Senior Strategic Commercial Manager

This role has a starting salary of £68,774 per annum based on a 36-hour working week.

This is an 18-month fixed-term contract or secondment opportunity.

We are excited to be hiring a new Senior Strategic Commercial Manager to join our fantastic Workplace & Facilities Team, part of the Land & Property Service. You will be joining a team that values professional development and supports a commercial and agile approach to its diverse portfolio to support the Services in delivering for our residents.

Our team are currently based at Woodhatch Place in Reigate. To ensure we meet the needs of our customers, we work in flexible, agile way which includes operating out of different office bases, working from home and collaborating together in the office.

Rewards and Benefits:

• 26 days' holiday (prorated for part time staff), rising to 28 days after 2 years' service and 30 days after 5 years' service
• Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave
• An extensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
• Up to 5 days of carer's leave per year
• Paternity, adoption and dependents leave
• A generous local government salary related pension
• Lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, shopping and many more
• 2 paid volunteering days per year
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources

About the Role

This is a new opportunity to develop your career as part of a fast-paced Land & Property service, collaborating with enthusiastic professionals who want to make a difference.

Land & Property is a key function of the Council and is part of an ambitious improvement programme which aims to deliver a more efficient and cost-effective provision of services. The Land & Property team is transforming Surrey County Council's property portfolio in line with the Asset & Place Strategy (), which sets out the Council's approach to the strategic management of its assets. The portfolio is significant and diverse, incorporating over 1500 assets, valued at more than £2bn and with a Revenue budget of more than £35m p.a.

Reporting directly to our Assistant Director for Workplace & Facilities, and working closely with other members of our Workplace & Facilities team, in addition to senior members of the Macro team (our strategic FM partner), you will be involved in providing strategic direction for facilities management and making day-to-day commercial decisions. Surrey County Council has recently embarked on a process of Local Government Review and this role will have a strategic role to play in developing an FM service as part of this journey.

This is a highly varied role and on a day-to-day basis will include:

• Understanding the key commercial risks across the spend category and ensuring that the impact of complex commercial arrangements across the department are robustly managed.
• Analysing complex and ambiguous data to provide clarity and unbiased commercial conclusions.
• Assisting in reviewing and amending performance indicators aligning them to contracts and managing the financial and commercial consequences of these for the council and contractor.
• Applying contract and commercial management principles within a political and regulatory environment.

Shortlisting Criteria

To be considered for shortlisting for this position, your CV and personal statement will need to evidence the following:

• Knowledge and understanding of the role of commercial and contract management best practice within FM
• Understanding of Public Procurement Regulations and other relevant legislation, and ability to contribute to the development of internal policy
• Extensive experience of the NEC4 contract
• Extensive experience of managing FM at a senior level which may include both supply and client-side roles
• Understanding of the political context in which the service operates and ability to engage with senior council members
• Requirement to travel within Surrey County Council and partner sites as required

The job advert closes at 23:59 on 10.06.2025 with interviews to follow.

We look forward to receiving your application, please click on the apply online button below to submit.

Local Government Reorganisation

Surrey County Council is preparing for Local Government Reorganisation which will allow us to implement the Government led policy of devolution, which is all about giving more powers to local areas.

Currently, Surrey has a two-tier council system, with 11 district and borough councils and a county council, all responsible for different services. All these councils will be reorganised into a smaller number of new unitary councils which will come into effect in April 2027. At this point, this role will be transferred, with all existing terms and conditions intact into one of the new unitary councils.

Our Commitment

Surrey County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. A guaranteed interview will be offered to all disabled applicants where:

• The candidate has evidenced the minimum criteria for the role through their application
• The candidate has chosen to share that they have a disability on the application form

Our application form and onboarding process will provide an opportunity to request any reasonable adjustments for the interview and/or the role.

We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer reflecting the community we serve and particularly welcome applications from all underrepresented groups.