Snr Pre-Contracts Commercial Manager

Team: Commercial Delivery

Location: Perth or Brisbane

Role Type: Senior Leadership

Role Purpose

The Senior Pre-Contracts Commercial Manager is a key role within the Commercial Delivery team, responsible for shaping and executing high-value, strategically significant construction and supply agreements across power, gas, renewables and power generation.

Acting as the critical commercial interface between the upstream Energy Solutions teams and the downstream Infrastructure Delivery teams, this role ensures alignment of commercial and contractual frameworks across the full development lifecycle—from concept through to contract execution and handover to delivery teams.

Key Responsibilities

Commercial Strategy & Pre-Contracts Leadership

  • Provide advice on commercial models, risk profiles, procurement pathways, supplier selection strategies and scope packaging for downstream contracts.

  • Lead commercial inputs into sourcing and procurement strategies, ensuring alignment with project objectives and organisational risk appetite.

  • Partner with the project development (upstream) teams to identify and minimise gap risks between client agreements and downstream construction and supply agreements.

  • Advise on key contractual, commercial, and risk matters across a portfolio of high-value projects.

Contract Development, Negotiation & Execution

  • Drive negotiation strategies to secure favourable commercial outcomes and ensure clarity of scope, obligations, and risk allocation.

  • Lead the development, tendering, evaluation, negotiation, and execution of major construction and supply contracts.

  • Coordinate and instruct legal advisors to prepare and review contract documentation, ensuring key risks are addressed.

  • Oversee seamless contract handover to the Infrastructure Delivery team.

Governance, Risk & Reporting

  • Prepare and present risk assessments, commercial recommendations, and mitigation strategies to senior executives and the Board.

  • Prepare contract approval documentation consistent with governance requirements.

  • Ensure adherence to organisational procurement, probity, and commercial governance frameworks.

Leadership

  • Lead and mentor a small team of pre-contracts commercial specialists, fostering a high-performance culture.

  • Promote capability development, knowledge sharing and consistent application of commercial best practice across the Commercial Delivery function.

Key Experience & Technical Expertise

  • EPC and EPCM contracts

  • Balance of Plant contracts

  • Framework Agreements and Alliance models

  • NEC4 options

  • Target Cost contracting models

  • Commercial incentive regimes

  • Design & Construct (D&C) contracts

  • OEM supply agreements

Skills & Requirements

Experience

  • 10+ years’ legal, commercial and/or quantity surveying experience on large-scale construction projects in the power, gas, or renewable energy sectors.

  • Proven experience negotiating and delivering high-value, multi-faceted engineering and construction contracts.

  • Experience developing procurement strategies across competitive tenders, ECIs, and sole-source arrangements.

  • Demonstrated capability in risk identification, quantification, mitigation development, and executive-level risk presentations.

·         Track record of building and leading high-performing commercial teams.

Skills & Competencies

  • Strong negotiation skills with ability to influence at senior levels.

  • Exceptional stakeholder management—internal and external.

  • Commercially astute with deep understanding of construction contracting principles.

  • Ability to analyse complex commercial issues and develop clear recommendations.

  • Strong communication skills, including high-quality written reports and governance documentation.

  • Strategic thinker with the ability to operate under pressure and manage competing priorities.

Qualifications (Preferred)

  • Tertiary qualifications in Law, Commerce, Engineering, Quantity Surveying, or a related discipline.

  • Professional membership (e.g., AIQS, RICS, IE Aust, or similar) is advantageous.

Chris Meharg