Estimations & Commercial Governance Manager

Estimations & Commercial Governance Manager

Purpose of the Role

Every day we help our major global clients deliver ambitious and highly technical projects worldwide. Our team is dynamic, innovative, and client-focused, supported by an inclusive and engaging company culture. Our clients value our proactive approach, depth of expertise, integrity, and the quality we deliver. As a result, our people work on some of the most complex and high-value data centre projects globally.

We are seeking a highly experienced Estimations & Commercial Governance Manager to lead the commercial estimating and contract governance function across our Data Centre projects throughout Europe and internationally.

This role is responsible for delivering accurate, competitive, and strategic cost planning from concept through tender submission while maintaining robust commercial governance across the project lifecycle. Working as part of a global team, you will oversee estimating, commercial risk management, contract governance, purchase order controls, and operational-commercial alignment to ensure consistency, revenue protection, and commercial excellence.

You will play a key leadership role in supporting business growth through high-quality bid submissions, proactive contract management, and the protection of the company's commercial interests across all live projects.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the preparation of accurate and competitive cost estimates across CSA, MEP and Fit-Out projects, managing the full estimating lifecycle from concept design through final tender submission while developing estimating strategies aligned with business objectives.
• Review drawings, specifications, scope documents, contractual requirements and commercial conditions to produce robust cost plans, establish benchmarking databases, historical cost models and ensure consistency across all estimating activities.
• Coordinate closely with Design, Commercial, Procurement, Finance and Operations teams to align assumptions, methodologies and commercial controls while leading value engineering initiatives, cost optimisation exercises and supporting bid/no-bid decisions.
• Manage supplier and subcontractor pricing, validate commercial inputs, monitor market conditions and ensure all estimates comply with client requirements, regional market conditions, contractual obligations and internal governance processes.
• Present estimates, commercial risk assessments and pricing strategies to senior leadership and clients while driving continuous improvement of estimating systems, governance procedures and commercial processes.
• Maintain full governance over contracts, purchase orders, framework agreements, funding approvals, expiry dates and renewal milestones by implementing proactive tracking mechanisms and ensuring all operational delivery is supported by valid contractual authority.
• Identify, assess and escalate commercial, contractual and operational risks including expired contracts, unapproved variations, mobilisation without funding, client dependency risks, termination provisions and unrecoverable costs, ensuring appropriate mitigation strategies are implemented.
• Coordinate commercial governance reviews with Operations, Procurement, Finance and Senior Leadership, maintaining commercial risk registers, supporting revenue protection, forecasting, contract compliance and ensuring all services delivered remain commercially recoverable.
• Ensure project teams understand contractual obligations including termination clauses, notice provisions, back-to-back obligations, dependency clauses and contractual limitations while challenging operational decisions where appropriate commercial approval or contractual protection is absent.
• Support business development activities, client engagement, commercial reporting, lessons learned, dispute resolution, contract close-out, demobilisation planning and the continuous improvement of governance processes across the business.

Skills & Attributes

• Strong leadership experience managing estimating and commercial governance functions within complex construction projects.
• Excellent commercial acumen, analytical ability and strategic thinking with exceptional attention to detail.
• Strong communication, presentation and stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence senior leadership.
• High proficiency in estimating software, commercial reporting and data analysis tools.
• Excellent understanding of data centre construction methodologies, sequencing, contract administration, purchase order governance and commercial risk management.
• Proven ability to identify, manage and escalate contractual, financial and operational risks before commercial impact occurs.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple bids, live projects and competing priorities while balancing operational delivery with contractual and financial controls.
• Demonstrates integrity, professionalism and sound commercial judgement.

Experience & Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Quantity Surveying, Construction Management, Commercial Management or a related discipline.
• Minimum 12–15 years' experience in construction estimating and commercial management, ideally within data centre or other mission-critical environments.
• Proven experience leading high-value project estimates (typically €50m+) across CSA and MEP disciplines.
• Strong understanding of international construction markets, particularly across Europe.
• Experience working with Tier 1 contractors, consultants or specialist data centre organisations.
• Proficiency in industry-standard estimating software such as CostX, Candy, CCS or similar platforms.
• Demonstrated experience managing commercial risk, contract governance, contract renewals, purchase order controls, operational-commercial alignment, commercial disputes and recovery of contractual entitlements.
• Strong understanding of NEC, FIDIC or equivalent contract forms and flow-down risk structures.
• Membership of RICS, CIOB or an equivalent professional body is desirable.

Additional Information

Please note this job description is not intended to provide an exhaustive list of duties or responsibilities. The role will evolve in line with business requirements.

The successful candidate will be expected to demonstrate proactive commercial leadership across all project stages and escalate any material commercial, contractual, operational or financial risks that may impact the business.