Director of Commercial Services (Pricing, Proposals and Contracts)

Key Responsibilities:

Customer Rates and Commercial Negotiation

• Own the annual rate adjustment and renewal program across regions and service lines, including the January union rate cycle
• Personally lead strategic and difficult customer rate negotiations, setting target economics and concession limits with Finance and Operations
• Lead hard commercial conversations, including pushback on increases and entitlement disputes, so Operations can protect field relationships
• Build and defend rates from labor build-up sheets, collective bargaining agreements and labor burden
• Oversee approved rate sheets, rate IDs and effective dates, and work with Finance to verify system setup and billing

Team Leadership and Service Delivery

• Lead a five-person team with clear responsibilities, priorities, response expectations and backup coverage
• Coach and develop team members, and build succession and knowledge-transfer plans for critical work
• Build contract-review depth so critical work never depends on a single person
• Maintain a steady operating rhythm with workload reviews and timely escalation of deadlines and capacity constraints

Proposals and Commercial Quality

• Lead proposal support for formal RFPs and significant pursuits, ensuring complete, accurate and compliant submissions
• Review key proposal economics, payment terms, assumptions, exclusions and contract deviations
• Maintain controlled proposal content and customer qualification materials, and develop a phased plan for shared proposal support

Contracts, Purchase Orders and Approval Governance

• Oversee the Contracts Manager and commercial rate specialist in reviewing MSAs, subcontract agreements, purchase orders and NDAs
• Set review and escalation standards for liability, indemnity, insurance, warranties, payment, disputes and termination, and escalate legal questions to outside counsel
• Own compliance with levels of authority for bids, pricing concessions, terms deviations, PO acceptance and signatures
• Oversee PO intake, validation, approval routing and acknowledgement, with a complete handoff to Operations and billing
• Support resolution of rate disputes, customer audits, rebates and change orders

Subcontractor and Compliance Administration

• Oversee subcontract agreements, onboarding documentation, certificates of insurance, licensing and customer qualification requirements
• Maintain renewal calendars and escalate missing requirements, coordinating with Operations, Safety, Risk, Finance and Procurement

Workflow Visibility, Technology and Improvement

• Implement a shared view of requests, ownership, status, deadlines, approvals and blockers
• Improve throughput with standard intake, templates, playbooks, automation and company-approved AI, with human review of contract positions and commercial decisions
• Maintain business continuity through acquisitions, divestitures and system changes

Preferred Background:

• Background in industrial maintenance, power generation, refining, petrochemical, construction or turnaround work
• Hands-on experience building rates under multiple collective bargaining agreements
• Experience with ERP or contract workflow improvements
• Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, engineering, construction management, supply chain or a related field, or equivalent experience
• A law degree or bar admission is not required

Required Experience & Qualifications:

• 10+ years of progressive experience in commercial management, pricing, contracts or industrial services, with direct accountability for customer-facing commercial outcomes
• Proven success personally negotiating service rates, renewals and complex agreements with sophisticated industrial customers
• Experience managing and developing a team
• Strong financial acumen in service pricing, labor economics, gross margin, payment terms and cost recovery
• Working knowledge of union or prevailing-wage labor economics, with the ability to build rates from labor build-up sheets and translate CBA requirements into customer rates
• Sound judgment on indemnity, liability, insurance, warranties and change orders, and the ability to work with outside counsel
• Experience supporting proposals and high-volume contract or PO workflows
• Comfort adopting business systems, automation and approved AI tools

Benefits Offered:

• Medical/Dental/Vision
• Health Savings Account
• Short-term disability
• 100% employer paid Long-term Disability
• 100% employer paid life insurance
• 401K match
• Paid time off
• Employee Assistance Program

EEO Statement:

Universal Plant Services is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship status, protected veteran status, genetic information, or physical or mental disability.