Base location: You will spend 50% of your working week in our Reading or Manchester office.
Salary: £50,100 – £75,100 + performance‑related bonus + a range of benefits to support your finances, wellbeing and family.
Working pattern: Permanent | Full Time | Flexible First options available.
The role
The Commercial Manager Pre‑Contract plays a pivotal role within the ICP Business Unit by developing and negotiating the commercial proposition for electricity network infrastructure projects. The Commercial Manager is responsible for the development and delivery of commercial bids for new Independent Connection Provider (ICP) works, supporting the construction and delivery of new electricity network infrastructure across the UK.
The postholder will personally lead the drafting, negotiation and risk positioning of all bid‑stage contracts, ensuring contractual clarity, appropriate risk allocation and full commercial protection prior to submission and award. The role retains accountability for bid strategy, pricing integrity, governance and final commercial submissions. The postholder will also draft variation agreements for projects in construction, as required.
You will
- Own the end‑to‑end commercial strategy for ICP bids, from early opportunity development through to contract award. You will lead the commercial shaping of opportunities from the earliest engagement stage, influencing bid/no‑bid decisions, route‑to‑market, contracting strategy and commercial positioning.
- Personally draft, amend and finalise all upstream contracts and support procurement with downstream contract amendments, ensuring balanced risk allocation and that downstream supply chain contracts mirror upstream risk.
- Lead and control all contractual negotiations with clients and suppliers through to award, setting negotiation strategy, defining red lines, and managing commercial correspondence.
- Identify, assess and mitigate contractual risk, ensuring alignment between contract, scope, programme and price, and that risks are reflected in pricing, contingencies and assumptions.
- Lead the estimating function and sign off all project cost adjudications, providing senior leadership with robust estimates aligned with delivery methodology and business targets.
- Lead internal bid reviews and approvals, providing clear commercial and contractual recommendations to senior stakeholders and ensuring full confidence in bid acceptance and award conditions.
- Work closely with delivery, engineering, procurement, legal and finance to align bid submissions and avoid downstream disputes by ensuring bids are technically sound, contractually clear and commercially coherent.
You have
- Senior commercial experience within ICP, utilities, power or civil infrastructure environments, and a strong understanding of how commercial decisions at bid stage impact delivery performance, margin erosion and claims exposure.
- A proven track record of delivering successful competitive bids, including negotiating departures, qualifications and alternative commercial positions to secure award without exposing the business to unacceptable downside risk.
- Strong, demonstrable experience personally drafting and negotiating ICP and NEC contracts and bespoke amendments, with the ability to interpret contractual risk and propose robust solutions independently.
- Deep understanding of contractual risk and its impact on pricing, delivery and margin, including downstream effects of pain/gain provisions, compensation events and programme obligations.
- Experience leading pre‑contract commercial teams and coordinating multidisciplinary bid inputs, setting clear direction and driving deadlines to produce high‑quality tender submissions under time pressure.
About SSE
SSE’s purpose is to provide energy needed today while building a better world of energy for tomorrow. We do this by developing, building, operating and investing in electricity infrastructure and businesses needed in the energy transition. Our Transforming for Growth investment plan sees us investing £33 bn in critical electricity infrastructure across the five years to 2030.
Flexible Benefits To Fit Your Life
Enjoy discounts on private healthcare and gym memberships, wellbeing benefits such as a free online GP and 24/7 counselling service, interest‑free loans on tech and transport season tickets, or a new bike with our Cycle to Work scheme. Generous family entitlements include maternity and adoption pay, and paternity leave.
Work with an equal opportunity employer
SSE will make any reasonable adjustments you need to ensure that your application and experience with us is positive. We are dedicated to fostering an open and inclusive workplace where people from all backgrounds can thrive, and we especially welcome applications from those who may not be well represented in our workforce or industry.
#J-18808-Ljbffr”, “datePosted”: “2026-05-12”, “hiringOrganization”: { “@type”: “Organization”, “name”: “SSE plc”, “sameAs”: “https://uk.whatjobs.com/pub_api__cpl__429299641__4861?utm_campaign=publisher&utm_medium=api&utm_source=4861&geoID=424” }, “jobLocation”: { “@type”: “Place”, “address”: { “@type”: “PostalAddress”, “addressLocality”: “Reading” } } }Base location: You will spend 50% of your working week in our Reading or Manchester office.
Salary: £50,100 – £75,100 + performance‑related bonus + a range of benefits to support your finances, wellbeing and family.
Working pattern: Permanent | Full Time | Flexible First options available.
The role
The Commercial Manager Pre‑Contract plays a pivotal role within the ICP Business Unit by developing and negotiating the commercial proposition for electricity network infrastructure projects. The Commercial Manager is responsible for the development and delivery of commercial bids for new Independent Connection Provider (ICP) works, supporting the construction and delivery of new electricity network infrastructure across the UK.
The postholder will personally lead the drafting, negotiation and risk positioning of all bid‑stage contracts, ensuring contractual clarity, appropriate risk allocation and full commercial protection prior to submission and award. The role retains accountability for bid strategy, pricing integrity, governance and final commercial submissions. The postholder will also draft variation agreements for projects in construction, as required.
You will
- Own the end‑to‑end commercial strategy for ICP bids, from early opportunity development through to contract award. You will lead the commercial shaping of opportunities from the earliest engagement stage, influencing bid/no‑bid decisions, route‑to‑market, contracting strategy and commercial positioning.
- Personally draft, amend and finalise all upstream contracts and support procurement with downstream contract amendments, ensuring balanced risk allocation and that downstream supply chain contracts mirror upstream risk.
- Lead and control all contractual negotiations with clients and suppliers through to award, setting negotiation strategy, defining red lines, and managing commercial correspondence.
- Identify, assess and mitigate contractual risk, ensuring alignment between contract, scope, programme and price, and that risks are reflected in pricing, contingencies and assumptions.
- Lead the estimating function and sign off all project cost adjudications, providing senior leadership with robust estimates aligned with delivery methodology and business targets.
- Lead internal bid reviews and approvals, providing clear commercial and contractual recommendations to senior stakeholders and ensuring full confidence in bid acceptance and award conditions.
- Work closely with delivery, engineering, procurement, legal and finance to align bid submissions and avoid downstream disputes by ensuring bids are technically sound, contractually clear and commercially coherent.
You have
- Senior commercial experience within ICP, utilities, power or civil infrastructure environments, and a strong understanding of how commercial decisions at bid stage impact delivery performance, margin erosion and claims exposure.
- A proven track record of delivering successful competitive bids, including negotiating departures, qualifications and alternative commercial positions to secure award without exposing the business to unacceptable downside risk.
- Strong, demonstrable experience personally drafting and negotiating ICP and NEC contracts and bespoke amendments, with the ability to interpret contractual risk and propose robust solutions independently.
- Deep understanding of contractual risk and its impact on pricing, delivery and margin, including downstream effects of pain/gain provisions, compensation events and programme obligations.
- Experience leading pre‑contract commercial teams and coordinating multidisciplinary bid inputs, setting clear direction and driving deadlines to produce high‑quality tender submissions under time pressure.
About SSE
SSE’s purpose is to provide energy needed today while building a better world of energy for tomorrow. We do this by developing, building, operating and investing in electricity infrastructure and businesses needed in the energy transition. Our Transforming for Growth investment plan sees us investing £33 bn in critical electricity infrastructure across the five years to 2030.
Flexible Benefits To Fit Your Life
Enjoy discounts on private healthcare and gym memberships, wellbeing benefits such as a free online GP and 24/7 counselling service, interest‑free loans on tech and transport season tickets, or a new bike with our Cycle to Work scheme. Generous family entitlements include maternity and adoption pay, and paternity leave.
Work with an equal opportunity employer
SSE will make any reasonable adjustments you need to ensure that your application and experience with us is positive. We are dedicated to fostering an open and inclusive workplace where people from all backgrounds can thrive, and we especially welcome applications from those who may not be well represented in our workforce or industry.
#J-18808-Ljbffr…