Commercial Director recruitment is the search I run most often. The role owns the commercial position of a region, a division or a major programme: the final accounts, the risk and opportunity register, cash, the commercial team and the client's commercial relationship. It is retained, research led and handled personally, from brief to placement.
Commercial Director Recruitment
The commercial position of a region, and the person who holds it.
The brief I usually receive
Three briefs arrive more than any other. A region whose Commercial Director has been promoted or has left for a competitor, and where the Managing Director needs continuity on the final accounts before the year end. A specialist contractor that has grown past the point where the Managing Director can run the commercial position personally. And a major programme, an alliance or a framework where the client wants a commercial lead who has run a comparable position on the other side of the table.
In each case the first conversation is about what the commercial position actually is: the contract forms, the size and age of the final accounts, the state of the cash, and the team. That is what the brief is written from, not the job description.
I have sat where your Commercial Director sits
I am a qualified Quantity Surveyor and was a Commercial Manager at Sir Robert McAlpine before I moved into search.
A Commercial Director talks properly to someone who has run the final accounts, and the assessment I run is the one I would want run on me.
What I assess
Every Commercial Director on a shortlist has run a commercial position of comparable scale under the contract forms your business works to. The assessment tests the record on final accounts and disputes, the discipline on cash and the commercial reporting, the judgement on risk taken and declined, and the team the person has built and kept. I take a reference from a Managing Director who has depended on the person's numbers, and I ask for a worked example of a commercial decision that went wrong and what was done about it.
The written appraisal that comes with each name covers capability, motivation and risk, and it names the reservations as well as the strengths.
Where the role sits
Commercial Director appointments arrive from Tier 1 and Tier 2 main contractors, civil engineering contractors on the rail, highways and water frameworks, housebuilders, building services and specialist contractors, and the client side on the major programmes. The step before it, Head of Commercial, and the step above it, Chief Operating Officer, sit under board appointments.
How the search runs
Brief, market map, direct approach, assessment and a managed offer. The Commercial Director search adds a commercial case study to the assessment and a reference from a Managing Director who has depended on the person's numbers. The stages are set out on the method page.
Common questions
What does a construction Commercial Director do?
The Commercial Director owns the commercial position of a region, division or major programme: the final accounts, the risk and opportunity register, cash, the commercial team and the relationship with the client's commercial lead. On a major programme the role also owns the commercial strategy of an alliance or framework.
What does a Commercial Director earn in UK construction?
From my 2026 searches, a regional Commercial Director at a Tier 1 or large Tier 2 contractor sits between £130,000 and £175,000 base plus car, bonus and pension, a Group Commercial Director around £185,000, and a Senior Commercial Manager on a major London scheme £100,000 to £120,000. Specialist and data centre contractors pay above the range for the experience they need.
How long does a Commercial Director search take?
Six to eight weeks from brief to accepted offer, then a notice period that is usually three to six months at this level. A Commercial Director leaving a competitor will often be placed on garden leave for the full notice period.
Do you recruit Commercial Directors outside main contracting?
Yes. Specialist contractors in ground engineering, building services and facades, civil engineering contractors on the frameworks, housebuilders' regions and the client side on the major programmes. The profile differs in each and the brief is written for the one you are in.
Start a conversation
If you are appointing a Commercial Director, or weighing whether your Head of Commercial is ready to step up, I would welcome the chance to talk. No hard sell, no obligation.
