Head of Commercial

Summary

In this exciting new opportunity within the newly formed Supply & Partnerships division of TalkTalk Group we’re looking for an experienced commercial leader to execute and drive the Group’s supplier strategy whilst leveraging the level of competition and choice now available in the supply of Full Fibre connectivity.

To deliver services to its 4m wholesale and retail consumers, you’ll utilise our own UK network (3k nodes, the largest unbundled network in UK) as well as third-party network suppliers to supply “last mile” connectivity to customer premises.

As new supply alternatives to Openreach have emerged as the UK broadband market undergoes a structural transition from copper to fibre, TalkTalk is seeking to take advantage of this market pivot by utilising its scale to develop a compelling mix of partnerships that will improve the underlying unit economics of both the Direct and Wholesale divisions.

Your objective is to play a critical role in optimising the unique commercial and competitive advantage for TalkTalk and deliver an enhanced capability/platform that can be monetised by these areas.

Reporting to the Commercial Director for this division, as the Head of Commercial you’ll execute these plans to deliver a step change in the underlying profitability of TalkTalk Group.

The Team

The overall team is responsible for:
- Optimising the overall commercial position, with a focus on COGS, for TalkTalk Group through competitive supply and ensuring TalkTalk customers (and Partners) gain access to great value Full Fibre products.- Negotiation of commercial terms with Suppliers, both current and potential which includes the initial set-up and the ongoing monitoring, benchmarking, and evaluation of commercial offers.- Co-ordination of the commercial aspects of the Copper to Fibre programme (the removal of legacy network infrastructure, as the industry pivots from copper to Full Fibre connectivity) to deliver cost rationalisation and operational efficiencies.

Key to this role will be:
- Execution of competitive supply strategy including external negotiations and securing agreements with our suppliers (current and new), whilst optimising, and wherever possible reducing, the connectivity CoGS for the Group.- Commercial Lead at a working level with suppliers, with key responsibilities around:
- Holding external suppliers and ourselves accountable for delivering on commitments made in contractual agreements-
- External negotiations with current and potential suppliers for fibre connectivity supply, and in line with our supplier strategy, ensuring commercial agreements are legally and commercially robust, sustainable and drive long-term profitability-
- Evaluation and business casing, with Finance teams, and negotiation of new offers from suppliers-
- Drive cross-functional collaboration with other key areas of the Group (e.g. Direct, Wholesale, Operations/technology) to ensure both trading and change delivery plans are designed to maximise the value from supplier relationships.- Provide expert telco commercial expertise on other projects led by other teams where required, representing the Supply & Partnerships area, and ensuring a long-term, strategic and group-level view is put forward.- Providing coaching, advice, and a sounding board to direct reports and team members and ensuring they are driving the team towards achievement of its objectives (noting any direct reports and wider team members are likely to be experienced telco professionals in their own right).

Knowledge, Skills and Experience- We’re seeking a high-calibre individual with strong telco experience, commercial acumen and negotiation ability, with excellent analytical and numeracy skills to support solid commercial decision-making across the group.- You’ll have the ability to build multi-level relationships across the organisation and the gravitas to command respect when presenting to Senior/Exec management as well as external Suppliers, particularly at C-suite.- With excellent stakeholder management, you’ll offer clear and concise communication and working with other TalkTalk functions to ensure cross-functional success is key.- You’ll have the ability and personal skills to enable the visualisation of an opportunity and communicate to stakeholders and contributors, this includes the ability to create business plans and models for C-suite review and evaluation.- As the successful individual you’ll be a proven change agent, able to organise, coordinate and deliver in complexity, with a strong background in the delivery and implementation of complex opportunities.- You’ll be capable of bringing ideas, being disruptive and having a degree of pace and urgency, with a strong understanding of TalkTalk’s strategy and the commercial considerations.

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