Senior Commercial Manager

About the role

Kent is looking for a seasoned Senior Commercial Manager to take end-to-end commercial leadership for a newly awarded EPC project in Saudi Arabia. The position reports to the Project Director and also has a functional reporting line to the Commercial Director KSA. It is a senior appointment focused on building strong commercial controls from the start, managing contractual exposure, and guiding a cross-functional commercial team.

This role acts as the main commercial contact for the client and other key stakeholders. You will be expected to safeguard Kent’s contractual position across the project lifecycle while preserving constructive working relationships. The position is based in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and includes frequent travel for client meetings, site visits, and project discussions. Periodic deployment to the UK may also be required. The successful candidate must be comfortable travelling internationally at short notice and working across multiple time zones.

About Kent

Kent describes itself as a future-focused energy company working on major projects across the sector. The organisation emphasizes ambition, collaboration, and continuous development, with an inclusive culture that supports people from different backgrounds, cultures, abilities, and identities. It offers flexible working arrangements, family-friendly policies, employee networks, and reasonable adjustments for candidates who need support during recruitment.

The company’s guiding principles include playing big, emotional agility, fanatical performance, and infinite thinking. It also highlights a commitment to diversity, inclusion, belonging, and responsible energy delivery.

What you will do

• Set up, roll out, and maintain commercial management systems and procedures that align with both Kent standards and client requirements.
• Create contract administration processes, change control methods, claims logs, and reporting formats from the beginning of the project.
• Make sure commercial controls are applied consistently across disciplines, work packages, and all project locations.
• Spot gaps between Kent procedures and client expectations, propose practical bridging solutions, and take recommendations to senior leadership for approval.
• Keep accurate, up-to-date commercial records that support entitlement and help avoid disputes.
• Develop the overall contract strategy, including subcontracting approach, subcontract structure, and risk allocation.
• Provide senior management with advice on contract terms, commercial risk, mitigation actions, and strategy choices.
• Assess the commercial impact of execution decisions, schedule shifts, and scope changes, and keep leadership informed of exposure.
• Lead the preparation and negotiation of subcontracts, consultant appointments, and supply agreements in line with procurement plans and governance rules.
• Track contract performance against milestones and key commercial indicators, and prepare regular updates for internal and client stakeholders.
• Identify, value, and formally notify all contractual entitlements such as variations, compensation events, extensions of time, and loss and expense claims within required notice periods.
• Maintain a live entitlement tracker and ensure all time limits and notice obligations are met without exception.
• Prepare, support, and present claims and counterclaims with input from controls, engineering, and legal teams where needed.
• Handle dispute avoidance and resolution, backed by well-documented commercial positions for negotiation or formal proceedings if required.
• Review, record, and respond promptly to all contractual correspondence between Kent and the client, as well as with suppliers and subcontractors, to protect the company’s position.
• Ensure compliance with Kent governance, delegated authority, ethics, and compliance rules across all commercial activity.
• Follow client procedures covering reporting, change management, and invoicing.
• Support internal and external audits by providing documents and explanations for commercial decisions and processes.
• Stay aware of applicable Saudi regulatory requirements and in-country content obligations, ensuring commercial arrangements reflect them.
• Serve as the main commercial point of contact for the client’s commercial and contracts teams while maintaining a professional and collaborative approach.
• Work closely with internal functions including the Project Director, Engineering, Project Controls, Procurement, Finance, Legal, and senior management to align decisions.
• Prepare and present commercial reports, risk registers, and strategic recommendations to Kent leadership and, where appropriate, client representatives.
• Represent Kent in commercial meetings, negotiations, and workshops with clients, subcontractors, and other stakeholders.
• Manage subcontractor and supplier relationships from a commercial standpoint to ensure fair and effective contractual arrangements.
• Lead, coach, and develop a multi-disciplinary commercial team made up of Contract Engineers and Quantity Surveyors.
• Support team performance through mentoring, performance reviews, and professional development planning.
• Define roles, responsibilities, and workload distribution so the team is adequately covered across all project stages.
• Promote knowledge sharing and best-practice transfer across dispersed team members, including commercial awareness training where needed.
• Identify resourcing needs and support recruitment as project demands change.
• Comply with project and Kent procedures, take part in HSSE reporting and inspections, support bids when requested, and help the wider team as needed.
• Carry out other reasonable ad hoc duties within the scope of your skills and role as directed by management.

What we are looking for

• A degree in Quantity Surveying, Law, Engineering, Business, or a related subject.
• A postgraduate qualification or professional membership such as MRICS, MCIArb, or an equivalent credential is strongly preferred.
• Ongoing professional development in commercial, contract, or project management disciplines.
• At least 15 years of progressive commercial management experience in the oil and gas sector.
• A strong background in major EPC projects.
• Extensive practical experience in Saudi Arabia, with knowledge of the local operating environment, Aramco expectations, and IKTVA requirements.
• Experience handling large multi-disciplinary EPC contracts valued above USD 500 million.
• Deep working knowledge of FIDIC, NEC, or bespoke lump-sum/reimbursable EPC contract forms used in upstream and downstream oil and gas work.
• Strong capability in interpreting, administering, and enforcing complex commercial contracts through all project phases.
• Experience building commercial systems and procedures for brownfield EPC projects.
• Excellent claims and entitlement management capability, including major variation and compensation event negotiations.
• Ability to assess cost, risk, and schedule data and turn it into practical management advice.
• Comfort using commercial management software and advanced MS Excel.
• Proven leadership of dispersed teams across locations, cultures, and time zones.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and influencing skills with senior leaders, clients, and subcontractors.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills for reports, presentations, and correspondence.
• Sound commercial judgement, integrity, and the ability to make decisions under pressure.
• Excellent English communication skills, both spoken and written.
• A proactive working style, strong attention to detail, and commitment to continuous learning.
• Willingness to follow health, safety, sustainability, environment, and quality standards set by the company, clients, and host-country authorities.

Additional information

The company expects all employees to observe HSSE rules and demonstrate safe, responsible behaviour at all times. The role may also involve supporting bids and performing other related duties as business needs change.