Commercial Manager

The Vacancy

WPS Planned – Social Housing
Location: East & West Midlands (with travel to Northampton & Cambridge on pending projects)

The Opportunity

Here at Wates Property Services (WPS) – Planned, we have an exciting opportunity for a Commercial Manager to join our growing Planned Maintenance business, delivering large-scale social housing programmes across the East and West Midlands, with additional travel to Northampton and Cambridge as new projects mobilise.

This is a senior, hands-on role within a high-volume, high-turnover environment, responsible for managing both the commercial function and a team of Quantity Surveyors, while overseeing multiple projects concurrently.

The role would suit an experienced Commercial Manager, or a Senior Quantity Surveyor ready to step up, with a strong background in social housing / planned maintenance.

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Key Responsibilities

• Full commercial leadership of multiple planned maintenance social housing projects across the region
• Line management, mentoring and development of a team of Quantity Surveyors and commercial staff
• Overall responsibility for commercial performance, cost control, forecasting and reporting across a high turnover portfolio
• Management of subcontract procurement, valuation, variations and final accounts
• Ensure robust commercial governance, compliance with contract requirements and WPS procedures
• Work closely with Operations, Project Managers and Clients to support successful project delivery
• Contribute to business planning, risk management and continuous improvement initiatives
• Build and maintain strong client relationships across local authority and housing association partners

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About You

• Proven experience in a commercial role within social housing planned maintenance (essential)
• Currently operating as a Commercial Manager, or a Senior Quantity Surveyor looking to progress
• Experienced in managing multiple projects within a fast-paced, high-volume environment
• Previous line management or mentoring experience (or ready to take this next step)
• Strong contractual knowledge and commercial acumen
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
• Ideally based in the East Midlands, West Midlands, Northampton or Cambridge, with flexibility to travel across the region as required

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Why Join WPS Planned?

• Work on long-term, secure social housing frameworks
• Join a well-established and growing Planned Maintenance division
• Opportunity to influence and shape the commercial function across a large regional portfolio
• Clear career progression within a leading UK construction and property services group

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If you’re an experienced commercial professional within social housing, or a Senior QS ready to step into a Commercial Manager role, we’d love to hear from you.

Given the nature of this position, you will need to undergo a Basic Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) at offer stage. Applicants with criminal convictions will be assessed individually, and we assure you that we do not discriminate based on an applicant’s criminal record or the details of any disclosed offenses. Additionally, certain roles may be subject to additional pre-employment checks.

To learn more about the checks included in this process, please click on the following link: National Security Vetting

Work for Wates

Wates is one of the UK’s leading family-owned development, building and property maintenance companies.  Founded over 125 years ago, we have a proud legacy in the built environment.

We are driven by our purpose, ‘reimagining places for people to thrive’ and our three promises:

• Thriving places – working with customers, partners and communities to create places that are more sustainable, inclusive, and full of opportunity.
• Thriving planet – protecting nature and taking action on climate change by collaborating and innovating with our partners.
• Thriving people – creating opportunities and relationships so that everyone who works for and with us feels included, invested in and treated with care.

We are proud to be recognised as Gold Investors in People and as a Disability Confident employer.  We also ensure that our recruitment processes do not treat anyone less favourably due to an offending background.