Senior Commercial Officer

Job Introduction

At NNL we are fortunate to be gifted with some of the most creative and inspired scientific experts in our sector, in the world. Everyone in our workforce is here to deliver environmentally and financially sustainable solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges. We combine the decades of expertise of sector veterans, whose science has been at the forefront of nuclear technology over the past 30 years, with an emerging generation of talented and idealistic scientists, engineers and professionals.

This combination of hope and experience, and shared sense of purpose, provides us with the fortitude to maintain and build our distinct identity as the technical authority on nuclear fission; promoting UK skills and interests and solving global challenges.

Across NNL we take seriously our stewardship of a unique set of facilities and capabilities that enable ground-breaking nuclear research and development.

We are leveraging the UK’s rich nuclear heritage to help solve global challenges in four strategic areas: Clean Energy, Health and Nuclear Medicine, Environmental Restoration, and Security and Non-Proliferation. These are the cornerstones of our ambitions, shaping what we deliver for our customers and for UK society, and how we invest in our future.

As part of our growth, we are expanding our team and are looking to hire a Senior Commercial Officer. The team already has three other Senior Commercial Officers, supporting Commercial Managers, with a history of successful career development and progression for this position. We are now strengthening the team to ensure we can achieve our growth aspirations. 

The Senior Commercial Officer will provide effective commercial support to the Commercial Managers and the wider business to ensure robust commercial practises to help secure and deliver the right opportunities both within the UK and overseas.  This support may also include future opportunities in Advanced Nuclear Technology, Clean Energy, Environmental Restoration, Health & Nuclear Medicine and Security & Non-Proliferation.  

The location for this role can be flexible across the NNL sites.

Role Responsibility

As a Senior Commercial Officer, you will

• Support the development and implementation of commercial solutions with identified customers and Focus Areas to create value and safeguard commercial interests
• Negotiate robust commercial contracts with a focus on the deal structure and payment profile
• Assist the bid process, together with the costing and pricing of contracts
• Ensure bids and sub-contract requirements are understood and underpinned as appropriate
• Make certain that relevant sales contract requirements are flowed down the supply chain
• Act as the financial authority as defined by corporate governance
• Give commercial support to the business during the performance of contracts to ensure that the contract obligations and SLAs are fulfilled, and contract changes are implemented. 
• Be proactive in seeking and maximising opportunities and minimising risks in contract management.
• Negotiate robust commercial contracts with a focus on the deal structure and payment profile
• Support the bid process together with the costing and pricing of contracts
• Ensure bids and sub-contract requirements are understood and underpinned as appropriate
• Ensure relevant sales contract requirements are flowed down the supply chain
• Financial authority as defined by corporate governance
• Commercial support to the business during the performance of contracts to ensure that the contract obligations are fulfilled and contract changes are implemented to maximise opportunities and minimise risks

The Ideal Candidate

Criteria for Senior Commercial Officer:

• Proven commercial experience, able to demonstrate a solid understanding of contracts
• Able to demonstrate knowledge of costing and pricing
• Strong internal and external relationship building skills
• Good interpersonal skills, demonstrating confidence and drive, able to challenge, influence and communicate effectively to different audiences
• Ability to flourish and remain organised in a high-pressure environment to demanding deadlines
• Driven to seek opportunities to create greater value in the work that you do, able to look at the bigger picture of the function’s and NNL’s overall objectives
• Degree qualified or equivalent or professional qualification in Procurement (CIPS), Finance (ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA, ACA)
• Ability to achieve Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) Clearance

About the Company

Grounded in robust science and decades of experience, National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) is the authoritative voice in the UK and beyond for technological development within the nuclear power sector.

Our unparalleled understanding of the science, challenges and opportunities makes us an unrivalled authority and partner in the field, providing experts, technologies, and access to cutting-edge facilities to organisations around the world.

Harnessing potential technologies and translating them into to industry-ready solutions means our pioneering approach spearheads international improvement and technological progress.

We work on projects as small as drilling a hole to analyse underground wastes with our integrated micro drilling technology, or as large as developing state-of-the-art power systems for spacecraft, based on radioactive materials

NNL has a vision for Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (ED&I) where NNL aims to be an inclusive workplace that attracts diverse talent through transparent and equal policies and procedures. We want you and the diverse mix of people that we employ, customers that we service and stakeholders that we influence to feel valued. We encourage a workplace culture where everyone can thrive with a sense of belonging.

Recruitment Agency Notice

We operate a strict Preferred Supplier List (PSL) for the provision of recruitment services. Only agencies on our PSL may provide CVs and only when the role is released to them by our recruitment team. We will not accept unsolicited CVs from suppliers not currently on our PSL. We explicitly reserve the right to add candidate details from unsolicited CVs from non-PSL agencies into our own candidate database and to pursue/hire such candidate(s) without any obligation, financial or otherwise, to the agency concerned.

National Nuclear Laboratory