A commercial manager is responsible for teams working to win new business, to explore new avenues of activity and to seek out opportunities in order to help the company develop and grow. The commercial manager’s main roles include the financial management of projects, negotiating and agreeing contracts and verifying employee performance. They also need to have good risk management skills as well as financial reporting abilities.
Commercial manager job description - duties and responsibilities:
- Negotiating contracts
- Financial management of projects
- Overseeing product development
Recognising business opportunities - Putting together bids to win new business
- Look to strategically improve procedures by reviewing and developing operational process flows
- Risk assessments
- Offering direction and instruction
- Training and/or mentoring the quantity surveying team
Commercial manager salary.
The salary of a permanently employed commercial manager is generally between £42,000 to £90,000 depending on the area and past experience.
For freelance roles, rates can reach up to roughly £400 to £600 per day, again depending on experience, qualifications, previous employers and notable previous projects.
For more information on the highest paying jobs in construction, read our advice page...
What are the key skills required to be a Commercial Manager?
- Strong management and organisational skills
- Excellent project management expertise
- Negotiating
- Excellent knowledge of the industry
- Decisiveness and mercantile shrewdness
- Good numeracy skills
- Good attention to detail
- The ability to multitask
- Excellent communication skills
Commercial manager qualifications.
Commercial managers are generally Quantity Surveyors who have risen through the ranks and distinguished themselves as good leaders and extremely well organised workers.
Although there are no official qualifications that are required to become a commercial manager, a few are highly desirable.
- A BSc (Hons) in Commercial Management and Quantity Surveying, which covers a mixture of construction aspects, together with specialist modules required for a career in Quantity Surveying and Commercial Management.
- Becoming chartered is also highly encouraged and involves completing the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICs) Assessment of Professionals Competence (APC) while working as a Quantity Surveyor. Obtaining chartered status enables Quantity surveyors to be universally recognised within the profession as it is considered to be a renowned industry standard to strive for.
