Commercial Manager: Job Profile and Role

As a commercial manager, you will oversee and manage the commercial aspects of a company or institution. Commercial managers drive revenue growth, maximize Profitability, and ensure the success of commercial activities. Depending on the industry you are working for, your tasks and responsibilities might vary, but they will rather often than not include business development, contract management, and risk management. In this blog post, you will find out which skills and educational background are necessary to start a career as a commercial manager.

Short Summary

• A commercial manager is responsible for the business growth of a company. Your duties include managing the company’s relationships, identifying areas of business, and negotiating contracts.
• Commercial managers are expected to hold at least a bachelor’s degree. Additional thought after qualifications are relevant work experience, analytical skills and financial acumen.
• Tips for thriving in a career as a commercial manager include managing your relationships, building leadership qualities, and embracing adaptability. 

Job description

A commercial manager is among the company leaders. They develop long-term interest in businesses as well as oversee day-to-day operations. One of the main duties of a commercial manager is to look for opportunities to increase the company’s growth. Furthermore, commercial managers monitor and analyse market trends, customer preferences, and potential threats to the business. This also includes the building of relationships with stakeholders and assisting the commercial director.

Responsibilities

• Identify business opportunities
• Handle day-to-day business
• Assist the commercial director
• Negotiate business contracts
• Managing contracts
• Analyse market trends
• Assessing potential risks
• Initiate a risk management
• Manage project teams

Different types of Commercial Managers

• Commercial Manager
• Commercial Director
• Commercial Management Consultant

Salary

Due to several studies, the average annual salary of a commercial manager in the UK is around £65,000. You should consider that salaries depend on various aspects, such as your amount of experience, the size of your employer, and the industry you work for. However, starting your career as a commercial manager, you might expect to earn about £40,000. Climbing up the career ladder and gaining experience, you might earn around £80,000 at a senior-level. As a commercial director, you can even expect to be paid up to £100,000 or even more. 

Working hours

The role of a commercial manager is an office-based job. Therefore, working hours in commercial management mostly are usual office-hours. Typically, commercial managers work full-time, which would translate to 35 to 40 hours per week. Only about one per cent of commercial managers work part-time. However, there are quite a few commercial managers that work on a temporary contract.

As project managing is usually part of the job of a commercial manager, you might have to work extra hours if needed. How often this might happen depends on the specifics of your company and the industry you work in.

Employers

As a commercial manager, you can work in various institutions from different industries. In the private sector you might work for companies from different sectors such as retail, technology, and healthcare. Large e-commerce companies often employ commercial managers to manage their supplier relationships, negotiate contracts, and optimize product offerings as well as research new business opportunities.

Other industries that employ commercial managers are financial institutions such as banks and investment firms, government organizations, and construction companies.

Qualifications

To start a career as a commercial manager, you will be expected to provide a wide set of qualifications. Although there are no formal requirements to enter commercial management, employers will expect successful candidates to at least hold a first degree. A higher-level degree is an added benefit that will propel your career.

As a commercial manager, you need profound skills in financial analyses, contract management, and risk management. In addition, employers might seek out candidates who hold industry-related qualifications to prove comprehensive knowledge about the industry.

Skills

In addition to the aforementioned hard skills, the role of a commercial manager requires a wide range of soft skills. Here you find three of the most crucial soft skills for succeeding if you want to start a successful career in commercial management.

Analytical Mindset

As a commercial manager, it is your responsibility to oversee company needs, handle day-to-day business, and research new business opportunities. An analytical mindset allows you to analyse dat, interpret market trends, and detect new areas of business. Therefore, an analytical mindset is crucial for anyone who wants to start a career in commercial management.

Strategic Thinking

The role of a commercial manager is a superior management position. One of your main tasks is to continuously research opportunities to preserve, improve and expand the institution’s product range and financial success. Strategic thinking abilities help commercial managers to not only understand market dynamics, but also anticipate future trends, and develop innovative strategies that align with the institution’s standards, business edicts, and regulatory guidelines.

Problem-Solving

As a commercial manager, you will have to deal with new situations and unexpected circumstances on a day-to-day basis. Therefore, the ability to solve problems effectively is crucial for a commercial manager. This includes the ability to identify potential issues at an early stage, analyse complex situations, and develop creative solutions to avoid or overcome challenges.

Career Path

The role of a commercial manager is not an entry-position. Requirements might vary depending on the industry you want to start a career in commercial management. Nevertheless, more often than not, successful candidates are expected to hold at least a bachelor’s degree, have gained profound experience, and possess a wide range of both hard and soft skills.

Educational Background

There might not be a formal requirement to hold a degree if you want to start a career in commercial management. However, most employers seek out candidates who possess at least a bachelor’s degree. Degrees in business administration, commerce, economics, or marketing make a good choice for those, who aim to work in commercial management.  

While not required for an entry-role in commercial management, a master’s degree is surely an added bonus. If you intend to climb the career ladder and want to become a commercial director, an MBA or a specialised master’s degree can provide advanced knowledge and skills that are highly valued by employers. 

Gaining Experience

The path of a commercial manager starts even before you enter e role in commercial management: Most employers hiring communication managers expect successful candidates to have years of experience working in different positions. An entry-level position in the long career path of commercial management might be the role of a sales representative or junior analyst.

After gaining some experience, you might move up the career ladder and work as a sales manager or account manager. After a couple of years, you can actually start your career as a commercial manager. With further experience and proven success as a commercial manager, you might be able to transition into general management or work as a commercial director.

Continuous Learning

As a commercial manager, it is your responsibility to oversee not only daily business issues of the institution but also the market trends of the industry you work in. Therefore, continuous learning is crucial for your success and the success of your institution. 

For a commercial manager, continuous learning includes both individual development and the aforementioned staying updated with industry trends. Therefore, you might consider industry-specific qualifications or certificates. In addition, commercial managers benefit from attending workshops, seminars, conferences, and online courses.

A Day in the Life of a Commercial Manager

What your typical day as a commercial manager might look like, depends on various factors, such as the industry you work for and the size of your company. However, there are some tasks that you will have to deal with more or less every day.

In the following sections we will dive deeper into three of the main responsibilities that will define your day-to-day work as a commercial manager.

Planning and strategizing

Commercial managers seek out opportunities to secure the company’s success. Therefore, planning and strategizing is one of the core responsibilities of every commercial manager, no matter which industry they work for. This process involves several key activities, such as:

• Analysing the market
• Setting goals
• Identify growth opportunities
• Develop sales forecasting
• Develop sales strategies

Meetings and communication with stakeholders

It is most likely that there will be at least one meeting, rather several meetings, in the typical day of a commercial manager. This includes meetings with internal stakeholders as well as meetings with (potential) clients.

Furthermore, you will be responsible for leading and managing your team. This involves communication, providing guidance, conducting performance viewings, and assigning tasks.

Contract negotiation and management

Contract negotiation and management tasks are two more responsibilities that play a core role in commercial marketing. Contract negotiation requires profound knowledge of legal regulations and management demands. As commercial managers are now lawyers themselves, they will work closely with legal teams to ensure that contracts comply with applicable laws, regulations, and industry standards.

The negotiation and management of contracts includes a multitude of different aspects and tasks:

• Understanding requirements by conducting research
• Preparing negotiation strategies
• Identifying common ground and presenting proposals
• Bargaining and compromising
• Addressing legal considerations and finalising the contract
• Relationship management as part of the post-negotiation follow-up

Tips for Thriving as a Commercial Manager

The job of a commercial manager is a demanding and versatile role. Therefore, thriving as a commercial manager requires a combination of management expertise, strong interpersonal skills, as well as a commitment to continuous learning. If you want to climb the career ladder in commercial management you might want to focus on the following aspects:

• Develop strong leadership skills
• Stay updated with legal criteria and industry trends
• Embrace resilience

Develop strong Leadership Skills

As a commercial manager, you will not only lead your own team but will also provide guidance to senior management within your institution. As you climb up the career ladder, the amount of responsibility will grow further. If you aim for the position of a commercial director or some other senior role in general management, strong leadership skills are crucial.

Leadership skills encompass a wide range of abilities and qualities, such as:

• Communication
• Emotional intelligence
• Decision-making and problem-solving
• Motivating the team and delegating responsibilities

Stay updated with Legal Criteria and Industry Trends

Your main responsibility as a commercial manager is to identify opportunities for your company to grow. Therefore, you need not only to have a profound overview of the industry trends but also be able to anticipate possible trends. To thrive as a commercial manager, it is crucial to educate yourself continuously about the latest industry trends, market dynamics, and emerging technologies. In addition, you need a profound and up-to-date knowledge of legal criteria. This knowledge combined will help you identify new opportunities that will help your company to stay ahead of your competitors.

Embrace Resilience

The role of a commercial manager is rather demanding as it includes not only a huge amount of workload but also dealing with difficult situations such as negotiating contracts and problem-solving. Therefore, you need to embrace your resilience as it is the best way to handle setbacks and keep a positive and fresh mindset.

Embracing resilience includes a wide range of abilities and qualities:

• Ability to accept change and adjust your plans
• ·Ability to manage and regulate your feelings
• Ability to approach challenges with a proactive mindset

Frequently Asked Questions