Director of Pre Con, Commercial & Business Improvement

Director of Pre-Construction, Commercial & Business Improvement Northern Ireland Office-based, with client and supply-chain travel Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer

The Opportunity

Our client, a well-established and growing specialist contractor, is creating a new senior leadership role. For the first time, Estimating, Pre-Construction, Commercial and Procurement will come together under one leader, as a combined team of around 30 people.

This isn't a traditional Commercial Director role, and that's the opportunity. The commercial expertise is already in place. What the business needs is a leader to unite it, develop its people and take it to the next level. You'll have full autonomy, sole ownership of margin from bid to delivery, and the backing of a business investing in systems, data, AI and offsite. It's a rare chance to build something, not just inherit it.

The Role

Lead and develop the team: Bring four strong functions together as one, with shared goals, joined-up decisions and collective ownership from bid to delivery. Build an open, constructive culture and develop a mix of experienced professionals, emerging talent and apprentices, with clear paths for future leaders.

Drive business improvement: Own the rollout of a new integrated estimating and commercial platform, and use data, AI and offsite thinking to improve speed and accuracy. Replace backward-looking reporting with forward-looking KPIs, and make sure lessons from site feed back into pricing and procurement.

Grow key accounts: Personally own a portfolio of major Tier 1 and Tier 2 relationships and turn them into strategic accounts through early engagement, frameworks and PCSAs. Work in partnership with the BD Director.

Provide commercial oversight: Support bid/no-bid decisions and challenge CVRs, cost reports and final accounts. Build procurement strategies based on value and downstream risk, not price alone.

Contribute strategically: Sit on the senior leadership team and help shape decisions on clients, markets and growth.

About You Our client is open to senior leaders from a range of construction backgrounds, including pre-construction, commercial, operations, procurement, finance or supply chain.

What matters is that you:

have held senior leadership within a construction or contracting business

have led beyond your original discipline

understand how projects make and lose money

You'll be able to show:

people you've developed and promoted

a change or systems programme you've owned end to end

a client account you've grown

You won't need to be the deepest commercial technician in the room. You will need the fluency to challenge and decide, including on CVR, NEC/JCT and how an estimate is built. ERP or integrated system experience is a strong advantage. Envelope or specialist contracting experience is welcome but not essential.

You'll be a people-focused, change-oriented leader who prefers partnership to conflict, builds relationships above project level, and owns the margin and the outcome.

Why This Role

The business is growing in markets with real momentum, from remediation and renewal to complex new build, and it's investing in the systems, technology and people to match. This role puts you at the centre of that growth. You'll have the autonomy to build the function your way and a seat at the table shaping where the business goes next.