Commercial Manager

Commercial Manager

BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) is an international architectural company characterised by an entrepreneurial spirit, true teamwork across expertise areas and new ways of approaching conventional tasks. We have an informal work environment where camaraderie and collegial support are highly valued and where ambition, very high work morale and dedication to being the innovators of our field unify our staff. Our office culture is characterised by creativity, high energy and a strong team spirit. We are dedicated to creating and maintaining a workplace where we want to be and work continuously to become better at what we do.

We are a company experiencing steady growth, and as we grow, we also strive to mature. We have over the past 20 years developed from a 10 to an 800 people organisation in New York, London, Barcelona, Shenzhen, Copenhagen, Zurich, Bhutan and Los Angeles.

BIG LON is currently looking for a talented, motivated, and ambitious Commercial Manager to join our Operations team in London. As Commercial Manager, you will be responsible for preparing fee proposals for existing or prospective projects, ensuring that all tender requirements have been considered and that potential uncertainties in the tender material have been clarified to ensure that BIG is positioned with the best possible chance of success.

To successfully develop a fee proposal, the Commercial Manager must conduct a thorough analysis of contractual terms, scope, and timeline and interface with other consultants as required to understand the project at hand and to be able to price and structure a fee proposal efficiently and correctly. BIG LON operates primarily in the UK, EU, and SWANA / Gulf, and has select projects elsewhere in the world. The Commercial Manager must be comfortable operating in an international environment and have the ability to quickly grasp and analyse the industry-specific requirements related to the country in which the project sits.

In addition to preparing fee proposals, the Commercial Manager will be involved in estimating construction costs and substantiating that a design can be realised within a given construction budget as and when required in the tender process and building a tool to benchmark internal and industry data.

You will be working within BIG’s Operations team, reporting to the Managing Director, and you will have a strong working relationship with the Business Development team, the Project Controlling team and our in-house Legal team, as well as bidding teams and fee proposal specialists in our New York, Copenhagen and Barcelona studios.

This role offers great personal development potential in an international, fast-paced, and highly ambitious creative environment.

Your responsibilities will include (but not be limited to):

• Produce commercial bids for BIG’s future projects as well as additional work for existing projects and coordinate these with the Managing Director / Director of Business Development
• Help to build consultant teams and coordinate with potential sub-consultants to ensure correct materials and scopes are received in a timely manner to allow assembly and compilation of compliant proposals for clients
  • Obtain required internal approvals for all required fee elements
  • Suggest and develop commercial strategies for addressing RFPs; including risk management, profitability, direct client feedback and cost loading.
  • Ensure information related to proposed and agreed fees is inputted accurately and updated in BIG’s project controlling platform (CMAP)
  • Help to present and hand over awarded projects to Project Teams and ensure the commercial strategy is understood
  • Support the Business Development team in developing and delivering detailed project proposal methodology statements and plans across all project phases
  • Assist with ongoing project related tasks, including but not limited to fee negotiations, contract appendix drafting and client Q&A
  • Provide support to the Business Development team where required and as needed, including assistance with proposal development and production
  • Coordinate with other ongoing cross-department projects including changing market conditions, legal considerations, tax implementation, and maintenance of commercial template documents.

We seek a person who:

• Has 3-5 years’ experience preparing fee proposals, commercial bids, project budgets or similar commercial documents in architecture, design, construction or professional services
• Uses knowledge of design, construction and business to assess scope, pricing, programme and commercial risk
• Builds and reviews fee, cost and resourcing spreadsheets accurately, including formulas, assumptions and scenario options
• Uses knowledge of construction practices, work stages and procurement routes to shape compliant, competitive fee proposals
• Understands how scope, programme and servicing assumptions shape fee structures, pricing choices and commercial decisions
• Reviews tender documents, contracts and appendices to identify obligations, exclusions, gaps and risks before submission
• Produces clear, accurate commercial documents, including fee proposals, methodology statements, appendices and client clarifications
• Manages parallel bid, proposal and project deadlines, follows up on inputs and keeps submissions moving
• Drives multiple bids and commercial workstreams, escalates blockers early and maintains momentum under changing deadlines
• Brings curiosity and practical thinking to improve commercial tools, templates and ways of working
• Uses Excel, Word, InDesign and Acrobat confidently to prepare and review commercial documents
• Explains pricing, risks, exclusions and next steps clearly in writing and conversation
• Works independently and coordinates with Business Development, Project Controlling, Legal, project teams and consultants to resolve proposal requirements
• Makes timely commercial decisions that balance competitiveness, risk and profitability

This job description reflects the core activities of the role and is not intended to be either prescriptive or exhaustive; it is issued as a framework to outline the main areas of responsibility at the time of writing. There is a requirement for the post holder to recognise this and adopt a flexible approach to work.

Application:

Please upload your CV, cover letter and suitable references. We will contact you if your profile matches our requirements.

This is a full-time position based out of BIG’s London office. You must have permission to live and work in the UK.

The salary for the role will be subject to relevant experience and qualifications.

Diversity has been part of our DNA since BIG’s foundation. A multitude of cultures and backgrounds creates a new point of reference which leads to amazing insights. At BIG, we value, celebrate and support diversity because it makes our team, work and the built environment better. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and take affirmative action to employ equally regardless of race, colour, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, or gender identity.