Commercial Manager

Shape a future with purpose at Arup in Dublin or Cork. 

Arup’s purpose, shared values and collaborative approach has set us apart for over 75 years, guiding how we shape a better world. 

The Opportunity

Reporting to the Procurement and Cost Management Team Lead, the Commercial Manager or Project Controls Team Lead will oversee the project controls team, ensuring effective commercial management and project control processes across all projects. This role requires strong leadership, strategic planning, and the ability to manage multiple tasks and activities simultaneously. The team lead will be responsible for implementing robust project controls to mitigate risks, enhance profitability, and ensure successful project delivery. This role requires an individual who embodies the Arup values and can demonstrate a strong commitment to quality, client service, and commercial discipline. They will be responsible for fostering a culture of excellence within the team, with a focus on accuracy and attention to detail in all aspects of project control. The team lead will also play a key role in nurturing client relationships, ensuring that Arup is seen as a trusted advisor and partner.

As a Project Controls Team Lead at Arup, you will:

Leadership and Team Management:

• Lead and mentor the project controls team, fostering a collaborative and high-performance culture, providing clear performance expectations, feedback and development opportunities for the team.
• Provide an aspirational role model for team members, creating a climate of trust and openness.
• Plan and manage the continued professional development of the team, deepening their specialisation and encouraging them to connect their solutions to bigger picture issues.
• Provide one-on-one support to project managers and develop rolled-up reporting for team leaders and commercial managers.
• Identify trends and implement mitigation measures to improve team performance.

Cost Control and Financial Management:

• Develop and implement project-specific cost control processes to ensure project profitability, taking key decisions in the bidding process and demonstrating good commercial discipline.
• Oversee budget estimation, resource planning, contract review, and assessment during project proposal and delivery stages, planning full projects/activities and resources required, e.g. time, people and skills.
• Monitor and analyse financial performance, project costs, and other performance parameters, ensuring the project commercially delivers against Arup's business plan and managing the commercial imperatives of the project.
• Conduct variance analyses, track actuals against budgets, and report project financials.
• Collaborate with project and business leadership to determine corrective actions for poor financial performance.

Change Management and Claims:

• Regularly meet with project managers on commercially challenging projects to understand ongoing change management and identify areas for additional support, providing support in drafting claims and negotiating changes with challenging clients.
• Manage change requests within established commercial goals and resolve complex technical issues where there may not be an established precedent.
• Provide templates and training for change management and early warning systems.
• Report change management activities to the commercial management team.

Earned Value Management:

•  Provide training to project managers and develop templates to consistently monitor and report earned value (EV) on projects of various sizes.
•  Collaborate with project managers to provide improved work-to-go forecasts and implement consistent EV reporting.
•    Bid Stage Support:
• Conduct commercial reviews of projects prior to submission and provide standardised templates, supporting Project Directors in the overall delivery of the project.
• Create commercial plans for aggressively bid projects to mitigate risks and ensure alignment with project goals, demonstrating understanding of and commitment to the Arup values.

Construction Stage Support:

• Review projects prior to commencement of construction to set up robust change management systems and ensure early-stage negotiations.
• Identify commercial opportunities during the construction stage, such as prolongation claims and negotiating increased rates.
• Provide templates for monitoring and support with commercial monitoring and preparation of claims.

In-Project Support:

• Prepare recovery plans for projects where the reported profit has significantly reduced.
• Assist with time-based invoicing and commercial monitoring of commercially challenging projects.
• Support forecast updates, contingency protocols, and tracking of subconsultants.
• Provide training and templates for effective commercial management.

Team Support and Development:

• Develop reporting within the team for monitoring by team leaders and commercial managers.
• Provide one-on-one support to specific project managers and identify trends for improvement.
• Ensure sufficient and consistent capacity of resources for effective delivery of services.

 Qualifications / Attributes

• Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, construction management, or a related financial discipline.
• Minimum of 10 years of relevant experience, preferably in the Architecture/Engineering/Construction industries.
• In-depth knowledge in a specialist area, with post-qualification experience.

Does this role inspire you?

 We also value:

• Recognised internally for specialisation and sought out for projects, representing the Group on cross-functional projects.
• Strong knowledge of commercial management and contractual matters.
• Significant experience in budgeting, financial reporting, and cost tracking.
• Accredited project manager, according to regional requirements.
• Advanced knowledge of Excel and experience with project scheduling software.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
• Exceptional attention to detail and the ability to manage workload effectively.
• Experience with Arup financial management tools and reporting systems.

Why Arup?

At Arup, we believe in rewarding our members for their contributions to our shared success. As a trust-owned company, we have the freedom to pursue meaningful work that aligns with our purpose and values. We also offer a unique profit share program, allowing our members to share in the results of our collective efforts.

Benefits that work for you:

• Professional Growth & Development: Benefit from continuous learning opportunities, training programs, and mentorship to enhance your skills and advance your career at Arup.
• Global Opportunities: Collaborate with colleagues worldwide and explore potential short-term or long-term assignments at other Arup offices and project locations.
• Financial Well-being & Ownership: Receive a competitive salary and benefits package and share in Arup's success through our global profit-sharing programme.
• Wellbeing and Culture: At Arup we are committed to fostering a healthy working culture by offering a range of health and wellbeing benefits, including health insurance, flexible working schemes, wellness programmes and an Employee Assistance Programme. 
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: We strive to embed inclusion in our way of working, our interactions with one another and the projects we deliver. We are committed to creating an inclusive working environment for talented people of any background, based on merit, fairness and respect.

At Arup, you belong to an extraordinary collective where individuality is encouraged. Our strength comes from how we respect, share, and connect our diverse experiences, perspectives, and ideas. You'll have the opportunity to do socially useful work that has meaning – to Arup, to your career, and to the clients and communities we serve.

We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and are committed to building a workplace that reflects the rich diversity of the world around us. We actively promote a culture of inclusion where everyone feels welcome, respected, and valued.

We welcome applications from talented individuals of all backgrounds, regardless of age (within legal limits), gender identity or expression, disability, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other protected characteristic. We are committed to making our recruitment process and workplaces accessible. 

Do you want to join us in shaping a better world?