succession track .
This fantastic Commercial Manager vacancy comes with an extremely rewarding salary/package with a genuine opportunity to earn into the ownership of the business.
Head Hunted Recruitment Services Ltd and associated clients are committed to encouraging equality, diversity and inclusion among our workforce, and eliminating unlawful discrimination. The aim is for our workforce to be truly representative of all sections of society and our customer
Salary description
£45000.00 - £50000.00 per year