Construction Contracts Manager

Company Description

Crossfire Specialist Contracts Ltd is an experienced provider in the Irish and UK fire protection markets, delivering comprehensive solutions across fire safety upgrades, structural fire protection, fire stopping, and related construction services. The company offers a one-stop service including intumescent coatings, cementitious sprays, fire barriers, air and acoustic sealing, partitions, suspended ceilings, drylining, and security and industrial fencing systems. Crossfire is committed to detail, organization, and excellent customer service throughout all projects. The company holds third-party FIRAS Accreditation, Constructionline Gold Accreditation, and is a member of the Association for Specialist Fire Protection (ASFP), reflecting its focus on quality and compliance.

Role Description The Construction Contracts Manager is a full-time, on-site role based throughout England, responsible for overseeing fire protection and associated construction contracts from tender through completion. Day-to-day tasks include managing project programs, coordinating with clients, site teams, and subcontractors, and ensuring work is delivered to specification, on time, and within budget. The role involves preparing and reviewing contracts, variations, and progress reports, monitoring costs, and supporting commercial negotiations. The Construction Contracts Manager will also ensure compliance with safety, quality, and accreditation standards, maintain accurate documentation, and contribute to continuous improvement in project delivery and customer service.

About the Role

The Contracts Manager is responsible for the successful delivery a diverse range of projects across England from contract award through to final completion and handover. The role involves overseeing all commercial, contractual, operational, programme, safety, and quality aspects of projects, ensuring they are delivered safely, on time, within budget, and in accordance with client specifications and contractual obligations.

The Contracts Manager will lead multidisciplinary project teams, maintain key client relationships, manage supply chain partners, and drive operational excellence across multiple projects while ensuring the highest standards of health, safety, quality, and environmental compliance

Principal Duties & Key Deliverables

Project Delivery

• Provide overall leadership and management of data centre projects from pre-construction through commissioning and final handover.
• Manage project teams.
• Ensure projects are delivered safely, on programme, within budget, and to the required quality standards.
• Develop and implement project execution strategies aligned with client and business objectives.
• Monitor project progress against agreed milestones and take corrective actions where required.
• Lead regular project review meetings and provide accurate reporting to senior management.
• Drive programme certainty through detailed planning and risk mitigation strategies.
• Ensure all installations are in compliance with manufacturer's tested details.

Client Management

• Act as the principal point of contact for clients, design teams, technical department and key project stakeholders.
• Maintain strong client relationships through regular communication and reporting.
• Attend client meetings and provide regular updates on programme, cost, risk and quality.
• Manage client expectations and ensure contractual obligations are met throughout the project life cycle.
• Maintain a high level of client satisfaction which to ensure possibility of opportunities for repeat business

Commercial, Procurement & Contractual Management

• Administer and manage construction contracts in accordance with project requirements.
• Ensure full compliance with contractual terms, conditions, and obligations.
• Lead contract negotiations, change management, and claims management processes.
• Review and manage project variations, extensions of time, and compensation events.
• Monitor project financial performance including cost reporting, margin protection, forecasting, and cash flow management.
• Work closely with commercial teams to ensure accurate project valuations and final accounts.
• Resolve commercial disputes and contractual issues in a timely manner.
• Manage mission-critical construction projects including commissioning packages.
• Oversee the integration of specialist systems.
• Coordinate complex commissioning and integrated systems testing activities.
• Ensure projects achieve client uptime, resiliency, and performance requirements.
• Manage project interfaces between multiple contractors, consultants, and specialist vendors.
• Support operational readiness activities and transition to client facilities teams.
• Ensure compliance with Tier certification requirements where applicable.
• Lead procurement planning and support the selection of subcontractors and suppliers.
• Provide visible leadership in health, safety, and wellbeing across all projects.

Quality Assurance

• Ensure all works are delivered in accordance with project specifications, client requirements, and industry standards.
• Drive quality assurance and quality control processes throughout project delivery.

Financial & Risk Management

• Monitor cost performance and identify opportunities for cost savings and efficiencies.
• Review and approve project expenditures and commitments.
• Manage resource planning across multiple projects and locations.
• Identify, assess, and mitigate project risks throughout the project lifecycle.
• Ensure contractual, commercial, and operational risks are effectively managed.
• Escalate critical risks appropriately and provide strategic recommendations.

Leadership & Business Improvement

• Lead, mentor, and develop project teams across multiple European locations.
• Promote collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Support succession planning and talent development initiatives.
• Foster a positive culture aligned with company values.
• Drive operational excellence and lessons learned initiatives.
• Implement KPI-driven performance improvement programmes.

Eligibility Criteria

• Extensive experience in the construction industry.
• Proven experience managing large-scale mission-critical or data centre projects.
• Strong understanding of construction contracts, commercial management, and project controls.
• Demonstrated experience managing multidisciplinary project teams.
• Strong financial acumen with experience managing project budgets and forecasts.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to travel extensively throughout Europe.

We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer, welcoming applications from individuals of all backgrounds.