Project & Commercial Lead – Residential Development in Manchester

Location: Manchester

Type: Full-time, permanent

Working: Manchester-based, with frequent travel to client and project sites across the North of England and elsewhere in the UK

Most project managers are asked to deliver. Most quantity surveyors are asked to protect the numbers. Most business development people are asked to win the work.

This role connects all three.

Vector Homes is looking for an experienced construction professional who can help identify a housing opportunity, shape a credible delivery strategy, establish commercial control and keep the project moving through procurement, construction and handover.

You may have developed your career in quantity surveying, project management, building surveying, construction management or architectural technology. Your original discipline matters less than your ability to combine practical site judgement, commercial grip, client confidence and personal ownership.

This is not a desk-bound reporting role and it is not a pure sales position. It is for someone who wants broader responsibility, direct access to the founders and a genuine influence on how projects are won and delivered.

About Vector Homes

Vector Homes is the small-site specialist for UK housing associations. We turn garage courts, infill plots, backland parcels and overlooked land into deliverable homes.

Small schemes fail for predictable reasons. Early budgets are too optimistic. Procurement becomes disproportionate. Decisions drift. Changes are poorly controlled. Consultants and contractors lose sight of who owns what.

We solve this through rapid feasibility, standardised design, modern methods of construction, disciplined project controls and trusted delivery partners.

The role in one sentence

Turn housing opportunities into commercially controlled, deliverable projects — and keep the client, contractor, programme and numbers aligned from first conversation to handover.

How the role divides

- 40%: Project development and delivery

- 35%: Commercial and contractual management

- 25%: Client development and work winning

The balance will move with the pipeline. You should be comfortable moving between a client opportunity, a viability discussion, a contractor meeting, a valuation review and a site problem without losing control of the detail.

What you will own

Project development and delivery

• Lead opportunities from the first client or site conversation through feasibility, scope, procurement, construction and handover.
• Establish clear budgets, programmes, procurement routes, commercial strategies, responsibilities and decision points.
• Coordinate clients, consultants, contractors, quantity surveyors, manufacturers and suppliers.
• Chair project, site and progress meetings and maintain concise action, risk and decision records.
• Monitor delivery against cost, programme and quality, identifying problems early and driving actions through to resolution.
• Translate project complexity into clear, board-ready reporting and practical recommendations.
• Maintain a strong on-the-ground presence across the North of England, regularly attending sites and meeting clients and delivery partners.

Commercial and contractual management

• Maintain control of project budgets, cost plans, valuations, variations, change control, forecasts, contingency and emerging commercial risk.
• Review and challenge contractor proposals, costs, applications and programme information with confidence and fairness.
• Ensure changes are properly instructed, recorded, costed and agreed before they become expensive disputes.
• Manage commercial and contractual issues as they arise, working constructively with clients, consultants and contractors.
• Support tendering, procurement, contract appointments and negotiations, with a clear focus on value, buildability and delivery risk.
• Maintain reliable commercial records and reporting from pre-construction through final account.
• Protect Vector Homes' and its clients' commercial position without damaging the relationships needed to deliver the project.

Client development and work winning

• Build trusted relationships with housing associations, registered providers, local authorities, developers, contractors and delivery partners.
• Identify, qualify and progress new housing opportunities, with an initial focus on the North of England.
• Turn early conversations into paid feasibility, project-management, commercial and delivery commissions.
• Contribute to bids, proposals, tenders, framework submissions, workshops and client presentations.
• Represent Vector Homes at relevant events, roundtables, site visits and targeted networking activity.
• Develop a trusted contractor, consultant, manufacturer and supplier network capable of supporting current and future projects.
• Maintain a disciplined opportunity pipeline with clear next actions and realistic probabilities.

What you bring

This is a broad, hands-on role. Capability and judgement matter more than your current job title.

• Strong experience in UK residential development, housebuilding or housing-led construction.
• A professional background in quantity surveying, project management, building surveying, construction management, architectural technology or a closely related discipline.
• Direct experience of working with contractors on live construction sites.
• Practical understanding of construction costs, buildability, procurement, programme, risk and quality.
• Experience managing budgets, valuations, variations, change control, forecasts and commercial reporting.
• Confidence coordinating multidisciplinary project teams and driving decisions through ambiguity.
• Working knowledge of construction contracts and the commercial consequences of project decisions.
• Strong client-facing communication and the judgement to challenge constructively.
• Evidence of contributing to work winning, proposals, tenders, frameworks or client-account development.
• A hands‑on approach: you will improve the system and also do the work.
• Ability to travel regularly to client and project sites.

Advantageous

• Direct experience with housing associations, registered providers or local authorities.
• Knowledge of affordable housing delivery, governance, procurement, funding and client requirements.
• Experience of infill, garage sites, constrained land, estate regeneration or retrofit.
• Familiarity with modern methods of construction, off‑site manufacture, panelised systems or standardised housing products.
• Experience acting as Employer's Agent, Contract Administrator or client‑side commercial lead.
• Good working knowledge of JCT contracts.
• Existing relationships within the North of England contractor, consultant or affordable‑housing market.
• A relevant professional qualification or progress towards RICS, CIOB, APM or CIAT membership.

What success looks like

First 90 days

Understand the Vector system, take control of live project actions and commercial information, establish relationships with key clients and contractors, and contribute actively to opportunity reviews, site meetings and proposals.

By month 6

Lead projects and contractor relationships independently, maintain reliable cost and change control, own named client opportunities and strengthen Vector Homes' delivery and supply-chain processes.

By month 12

Deliver projects with consistent commercial grip, convert relationships into paid work and repeat commissions, anticipate delivery risks before they become expensive and act as a trusted project and commercial lead for clients, contractors and the founding team.

What Vector Homes offers

• Broad responsibility across project delivery, commercial management and business growth.
• A direct working relationship with the founders and faster decisions than a conventional practice or large developer.
• The freedom to shape project controls, commercial systems, contractor relationships and ways of working.
• Meaningful work that unlocks housing from sites others overlook.
• A Manchester base with regular exposure to clients, live projects and decision-makers.
• Scope to grow into a broader leadership role as the business and project pipeline scale.

Our hiring approach

Vector Homes hires on evidence, judgement and potential. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and make employment decisions without regard to protected characteristics. Reasonable adjustments are available throughout the recruitment process.