Opportunity Brief: Head of Commercial ProjectsFord & Stanley Executive Search (Part of the Ford & Stanley Group) are a leading Executive search firm to the UK, North American and European Engineering, Technology, Sustainability & Heavy Manufacturing industries.Our search directors, search consultants and research teams specialise in all horizontal functions of our clients organisations with expertise spanning engineering, commercial, procurement, HR, IT, finance, HSQE, sales, projects, operations and c-suite.We are trusted by over 100 leading organisations when they seek to make a leadership appointment, be that a permanent appointment or an interim solution.We have been retained and appointed by our client on a retained search for a proactive and commercially astute Head of Commercial Projects who can not only take ownership of the project management process but also build close working relationships with the relevant department heads to accurately forecast revenue and manage project budgets.Below you will find an opportunity brief developed from notes taken during the scoping meeting (Situational Discovery) held between the Managing Consultant & Business Manager of Ford & Stanley Executive Search and the Managing Director of our client company. This brief is designed to give candidates a deeper insight into the opportunity inherent within the role, the challenges the role presents and provide access to the detail that sits behind the job specification.Client Opportunity Statements: As we elevate the business and take the next step on our growth trajectory, we are focused on developing and professionalising our commercial project management function by appointing a pragmatic and executively mature Head of Commercial Projects. A successful candidate will take full ownership of our project management function, driving incremental improvements and taking overall accountability for the function s success. In tandem, I expect this individual to be my right hand and provide clear, concise and accurate forecasts of both revenue and margin of each project. We very much view this role as the catalyst in allowing the business to grow, invest and continue our journey of professionalisation and continuous improvement. This role will be the glue that holds the organisation together and underpins the future success of our business. Challenges expected within the first 12 months include:

• The role of Head of Commercial Projects is an incredibly diverse position that wears many hats and spins many plates. The successful individual will need to manage this diversity and ensure they don t lose sight of the key accountabilities inherent in this role.
• An incredibly fast-paced and agile business. Upon joining the business, the successful candidate will need to adjust their ways of working to fit the dynamic and ensure they excel in their role.
• It s accepted that the Project Management function is relatively immature and will need to be developed to allow the business to continue to grow and achieve its goals.

Key deliverables within the first 12 months include:

• Take ownership & accountability of the Project Management Function, defining key milestones and looking at ways to improve the process.
• Demonstrate that close working relationships have been developed with key internal and external stakeholders.
• To ensure that the forecast remains within an agreed margin of the actual once quantified.

Essential Hard Skills (Skills & Experience)

• Commutable distance to the East Midlands Area and comfortable being on-site full time.

• Proven ability in managing the end-to-end project cycle within high-integrity industries including Rail, Automotive, Aerospace and Defence.

• Demonstrated experience in managing budgets, margins, forecasting and overall commercials.

• Strong Excel capability, confident in its navigation and use of formulas/vlookups/pivot tables (PowerBI knowledge desirable but not essential).

• Project management capability and the ability to build strong relationships with internal stakeholders and key external stakeholders.

Essential Soft Skills (Attributes & Behaviours)

• Commercially astute, confident in managing budgets and forecasts.

• Naturally hands-on, no job is too big or too small.

• Proactive, will push to get to things done.

• Relationship driven, values internal relationships and takes time to earn trust.

• Problem solver will look for ways to create a solution.

Working Arrangements & Location: Based out of their East Midlands facility, candidates are expected to be on-site full-time. Our Client s Interview Process:

• 1st Stage Interview: Face-to-face in their East Midlands offices with Managing Director.
• 2nd Final Stage interview: Face-to-face in their East Midlands offices with the Managing Director and opportunity to meet some of the function leaders, this will also include a full site tour.

Ford & Stanley Interview Process:

• 1st Stage Candidate Discovery: An open, conversational and consultative discussion where interested candidates are assessed on their suitability for the role in the context of the above and challenged on how the opportunity lines up with their career aspirations, motivations, financial expectations and personal circumstances.
• 2nd Stage The shortlist : Candidates are asked to reflect on the candidate discovery discussion, take time to reflect on the opportunity and undertake subsequent research on the client business reporting back on their thoughts, questions and providing additional specific information on their suitability (if applicable). Final checks of role, package and logistical alignments made.

Good to know:

• This role reports directly into the Managing Director.
• The company provides maintenance services, for the UK rail and rolling stock sector.
• The business are classed as an SME and are owned by a larger group.
• The business has a number of key and long-term projects; some of which are 5/6 years in length and £3.5m in value. They have seen exceptional growth in the rail freight market and after doubling this over the last 2 years, strong growth is expected to continue.
• The business has a close-knit, family feel, where everyone is on the same mission of winning .
• There are two main areas to the role:
• Ownership of the Commercial function:
• The incoming Head of Commercial Projects will be responsible for having full oversight of Forecasting, Margins, Tracking cost and Forecasting cost along with working alongside relevant stakeholders to manage any knock-on effect.
• Of pivotal importance to this role is the timely upkeep of a centralised document that contains margins and forecasts of all live and bidded projects.
• In addition to ensuring that the document is kept up to date this individual will be responsible for working closely with Sales, Ops, Engineering and other stakeholders to ensure that the business has a thorough understanding of the impact (And adjustments needed if any) that are needed in an environment where project spend and timelines can be fluid.
• The business always nominate a particular individual to lead with a customer (Chosen based on their relationship with the customer) and it will be the responsibility of this individual to either ensure that they get the latest update direct from the customer or that they work with the allotted point of contact to achieve the same result.
• PMO Responsibilities:
• This individual will be responsible for working closely with all PLM s within the business at each point a project goes live to understand the budget, materials and hours needed. They will collate it into a presentable fashion into the client and ensure that internal stakeholders adhere to it throughout the duration of the project. (It s important to note that historically this has been behind closed doors and that this process will be new to some PLM s).
• A large part of this responsibilities will be being able to forecast cost and potential upside (or downside) to project margins.
• This individual will then align themselves closely to the PLM s throughout the duration of the project to ensure they are aware of any changes to financial landscape within the project.
• As it stands, there is no direct line management required with this role which is purposefully designed to allow the individual to be autonomous and effective.
• It s vital that the incoming Head of Commercial Projects understands the landscape that the company is operating in and that the most advanced processes may not always be the most suitable (Or applicable) to the business.
• The business is looking to invest in its projects and commercial function, focused on achieving more control over the project process and the revenue/margin across each project/contract.
• This role will pull together key information from function leads to Effectively manage projects from a commercial perspective.
• The Head of Commercial Projects will aim to achieve more accurate forecasting of project/contract revenue and margin, by leading monthly budget review meetings with function leads, reviewing spend and working on practical solutions to overcome any discrepancies.
. click apply for full job details