Senior Manager, Subcontracts (Major Projects & Programs)

Senior Manager Subcontracts

The Subcontracts Senior Manager will lead the overall subcontracting strategy and execution for the project, with responsibility for shaping, procuring, awarding, and managing the project’s major construction and supporting service subcontracts.

This is a senior project leadership role requiring strong commercial judgement, market engagement capability, contract strategy development, and close integration with project delivery, construction, procurement, legal, and client stakeholders.

Role purpose

The role is responsible for establishing and leading a subcontracting approach that:

- supports safe and successful project delivery
- aligns with project schedule, execution strategy, and commercial objectives
- secures capable subcontractors across major work packages
- balances risk appropriately across the supply chain
- creates competitive tension while retaining flexibility for selective sole-source or early contractor involvement where justified
- ensures robust governance, compliance, and post-award contract administration

Key responsibilities

1. Subcontracting strategy and packaging

- Lead development and implementation of the subcontracting strategy for the project.
- Define subcontract packaging philosophy in alignment with construction strategy, AWP, schedule, and market capacity.
- Recommend optimal contract size, scope split, and contracting models to suit project needs and contractor capability.
- Ensure subcontracting strategy supports execution certainty, cost and schedule performance, and risk mitigation.

2. Market engagement and sourcing

- Lead early market engagement with key subcontractors and construction service providers.
- Develop bidder and contractor longlists/shortlists for major and minor work scopes.
- Assess market appetite, resource availability, competitiveness, and delivery capability in the UK construction environment.
- Shape sourcing strategies for critical packages, including competitive tendering, selective tendering, single-source, and ECI approaches where justified.

3. Prequalification and tendering

- Oversee subcontractor prequalification and due diligence processes.
- Direct preparation of package-specific tender strategies, invitation-to-tender documentation, tender evaluation criteria, and award recommendations.
- Ensure technical, commercial, financial, HSE, and execution considerations are fully integrated into bid evaluation.
- Lead or govern negotiations with preferred subcontractors.

4. Commercial model and contract form selection

- Recommend appropriate commercial models for each package, including: lump sum
- remeasurable
- target cost
- reimbursable

- Ensure contract forms and commercial structures are aligned with scope maturity, risk profile, market conditions, and delivery objectives.
- Develop contractual approaches that are bankable, practical, and attractive to the market while preserving required risk protections and flowdowns.

5. Contract formation and governance

- Lead preparation, alignment, negotiation, and execution of bespoke subcontract documentation.
- Ensure key head contract obligations and project-specific requirements are appropriately flowed down.
- Maintain full compliance with governance, delegation of authority, ethical sourcing, confidentiality, and applicable company/client procedures.
- Support governance approvals and recommendation-for-award processes.

6. Post-award contract management leadership

- Establish the contract management framework for awarded subcontracts.
- Oversee subcontract performance monitoring, KPI development, reporting, and contractor governance.
- Drive robust administration of change, claims, notices, disputes, and commercial close-out.
- Ensure early identification and management of commercial, delivery, and interface risks.

7. Stakeholder integration

- Work closely with project management, construction, engineering, procurement, legal, HSSE, project controls, and client teams.
- Interface with strategic suppliers and major package stakeholders where broader contractual arrangements or bridging mechanisms are required.
- Provide clear recommendations to project leadership on subcontracting risk, market strategy, award decisions, and commercial exposures.

Likely subcontract scope portfolio

The role is expected to cover major construction packages and supporting services, likely including:

- civils and piling
- structural steel
- mechanical and piping
- absorber/desorber towers
- electrical, controls and instrumentation
- modular buildings
- pre-assembled racks
- site-built tanks
- insulation
- flue gas stack
- flue gas ducting
- scaffolding
- heavy lift / cranes / transport
- temporary facilities
- construction support and site services

Key challenges in the role

The successful candidate will need to manage a number of project and market challenges, including:

- high UK construction market demand and constrained subcontractor capacity
- packaging decisions that may shift depending on market response and contractor appetite
- balancing competitive tendering with selective sole-source or ECI strategies
- aligning contract terms with market realities, including payment and security expectations
- managing flowdown risk without making packages unattractive to capable subcontractors
- handling change, claims, and dispute avoidance proactively on a complex major project

Candidate profile

We would expect the individual to bring:

- strong experience leading subcontract strategy and execution on major EPC/EPCm or construction projects
- proven success in market engagement, bid strategy, negotiation, and subcontract award
- deep knowledge of UK construction contracting practices and market behaviours
- strong grasp of commercial models, contract risk allocation, and subcontract administration
- ability to influence senior stakeholders and operate at project leadership level
- practical experience managing post-award performance, change, and claims environments
- a collaborative leadership style with strong delivery focus and commercial discipline