Assistant Commercial Manager - Defence

Job Description

Important: Before applying, due to the sensitive nature of these projects, you must be a SOLE UK National who is able to achieve and maintain UK MoD Security Clearance (SC). See Security Clearance Section.

Turner & Townsend’s Defence South East Cost Centre provides support to Defence projects and programmes that range in complexity and size. Our service offering includes programme & project management, controls & performance management, cost management and procurement.

We are actively looking to expand the Defence South East team due to client requirements; we’re looking for talented individuals to join us to support the delivery of our growing client portfolio. These individuals should expect to further develop their careers through working on a range of complex and challenging commissions, whilst being part of an engaging and high performing team.

The opportunity

We’re growing our Defence commercial team and looking for people ready to take the next step in their commercial careers, in three professions: procurement, quantity surveying and cost estimating.

As a Junior Commercial Manager (Assistant), you’ll work alongside experienced Commercial Managers on Turner & Townsend’s Defence clients. They include Ministry of Defence organisations such as Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) and the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), and strategic Defence suppliers, on programmes across air, land, sea, cyber and space.

We also deliver infrastructure work, including under NEC4, and more or less anything else our clients need commercial support with.

You don’t need Defence experience to apply. It’s a real advantage, but a solid commercial grounding and some exposure to public procurement carry across from other sectors.

Recently completed a degree, graduate programme or apprenticeship? If you’ve gained your first commercial experience in public procurement, through a graduate programme, a placement year or a procurement or commercial apprenticeship, we’d love to help you build on it. You’ll work across a range of Defence clients and programmes, with experienced colleagues alongside you.

Working supplier-side? If you’re in a commercial, contracts, bids or pricing role with a Defence supplier, or coming to the end of a contract and thinking about what’s next, you already understand how Defence buys from the other side of the table. With us, that insight becomes advice, used across a whole portfolio of programmes rather than a single contract.

Wherever you’re coming from, if you want to build a commercial career in consultancy, this could be an excellent place to start.

Pathways:

• Procurement: supporting procurement and commercial strategy, defining requirements, market engagement, competitive and single source procurement, tendering, commercial contracting, and contract and supplier management from mobilisation through to exit.
• Quantity surveying: supporting quantification and costing, cost planning, procurement and tendering, contract administration and change under NEC4, JCT or FIDIC, valuations, and project financial control and reporting.
• Cost estimating (including cost engineering): supporting estimate production from order of magnitude through to detailed estimates built up from first principles, gathering and analysing cost data, and benchmarking.

Not sure which pathway fits? Many people starting out haven’t settled on one yet. Tell us where your interest lies and we’ll talk it through.

About you

You’ve made a start in commercial work and you’re ready for more of it. You like getting to the bottom of a problem, you take care over the detail, and you want to learn from people who do this well.

Our culture is underpinned by three values: love a challenge, stronger together and bring out the best in everyone. If those sound like you, you’ll fit right in.

We’re looking for people who are:

• Eager to learn: you take on new things readily, ask good questions and act on feedback.
• Organised and accurate: you keep track of the detail, meet deadlines and produce work others can rely on.
• Clear communicators: you can write and speak plainly, and you’re comfortable raising a question or a concern.
• Trustworthy: you act with integrity, handle sensitive information with care, and understand why ethics and compliance matter when spending public money.
• Comfortable with numbers and data: you’re confident with spreadsheets and happy working through figures to find what they tell you.
• Adaptable: you’re keen to build experience across the whole commercial lifecycle, not just one part of it.
• Collaborative: you work well alongside project managers, engineers, controls and finance teams and help create an inclusive and respectful environment where people feel valued and able to contribute.

You don’t need to tick every box. If you have some relevant skills and experience and you’re excited by this work, please apply.

What you’ll do

No two commissions are the same. As a Junior Commercial Manager (Assistant), you’ll support Commercial Managers across the commercial lifecycle, building your experience and taking on more responsibility as you grow. You can expect to:

• Support the commercial workstream on client projects, owning defined tasks and growing into larger pieces of work.
• Help prepare procurement and tender documents, support market engagement and contribute to tender evaluation.
• Help produce cost plans, estimates, bills of quantities, valuations or cost reports, depending on your profession, and explain the results clearly to the project team.
• Gather, analyse and present commercial and cost data, including management information and supplier performance reporting.
• Maintain contract records, registers and trackers, and support contract administration and change.
• Help make sure commercial activity meets governance, compliance and legal requirements.
• Work with client teams and colleagues, attend meetings, and follow through on actions.
• Work towards professional membership in your chosen profession.

What you’ll bring

Across all three pathways:

• Some experience in a commercial, procurement, cost or finance environment. This could be from a graduate programme, a procurement or commercial apprenticeship, a placement, a junior role client-side or supplier-side, or your time in the Armed Forces.
• Some exposure to public procurement. For procurement, this could mean having supported procurements under the Procurement Act 2023, the Public Contract Regulations or the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations, as either a client or a supplier. For quantity surveying and cost estimating, it could mean having supported work on publicly procured projects, for example helping to prepare or price tenders.
• Good working knowledge of Microsoft Excel and the wider Microsoft Office suite.
• Clear written and verbal communication, and a genuine commitment to delivering a high-quality service.

Procurement:

• Some experience supporting procurement, contract placement (sourcing) and/or contract management, ideally using e-sourcing or contract management systems.
• An understanding of the procurement cycle, to at least CIPS Level 3 standard and ideally studying towards Level 4: defining business need, sourcing, contracting, and supplier relationships.
• An awareness of the main public procurement routes and when they’re used, and a basic understanding of contract law and standard contract terms.

Quantity surveying:

• An understanding of measurement, quantification and costing.
• Some exposure to cost planning, tendering, valuations, change control or contract administration, for example under NEC4, JCT or FIDIC.

Cost estimating:

• Strong numerical and analytical skills, including building spreadsheet models in Excel, and an interest in how estimates are built and assured.
• An understanding of basic estimating methods, such as data collection and analysis, cost driver and sensitivity analysis, and risk and uncertainty.
• Some experience of, or an appetite to learn, estimating software packages.

It would be great if you also have:

• Experience in Defence, either with the MOD or its supply chain. Service leavers and veterans are very welcome.
• Experience of working with UK Government organisations.
• Current or previous UK security clearance.
• Some exposure to NEC4 contracts, whichever pathway you’re in.
• Experience with data and reporting tools beyond Excel, such as Power BI, or an awareness of modelling quality standards such as the HM Treasury AQuA Book.

Qualifications

• A degree in any discipline, an HNC/HND or a completed apprenticeship (business, commercial management, quantity surveying, engineering, economics and numerate subjects are particularly relevant), or an equivalent level of relevant experience.
• Typically up to 2 years of relevant commercial, procurement or cost experience. We welcome applications from graduates and those moving into commercial roles from other careers.
• Progress towards your professional body, either started or with an appetite to begin:

Pathway

Starting point (achieved, or an appetite to work towards)

Procurement

Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) Level 4 (Level 3 welcome as a starting point)

Quantity surveying

An RICS-accredited degree working towards chartership through the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC), or Associate membership of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (AssocRICS)

Cost estimating

ICEAA PCEA (the entry-level certification), and/or ACostE, CaSA (Control & Skills Authority), RICS or CIOB membership

Not sure you match everything? Plenty of good commercial people started without a formal qualification or professional membership. If you can see yourself in some of this and bring other strengths, get in touch with our Recruitment Team through SmartRecruiters before you decide whether to apply. We’d rather have that conversation than miss you.

What we offer

• Breadth from day one: work across several Defence clients, programmes and contract types rather than just one, so your experience grows faster.
• Both sides of the table: support the Ministry of Defence and strategic Defence suppliers, and learn how each of them thinks.
• Work of national importance: contribute to programmes across air, land, sea, cyber and space, alongside leading professionals in the defence, aerospace and security sectors.
• Learning from experienced people: work day to day alongside Commercial Managers and senior colleagues who want to help you develop.
• Variety: be involved in some of the most exciting and interesting challenges facing UK Defence today, in both the public and private sectors. No two roles are the same.
• Career development: build your experience across the commercial lifecycle, taking on more responsibility and growing your career as your skills develop.
• A supportive culture: founded on trust, flexibility and the belief that people perform at their best when they feel supported and empowered.

Additional Information

Security Clearance

Important: Before applying, due to the sensitive nature of these projects, you must be a Sole UK National who is able to achieve and maintain UK MoD Security Clearance (SC).

Many of the clients and projects we support are subject to MoD security clearance and Trade Control restrictions. This means that your eligibility for certain roles may be affected by your place of birth, nationality, current or former citizenship, and any residency you hold or have held. Further details are available at United Kingdom Security Vetting: clearance levels - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Our inspired people share our vision and mission. We provide a great place to work, where each person has the opportunity and voice to affect change.

We want our people to succeed both in work and life. To support this we promote a healthy, productive and flexible working environment that respects work-life balance. 

Turner & Townsend is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees and actively encourage applications from all sectors of the community.

Please find out more about us at www.turnerandtownsend.com/

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SOX control responsibilities may be part of this role, which are to be adhered to where applicable.

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