Commercial Director

What’s in it for you:

Are you looking for a new challenge and want to join a successful and growing organisation dedicated to creating lasting and effective social change? Do you have a passion for leadership and organisational management? If so, we want to hear from you.

• Flexible location: Sydney or Melbourne
• Join a growing organisation and work with a dynamic international team, located in Australia, Singapore, and London
• A career that is purpose driven and flexible in a supportive, agile, and positive environment
• Excellent working conditions, including and additional week of company leave time
• Competitive salary reflective of skills and experience
• 2-year contract
• Additional week of company leave time
• Mobile phone provided

The Role

The CEI Commercial Director is a newly created position, reporting to the Executive Director, to support CEI’s rapidly growing business. As a key member of CEI’s Executive Team, the Commercial Director will be responsible for driving activities that deliver sustainable business growth. This includes providing expert commercial advice and support to CEI’s existing projects as well as taking a leadership role in new business development and organisational growth. The role will also involve leading initiatives to improve CEI’s existing tender and bidding systems and processes. This role will have oversight of some key operational and finance functions given their centrality to business growth. This is a critical role for an expanding business and offers room for growth and development in the coming years.

Key Accountabilities

Business Development

• Identify key opportunities for business growth in partnership with Executive Director, Managing Director(s) and Directors.
• Initiate new business development activities; identify opportunities to further expand client relationships and opportunities with existing clients
• Drive initiatives to improve client service across the business.
• Review and improve the commercial constructs that underpin CEI’s proposals, optimising financial outcomes for CEI whilst mitigating commercial risk.
• Together with relevant project staff and Managing Directors and Directors, engage in negotiations for partnerships and new business initiatives.
• Manage development and maintenance of bid resources to aid ongoing improvement and efficiency in bid and new project responses.
• Ensure the development of resource materials to improve the quality of bid and proposal development.
• Ensure key bid and proposal materials (e.g. profiles, corporate information and partnership data) are up to date, of a high quality, and are available to staff.
• Ensure maintenance of CEI’s basic business development data including monthly updates to credentials database, refreshing of CVs, and client details.
• Deliver training and one on one coaching, as required, to on-board and support project staff with the uses of key commercial contracting approaches, systems and tools.
• Ensure effective business development activities through provision and securing of key documents for proposals and tender responses.

Commercial Leadership

• Alongside Executive Director and Managing Director(s), lead commercial aspects of CEI, ensuring the organisation is operating sustainably.
• Report to Executive and broader leadership regularly on business health, including tracking project and pipeline, project profitability, and business intelligence.
• Work with CEI’s Executive Team to enhance the understanding of their business performance, and work with them to improve the business outcomes over time.
• Oversee CEI’s general operations, with a focus on initiatives that support efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability, and growth.
• Drive improvement in CEI’s existing systems and processes
• Support commercial operations between international offices and provide guidance to international offices on commercial matters.
• Provide commercial operations reports to assist with the smooth and effective running of bi-weekly Leadership/Project Staffing Meetings.
• Be point of contact for and respond to commercial queries, working closely with members of the Operations and Finance team. 
• Identify and support continuous improvement in commercial processes especially contracting and financial obligations.
• Provide general support and expert advice to the Managing Director and Directors, as required, across range of commercial new and existing initiatives and activities.

Contract Management Support

• Facilitate contract administration processes.
• Provide general operational guidance to CEI’s project teams.
• Identify trends and risks in project budgeting and project budget management while identifying and implementing ways to improve performance
• Oversee and coordinate the provision of operational and financial support to CEI’s project teams, including
• Assisting with the preparation of project budgets, renegotiations of project budgets and management of project budgets
• Assisting with contract negotiations and renegotiation
• Identify commercial implications of key project decisions and provide expert advice and guidance to project teams

Key Selection Criteria

Essential knowledge or experience

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Business Management, Finance, Legal studies or equivalent experience.
• Extensive relevant work experience in commercial roles coordinating or managing bidding, business development and/or experience in coordinating, negotiating and reviewing commercial activities.
• Exceptional strategic, analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Strong business acumen and legal experience, including proven ability to negotiate contracts and monitor compliance with key contracts.
• Excellent customer service focus with well-developed relationship building skills.
• Excellent communication skills, verbal and written, and an ability to engage effectively with multiple stakeholders.
• Strong time management and organisational skills, ability to problem solve and work effectively in a fast-paced environment.
• High levels of attention to detail with commitment to accuracy and quality.
• Strong ability to work as part of a team.
• Demonstrated willingness to learn and thrive in an environment of high accountability.

Desirable Experience

• Experience in a commercial or contracts manager role in a professional services or consultancy business.
• Legal qualifications and contract experience in legal practice will be highly regarded.

Diversity and Inclusion at CEI

We are committed to improving outcomes for communities facing adversity, through leveraging the best available evidence. We value diversity and inclusion. We actively seek and welcome applications from people with diverse backgrounds, from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other First Nations people. 

Please note: We have a legal responsibility to ensure that all our employees have the legal right to live and work in the country of work. If we make an offer of employment, we will need to check that you are eligible to work in Australia before you start work.

The Centre for Evidence and Implementation (CEI) is founded by Save the Children Australia. Being a child-safe organisation, all employees are required to undergo a National Police Check, and sign our Child Protection Policy and Code of Conduct.