Commercial Manager

Commercial Manager
Department: Project Controls / Commercial Management
Reports To: Vice President, Special Projects (Direct Supervisor and for applicable projects) and Vice President, Construction Operations (for applicable projects)
Employment Type: Full-Time 
Location: Lombard, IL (Headquarters)

Position Summary
The Commercial Manager is responsible for leading and integrating all commercial functions across Pernix International's project portfolio, including cost engineering, planning and scheduling, and subcontract administration. This role provides strategic and operational oversight of commercial performance from project inception through closeout, ensuring that cost, schedule, and contractual outcomes align with company objectives and client requirements. The Commercial Manager directly supervises Senior and intermediate-level Cost Engineers and Planners in both the home office and project field locations, as well as Subcontract Administrators embedded within project field teams. This is a senior management role requiring deep technical expertise in either cost engineering or planning and scheduling, combined with strong commercial acumen and the ability to drive performance across a geographically distributed team.

Key Responsibilities
Departmental Leadership & Team Management

• Provide direct oversight and line management of all Cost Engineers, Planners/Schedulers, and Subcontract Administrators across home office and project field locations.
• Establish clear performance expectations, conduct regular performance reviews, and support the professional development of all direct and indirect reports.
• Manage resource allocation across the project controls team, ensuring appropriate staffing levels on active and upcoming projects relative to scope, complexity, and contract type.
• Recruit, onboard, and retain high-performing commercial professionals; partner with HR and project leadership to build bench strength across all disciplines.
• Foster a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and cross-disciplinary collaboration within the commercial function.

Commercial Strategy & Governance

• Develop and maintain the company's commercial management framework, including standards, procedures, and templates governing cost control, schedule management, change management, and subcontract administration.
• Establish and enforce governance protocols ensuring consistent commercial reporting, risk identification, and escalation practices across all projects and locations.
• Define and monitor key commercial performance indicators (KPIs) at both the project and portfolio levels, providing executive leadership with timely visibility into cost and schedule performance.
• Serve as the primary commercial point of contact for the Vice President, Special Projects, and Vice President, Construction Operations, providing regular briefings on portfolio performance, emerging risks, and recommended actions.

Cost Management Oversight

• Oversee the development and maintenance of project budgets, cost baselines, cost-to-complete (CTC) estimates, and estimates-at-completion (EAC) across the project portfolio.
• Review and approve cost reports, forecasts, and dashboards prepared by Cost Engineers prior to submission to project managers and clients.
• Ensure consistent application of Earned Value Management (EVM) principles and variance analysis across all projects.
• Direct cost engineering activities related to value engineering, constructability reviews, and cost optimization initiatives during pre-construction and execution phases.

Planning & Schedule Oversight

• Oversee the development, maintenance, and analysis of CPM project schedules across all project phases, ensuring alignment with project scope, contract milestones, and execution strategies.
• Review and approve schedule baselines, updates, and recovery plans prepared by the planning team.
• Ensure consistent application of schedule performance measurement, critical path analysis, and Earned Value schedule metrics across the portfolio.
• Direct the planning team's support of delay analysis, claims avoidance, and dispute resolution activities.

Subcontract Administration Oversight

• Provide strategic direction and oversight to field-based Subcontract Administrators, ensuring subcontract compliance, timely change order processing, and accurate documentation throughout project execution.
• Provide resource support for subcontract change orders, variation notices, and claims for commercial risk and contractual alignment prior to escalation.
• Ensure subcontract administration practices support robust contemporaneous record-keeping to protect company interests in claims and dispute resolution scenarios.
• Coordinate with the procurement and legal functions to review subcontract terms and conditions for commercial risk prior to award.

Change Management & Claims

• Lead the company's change management process, ensuring that cost and schedule impacts of change orders, variations, and contract amendments are properly evaluated, documented, and communicated.
• Oversee the preparation and substantiation of formal schedule delay analyses and cost claims in support of dispute resolution or client negotiations.
• Maintain the project schedule and cost records as contemporaneous documents that accurately reflect project events and decisions.

Client & Stakeholder Engagement

• Supporting project executives and finance, actively participate in project review sessions.
• As requested by project executives, represent commercial functions in client-facing meetings and contract negotiations.
• Communicate financial performance, schedule status, risks, and opportunities clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders at the project and executive levels.

Qualifications
Education

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering (Civil, Mechanical, or related discipline), Quantity Surveying, Construction Management, or a related field. An equivalent combination of education and experience will be considered.

Experience

• Minimum 12–15 years of progressive experience in the construction industry (infrastructure, industrial, commercial, or resource sectors), with at least 5 years in a senior-level cost engineering or planning and scheduling role.
• Demonstrated experience managing or overseeing commercial functions on construction projects valued at $100M or greater, or design-build projects valued at $200M or greater.
• Proven experience leading multi-disciplinary commercial teams across both home office and field project environments.
• Experience managing commercial performance across both lump sum and reimbursable contract models.
• Experience with direct hire self-perform construction execution delivery.
• Demonstrated involvement in formal delay analysis, claims preparation, and dispute resolution processes.
• Experience supporting or leading procurement and subcontract administration functions on major capital projects.

Technical Skills

• Expert-level proficiency in either cost management or planning and scheduling, with strong working knowledge of the complementary discipline.
• Proficiency in Primavera P6 for schedule development, maintenance, and analysis.
• Advanced capability in cost management software (e.g., Oracle Primavera Cost Management, SAP, PRISM, Procore, or similar).
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel for cost modeling, data analysis, and reporting.
• Strong working knowledge of Earned Value Management (EVM) principles as applied to both cost and schedule performance.
• Familiarity with schedule risk analysis tools (e.g., Primavera Risk Analysis / Pertmaster, @Risk) is an asset.

Certifications (Preferred)

• AACE International Certification (CCP – Certified Cost Professional, PSP – Planning & Scheduling Professional, or CEP)
• PMI Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP)
• PMP (Project Management Professional)

Competencies

• Demonstrated leadership capability with the ability to manage, develop, and motivate a geographically distributed team.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a high degree of accuracy and attention to detail.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present complex commercial information clearly to executive and client audiences.
• Sound commercial acumen and judgment in assessing cost, schedule, and contractual risk.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and meet deadlines across multiple simultaneous projects in a fast-paced environment.
• Collaborative approach with the ability to influence and build alignment across disciplines, project teams, and organizational levels.

Working Conditions

• Primary work location is Pernix International's headquarters in Lombard, IL.
• Regular travel to project field locations is required, including potentially remote international locations.
• Extended site visits may be required during critical project phases, contract negotiations, or dispute resolution activities.
• Occasional extended hours during critical project phases or reporting periods.