Senior Commercial Manager in Theale

As Cornerstone continues to evolve and grow its portfolio of strategic customer relationships, the Senior Commercial Manager plays a pivotal role in maximising commercial value, driving account growth, and ensuring commercial excellence across key customer accounts.

The Senior Commercial Manager is a senior commercial leadership position responsible for supporting Key Account teams across a portfolio of major customers and contracts.

The role sits at the forefront of customer engagement and commercial decision-making, providing strategic commercial leadership while helping account teams optimise contract performance, identify growth opportunities and deliver strong commercial outcomes.

This role requires close partnership with

• Delivery
• Legal
• Finance
• Commercial Marketing

The successful candidate will act as a trusted advisor to both customers and internal stakeholders, leading negotiations, governance activities and business improvement initiatives while driving profitability and long-term customer value.

Why This Role Matters

This role is critical to ensuring Cornerstone maximises value from its most significant customer relationships by:

• Driving commercial performance and profitability.
• Supporting strategic account growth.
• Managing commercial risks and contractual obligations.
• Optimising margins and identifying cost-out opportunities.
• Supporting transformational change across the business.
• Enhancing commercial capability within Key Account teams.

The Senior Commercial Manager also serves as a change agent, helping shape the future of the Commercial Management function and supporting Cornerstone's ambition to be recognised as a market-leading commercial organisation.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead all commercial management activities across a portfolio of major accounts.
• Drive commercial strategies that maximise account value and profitability.
• Support business development and customer growth opportunities.
• Ensure commercial requirements of strategic customers are successfully delivered.
• Account Performance & P&L Management

• Own commercial accountability for

• Revenue growth
• Cost reduction initiatives
• Contract performance
• Change management activity
• Identify opportunities to improve commercial outcomes across customer portfolios.
• Contract & Commercial Governance
• Maintain oversight of contractual obligations and commercial risks.
• Ensure key contractual clauses are understood and applied appropriately.
• Lead commercial discussions within governance and review forums.
• Deliver high-quality business reviews with clear risk and opportunity management.
• Lead or support complex customer negotiations.
• Participate in senior customer meetings alongside multifunctional teams.
• Manage difficult commercial discussions while protecting business interests.
• Develop creative commercial solutions that meet customer and company objectives.
• Leadership & Capability Building
• Coach and develop Key Account Management teams.
• Share commercial best practice across the business.
• Support succession planning and people development.
• Deputise for the Head of Contract & Commercial Performance when required.
• Business Change & Transformation
• Lead commercial improvement initiatives.
• Drive process enhancements across the Commercial function.
• Challenge existing ways of working and identify innovation opportunities.
• Support the continued evolution of Commercial Management within Cornerstone.
• Market & Commercial Insight
• Monitor market trends and competitor activity.
• Provide insight into commercial structures, contracts and deal strategies.
• Partner with Commercial Marketing teams to strengthen market positioning.
• Identify opportunities to improve competitive advantage.
• What They're Looking For
• Core Technical Requirements
• Experience managing large and complex customer contracts.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen.
• P&L ownership and improvement experience.
• Growth strategy and account expansion experience.
• Strong understanding of change management within commercial environments.
• Leadership Requirements
• Proven leadership experience within Commercial Management.
• Experience developing high-performing teams.
• Ability to coach and mentor commercial professionals.
• Strong capability in leading cross-functional teams.
• Experience driving organisational change.
• Significant customer-facing experience.
• Ability to operate effectively in both pre-sales and in-life contract environments.
• Strong relationship-management skills.
• Experience engaging with senior stakeholders and executives.
• Commercial Acumen
• Deep understanding of commercial models and contractual frameworks.
• Ability to identify opportunities that enhance revenue, profitability and customer value.
• Strategic Thinking
• Able to balance short-term commercial priorities with long-term business goals.
• Identifies future growth opportunities and develops actionable strategies.
• Anticipates risks and develops mitigation plans.
• Negotiation & Influence
• Able to navigate complex commercial discussions.
• Influences senior internal and external stakeholders effectively.
• Comfortable challenging perspectives and driving consensus.
• Leadership & Coaching
• Inspires high-performing teams.
• Develops commercial capability in others.
• Promotes accountability and continuous improvement.
• Leads through influence and credibility.
• Challenges the status quo.
• Leads transformation initiatives.
• Creates innovative commercial solutions.
• Drives efficiency and business improvement.
• Executive Presence
• Comfortable presenting at C-suite level.
• Communicates complex ideas with clarity and confidence.
• Demonstrates gravitas and credibility in high-profile situations.
• Likely Interview Focus Areas
• Commercial & Contract Management
• Tell us about a complex commercial contract you've managed.

• How have you improved profitability across a customer portfolio?

• Describe your approach to contract governance.

• How do you manage commercial risk in large-scale agreements?

Leadership

• How have you developed a high-performing commercial team?

• Tell us about a time you led significant business change.
• Describe your leadership style when managing senior stakeholders.
• Customer & Negotiation
• Tell us about a challenging commercial negotiation.
• How do you maintain customer relationships while protecting commercial interests?
• Describe a situation where you influenced a difficult stakeholder.
• Strategic Thinking
• How have you identified and delivered growth opportunities within an existing account?

• What methods do you use to improve margin performance?

• How do you balance customer requirements with business objectives?

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate will have

• Extensive Commercial Management leadership experience
• Significant experience managing large, complex contracts and customer accounts
• Strong negotiation and influencing skills
• Track record of improving commercial performance and profitability
• Experience leading multifunctional stakeholder groups
• Proven success driving business change and process improvement
• Ability to operate confidently at Executive and C-suite level
• Strong people leadership and coaching capability
• Strategic commercial mindset with strong business acumen
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