Head of Commercial Contracts-UK & Europe

At Serco, we deliver vital public services that shape society—from justice and defence to healthcare, immigration, and transport. With 50,000 people operating across the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, and the Americas, we work on complex, mission-critical contracts that demand expert commercial leadership.

We are now seeking an experienced leader with deep commercial contracts expertise to join us as Head of Commercial Contracts. Reporting to the UK & Europe Chief Legal & Risk Officer, this is a senior strategic role that will lead the divisional commercial contracts function—driving excellence across contractual aspects of bidding, commercial contract management and optimisation, risk management, prosecution of commercial opportunities and enablement of organic growth, and in-life commercial issue resolution.

This is an opportunity to lead a high-performing team and drive and play a prominent role in Serco’s sustainable growth  through enhancing commercial awareness, effecting commercially sound decision-making and being central to the design and execution of its most complex and strategically important projects.

What you’ll be doing

•    Set the strategy and direction of the UK&E Commercial Contracts function in alignment with divisional priorities
•    Lead and develop a team of commercial contracts professionals, ensuring consistent and high-quality support across bids, delivery, and change
•    Key enabler for optmised commercial contract performance—leading on contract changes and organic growth, resolution of complex disputes,and contractual risk issues
•    Embed best practice tools, processes, and systems to support proactive contract management, change control, compliance, and value recovery
•    Partner with Legal, Finance, Procurement, and Operations to provide commercial leadership across the contract lifecycle
•    Support major bids, renegotiations, and commercial aspects of M&A, due diligence, and transformation programmes
•    Build trusted relationships with customer commercial leads, subcontractors, and internal stakeholders to influence successful outcomes
•    Continuously evolve how we manage contracts—driving efficiency, consistency, and commercial innovation across the portfolio

What you’ll need to bring

•    Senior leadership experience in commercial contract management, ideally in a large, complex services or outsourcing organisation
•    Deep expertise in managing in-life contractual issues—particularly claims, disputes, and complex negotiations
•    Strong grasp of contract structures, change mechanisms, risk frameworks, and compliance across public sector services (UK Government experience strongly preferred)
•    Experience leading and motivating teams of commercial contracts professionals in matrix and high-pressure environments
•    Proven ability to innovate and apply technology to improve the speed, consistency, and quality of commercial contract delivery
•    A commercially astute, solutions-focused mindset with excellent stakeholder management and negotiation skills
•    Excellent planning and organisational skills to manage multiple streams of work simultaneously
•    Ability to work with changing priorities and thrive in a fast-paced dynamic environment
•    Inclusive, approachable, consultative, and enabling nature
•    High integrity and commitment to the highest ethical and professional standards
•    Security clearance (SC) will be required

What we offer

•    Competitive six figure base salary
•    Performance-related bonus of up to 40%
•    10% employer pension contribution
•    Private medical insurance
•    25 days holiday + flexible hybrid working
•    A range of other company benefits

About Serco
At Serco, not only is the nature of the work we do important, everyone has an important role to play, from caring for vulnerable people to managing complex public services.  We are a team of 50,000 people responsible for delivering essential public services around the world in areas including defence, transport, justice, immigration, healthcare and citizen services. We are innovators, committed to redesigning and improving public services for the benefit of everyone.

By joining Serco you will have unlimited access to our Global Employee Networks – SercoInspire (Gender), SercoEmbrace (Multicultural), SercoUnlimited (Disability) and In@Serco (LGBT & Networks). Serco Employee Networks, led by colleagues who are passionate about diversity, inclusion and belonging. 

Apply
Please click on the apply button to complete your application. Occasionally we receive a large volume of applications for our roles and when that happens we sometimes bring the closing date forward, so please apply promptly to avoid disappointment. 

At Serco, we see people first and foremost for their performance and potential. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organisation that supports the needs of all. As such we will make reasonable adjustments at interview through to employment for our candidates and strongly encourage applications from a diverse candidate pool. We are open to discussions around flexibility and flexible working. We operate a hybrid work structure in many of our business areas. We are proudly Disability Confident Leader employers and holder of the Gold Inclusive Employer Standard. Disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job will be given the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities at an interview.  For help with your application please contact 0345 010 4000.
 

At Serco we support fair access to employment for those with unspent criminal convictions through the ‘Ban the Box’ pledge (some may be exempt due to the nature of the role and the security clearance required). Please contact our recruitment team directly on 0345 010 4000 to discuss.