Help us build a sustainable future for children's services
At Compass Community, we want to make a lasting difference to children's lives. Across fostering, residential care, specialist education and therapy, we work with local authorities across England and Wales to give children and young people the stability, care and opportunities they deserve.
At Compass, you're more than a colleague. You're part of a community that is changing lives, with clear career development, meaningful support and real recognition for great work.
Great care needs strong commercial foundations. That's where you come in.
The role
We're looking for a proactive, commercially minded Senior Commercial Manager to work closely with our Commercial Director and drive effective commercial practice across the business.
This is a hands-on role for a self-starter. You'll build robust financial models, run commercial projects from start to finish, manage contracts and fee uplifts, and report clearly on progress. You'll work with colleagues in Finance, Sales, Business Development and Operations, and engage directly with our local authority partners.
What you'll be doing
Commercial strategy and projects
- Supporting the Commercial Director to deliver the commercial strategy and day-to-day commercial operations
- Building and interpreting commercial and financial models for pricing, tenders, contract renewals and business cases
- Leading commercial projects end-to-end, from planning and milestones to risks, issues and deadlines
- Producing clear, accurate reports for senior stakeholders
- Working with Finance, Business Development and Operations so that proposals and models are commercially sound and reflect how services run
- Improving commercial processes, tools and ways of working
Contract management
- Overseeing contracts from award through delivery, renewal or exit
- Maintaining a central contract register that tracks key dates, KPIs, obligations and performance
- Working with commissioners on contract variations, extensions and disputes
- Making sure contracts comply with policy and legislation, and supporting commercial audits
Fee uplifts
- Leading the annual and ad hoc fee uplift process with evidence-based submissions to commissioners and frameworks
- Tracking benchmarking data, CPI/RPI, National Living Wage changes and care cost pressures
- Negotiating uplifts with local authorities and framework administrators while keeping strong relationships
- Reporting uplift outcomes to Finance and Operations
What you'll bring
Essential
- Proven experience in a commercial, finance or business analyst role, ideally in a regulated, service-based or public-sector-facing environment
- Advanced Excel skills, including building and maintaining complex financial and commercial models
- Strong project management skills and a good working knowledge of SharePoint
- The ability to manage several workstreams and competing priorities
- Confident communication with colleagues at all levels and with external partners such as local authorities
- Excellent written and verbal reporting skills, with the ability to make complex commercial information clear
- A methodical, detail-focused approach, good judgement and ownership of your work
It would be great if you also have
- Experience in or with children's services, social care, education or another regulated care sector
- Experience with CareCubed or similar cost-modelling tools
- Experience working directly with local authority commissioners or procurement teams
- Familiarity with project management tools and methods
- A finance, business or project management qualification (e.g. AAT, part-qualified CIMA/ACCA, PRINCE2, APM)
What we offer
Pay and financial security
- £60,000 to £70,000 salary, depending on experience
- Salary sacrifice pension: you contribute 5% and Compass adds 4%
- Life assurance worth three times your annual salary
- Medicash cashback on dental, optical, counselling and virtual GP appointments
- Salary sacrifice schemes for bikes, tech and electric vehicles (Octopus EV)
- Blue Light Card discounts at over 15,000 retailers
- We're a proud Real Living Wage employer
Time for you
- 25 days' annual leave, rising to 28 after four years
- Your birthday off, every year
- A paid wellbeing day and a paid volunteering day each year
- A paid festive half-day to celebrate a festivity of your choice
- Hybrid working, with three days a week from home
Growth and recognition
- Clear career pathways and support to gain recognised qualifications
- Monthly Values Awards with cash prizes, nominated by your peers
- Long-service gifts at 2, 5 and 10 years
Most importantly, the work matters. Strong commercial practice helps us keep services sustainable and children in the right placements.