Senior Quantity Surveyor

Waites Recruitment Consultancy are seeking a Commercial Lead / QS for a client on a full time basis. The right candidate needs to have eperience with fit out projects / commercial projects as this is key.

Quantity Surveying & Cost Management

• Lead all Quantity Surveying functions across live projects, ensuring accurate cost planning, control, and reporting throughout the project lifecycle.
• Prepare, review, and agree interim valuations, applications for payment, and final accounts with clients and subcontractors.
• Manage subcontractor procurement, package letting, and commercial supply chain relationships.
• Identify, quantify, and manage commercial risks and opportunities, escalating where appropriate.
• Ensure robust change management procedures are implemented and adhered to, with all variations priced, submitted, and agreed in a timely manner.
• Oversee the preparation of cost reports, cash flow forecasts, and commercial reporting to provide accurate business insight.

Estimating & Pre-Construction

Lead and manage the estimating function, ensuring all tender submissions are accurately priced, commercially sound, and competitively positioned.

Review and approve estimates and tender submissions prior to issue, ensuring alignment with project scope, programme requirements, and risk profile.

Drive continuous improvement in estimating processes, tools, benchmarking data, and tender delivery.

Work closely with operational teams to validate buildability assumptions and programme-based cost inputs during tender stages.

Maintain and develop estimating databases, ensuring rates, outputs, and market intelligence remain current and accurate.

Operational Commercial Support

Act as the primary commercial partner to the Operations team, supporting Project Managers and Site Managers with day-to-day commercial decisions.

Attend project review meetings, providing commercial insight and challenge to ensure projects are delivered within budget and programme constraints.

Support operational teams in identifying and mitigating commercial risks throughout project delivery.

Collaborate on procurement strategies to ensure alignment between commercial objectives and project delivery requirements.

Provide commercial guidance and training to operational teams to improve commercial awareness across the business.

Contractual Management & Business Protection

Work closely with the Contracts Directors to protect the business's commercial and contractual position across all forms of contract, including NEC, JCT, and bespoke agreements.

Support the negotiation, review, and execution of client and subcontract agreements.

Provide commercial input into claims, dispute resolution, adjudications, and contractual negotiations.

Assist in developing and implementing commercial policies, procedures, and best practice across the business.

Support bid/no-bid decisions and pre-contract risk reviews to ensure commercially viable opportunities are pursued.

Team Leadership & Development

Lead, manage, and develop the commercial team, including Quantity Surveyors and Estimators.

Set clear objectives, monitor performance, and support professional development.

Conduct regular performance reviews and identify training and development requirements.

Support team members in achieving professional qualifications and career progression.

Foster a high-performance culture focused on accuracy, accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Support recruitment, onboarding, and resource planning to ensure appropriate commercial team capacity as the business grows.

Strategic Commercial Leadership

Provide strategic commercial input to support business growth and profitability.

Champion best practice across commercial, contractual, and estimating functions.

Build strong relationships with clients, consultants, subcontractors, and internal stakeholders.

Work collaboratively with senior leadership to support business planning and decision-making.

Contribute to the development and implementation of the company's commercial strategy.

General Responsibilities

Ensure compliance with company policies, procedures, and governance requirements.

Maintain high professional standards and promote the company's values at all times.

Undertake any other duties as required to support the business and achieve company objectives.

Contracts Director

Qualifications, Experience and Behaviours

Qualifications

• Degree in Quantity Surveying or a related construction discipline.
• Additional qualifications in Estimating, Project Management, Contract Law, or Commercial Management are desirable.

Experience

Significant post-qualification experience within a Quantity Surveying role in the construction industry.

Proven experience leading and managing commercial teams, including Quantity Surveying and Estimating functions.

Strong track record of delivering successful commercial outcomes on complex construction projects.

Extensive experience working under NEC3/NEC4, JCT, and bespoke contract forms.

Previous experience in tendering, estimating, and pre-construction commercial activities.

Experience engaging with clients, subcontractors, consultants, and professional teams at a senior level.

Experience within fit-out, refurbishment, construction, or related sectors is highly desirable.

Values:

We are fair and do not expect from others what we wouldn’t expect from ourselves  

We are ‘in person’ people with smiles on our faces

We are reliable and take responsibility for our actions

We are honest and go about our work with integrity

We are professional in the way we carry out our business

We are great team players

We are proactive and make things happen

Behaviours:

Demonstrates clear and professional communication, both written and verbal

Shows initiative, reliability and strong personal accountability

Effectively manages workload and meets agreed deadlines

Follows up on actions and commitments in a timely manner

Maintains professional and respectful working relationships with internal and external stakeholders

Shows flexibility and a positive attitude, contributing to the wider team when needed

Key Performance Indicators

Commercial performance of projects against budget and forecast.

Tender success rates and estimating accuracy.

Timely agreement of valuations, variations, and final accounts.

Team development, retention, and performance.

Contribution to business profitability and growth.