About this role.
This role transitions an experienced construction commercial professional into a customer-facing construction SaaS position focused on change management, claims, and margin protection. The Manager of Commercial Strategy will consult with commercial leaders, drive platform adoption across site and office teams, and coach customers on building defensible project records. They will also relay customer and industry insight into product development while sharing best practices across the customer base. The position requires deep quantity surveying or commercial management expertise, strong stakeholder communication, and comfort leading workshops and transformation conversations.
Role DNA
A quick view of the complexity, pace, ownership and collaboration implied by the job description.
Job Complexity
4/5Pace & Pressure
4/5Autonomy Level
4/5Communication Load
5/5Salary analysis
Estimated compensation compared with the broader US market for similar roles.
Core skills
Skills and capabilities most closely associated with this opportunity.
Sample interview questions
I would map the change process from the field event through notification, record capture, valuation, approval, and final account. I would look for delays, missing contemporaneous records, unclear ownership, and recurring disputes, then quantify the commercial exposure and prioritize the highest-value process gaps.
I would start with the site team's daily workflow and demonstrate how quick, consistent capture protects them from later disputes rather than adding administration. Clear role-based training, practical examples, early champions, and visible feedback on recovered or protected value would reinforce adoption.
I would connect record quality directly to financial outcomes: timely, dated evidence improves notice compliance, substantiates entitlement, strengthens negotiation positions, and reduces unrecoverable margin. I would use examples of how missing records turn valid changes into difficult or failed claims.
I would distinguish isolated requests from repeatable market problems, document the underlying workflow and commercial impact, and present evidence from multiple customers. I would then collaborate with product teams on the smallest scalable solution while setting transparent expectations with customers about priorities and timelines.
I would acknowledge the value of their existing process, identify a specific pain point they already want to solve, and propose a low-risk pilot with measurable success criteria. Demonstrating improved evidence quality, faster issue escalation, or clearer accountability creates credibility before seeking broader process change.
We are Shape.Construction !
About the job
Contractors bleed margin on every project.
Unmanaged change. Disputed claims. Missing records. When field teams don’t follow processes, events go undocumented. Commercial teams scramble for evidence that doesn’t exist. Disputes drag on. Recoverable profit vanishes. On high-value projects, millions of pounds disappear.
Why?
– Field teams use clunky tools that are too complex and too slow. Critical events never get recorded. The audit trail has gaps.
– Commercial teams fight disputes with weak evidence, chase missing records, and lose recoverable margin while the business faces unnecessary claims.
Shape fixes this once and for all.
Shape is the only platform simple enough for field teams to adopt instantly, yet powerful enough to drive real commercial outcomes.
Site teams capture every issue, event, and change in real time. Shape automatically builds the bulletproof evidence commercial teams need to defend and recover claims.
The result: Fewer lost disputes. Faster resolutions. Full subcontractor accountability. Commercial teams manage change proactively instead of reacting to it.
This is the problem we solve. But to really help our customers, we need experts who understand their pain first-hand. Many of our customers are Quantity Surveyors. Who better to consult them than other Quantity Surveyors?
That’s where you come in.
We are looking for a seasoned Managing Quantity Surveyor ready not just for a change of role, but a change of industry. This is your opportunity to break away from the grind of construction and step into the fast-growing world of construction SaaS.
As our Manager of Commercial Strategy, you’ll use your hard-won expertise to guide other commercial teams through the biggest challenge they face: change and claims. Instead of battling over margins on a single project, you’ll be leading conversations that transform how entire companies protect their profit. This is consultative sales and customer success at the highest level – where your becomes the product and your impact scales far beyond any single contract.
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Purpose of the role
To partner with our customers’ commercial teams, helping them take control of change, disputes and claims using Shape. You will use your industry expertise to show them how to protect margin, build defensible records, and prevent the losses that most projects suffer today.
Your top 5 responsibilities
1. Consult with commercial leaders to uncover where they are losing profit to change and disputes, and show how Shape stops margin leakage.
2. Support customer adoption ensuring site and office teams use Shape consistently to capture changes, issues and claims.
3. Coach customers on strengthening claims and defending disputes with documented, auditable records.
4. Act as the commercial voice inside Shape, shaping product development to better match the realities of construction projects.
5. Share best practice and lessons learned across our customer base, raising standards and outcomes for the entire industry.
Your Capabilities
– Significant experience as a Commercial Manager or in a similar construction role.
– Deep understanding of how unmanaged change and poor records erode project profitability.
– Strong communication skills – able to win trust and explain complex issues simply.
– Strategic thinker who can move from diagnosing problems to implementing solutions.
– Desire to make an industry-wide impact, not just improve a single project or business.
Nice to Have (If you don’t have it now you will after joining):
– Experience advising or consulting with multiple stakeholders.
– Knowledge of SaaS platforms or digital transformation in construction.
– Comfortable leading workshops, training sessions, or customer presentations.
– Ability to link commercial pain points to practical technology solutions.
Shape isn’t the place for you if any of the following is true:
– You want an easy, chilled-out role without much challenge
– You like to be the smartest person in the room
– You don’t like continuously receiving honest candid feedback
– You prefer to do your own thing rather than work with a team
At Shape we value diverse experiences and perspectives, empowering each member to contribute their unique capabilities towards our collective success, so if you don’t think you meet all the criteria but still are excited about this role we encourage you to apply anyway!
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Salary and Benefits
Standard Stuff
– Extremely competitive
– Paid annual leave (varies by location) + statutory bank holidays
– Private health insurance
– In-house coaching sessions
– Discretionary bonus scheme for all team members
The Life-Changing Stuff
– 4 Day Weeks: that’s right, every week
– Flexibility: We care about outcomes, not clock-watching
– Grow your whole self: Access to a coach, mentor, well-being therapist and a development-focused environment designed to give you 5 years of growth in 1 year
– Be surrounded by the best: We only hire the top talent; progression is fast and development is unbounded.
– Long-term impact: Shape is tackling the single biggest issue in construction delivery, with solutions designed to spread and outlast us.
*Please do not book a demo via the Shape website as part of the application.
Compensation
Additional Information
Annual salary information is not provided for this position. Explore salary ranges for similar roles in our Salary Directory ›
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