Senior Quantity Surveyor (United Utilities)

Senior Quantity Surveyor

Location: Leyland Hours: 40 hours per week Salary: Up to £55,000 (dependent on experience) Benefit: Company Car/Car Allowance

About Lanes Group

Lanes Group is one of the UK's leading utility services providers, with almost 5,000 employees delivering essential services nationwide. With annual revenues exceeding £650 million, we are a growing business that offers exciting opportunities, a collaborative culture and the chance to make a real impact. We value diversity, invest in development and help people build successful careers.

Purpose of the Role

We are looking for a commercially strong and experienced Senior Quantity Surveyor to support the Head of Commercial in leading the commercial management of our UU contract.

This role will provide day-to-day commercial leadership, guidance and oversight across allocated workstreams. The Senior Quantity Surveyor will be responsible for ensuring strong commercial control, accurate reporting, effective WIP management, timely Applications for Payment, robust cost management and clear client query resolution across a high-volume, low-value contract environment.

The successful candidate will be confident managing multiple workstreams, reviewing QS outputs, challenging commercial and operational information, and supporting the Head of Commercial with CVR performance, client discussions, risk management and commercial governance.

This role requires someone who can balance detail with leadership, ensuring the day-to-day QS processes are managed effectively while also identifying trends, risks and improvement opportunities across the contract.

Key Responsibilities

Commercial Leadership and Oversight

• Support the Head of Commercial in managing commercial performance across the UU contract.
• Provide day-to-day commercial leadership and guidance to Quantity Surveyors working across allocated workstreams.
• Oversee the end-to-end QS process, ensuring works are commercially controlled from instruction and delivery through to valuation, payment and final account.
• Review QS outputs, including Applications for Payment, WIP positions, CVR commentary, cost reviews, client queries and supporting evidence.
• Ensure commercial processes are completed accurately, consistently and in line with contract requirements.
• Identify and escalate key commercial risks, recurring issues, margin pressures and cash recovery concerns.
• Drive improved commercial discipline, governance and accountability across the Non-Core workstreams.

Applications for Payment and Revenue Recovery

• Oversee the preparation, review and submission of Applications for Payment across allocated workstreams.
• Ensure AFPs are accurate, complete, well evidenced and submitted in line with contractual timescales.
• Review high-risk, high-value or recurring queried items before submission or escalation.
• Support the QS team in resolving client queries, rejections and unpaid items.
• Ensure all chargeable works, variations, materials, plant, subcontractors and other recoverable costs are captured.
• Monitor rejection trends and work with the QS and operational teams to reduce repeat issues.
• Support improved first-time approval rates and timely cash recovery.

WIP and Final Account Management

• Oversee WIP management across allocated Non-Core workstreams.
• Review aged WIP regularly, ensuring clear actions, owners and timescales are in place.
• Challenge blockers preventing billing, approval or payment.
• Support the QS team in progressing outstanding AFPs, queried items, rejected items and unpaid values.
• Ensure final account positions are accurate, well evidenced and commercially sound.
• Escalate aged, high-risk or recurring WIP issues to the Head of Commercial where required.

Cost Control, CVR and Margin Management

• Manage and review CVR reporting across allocated workstreams, ensuring revenue, cost, margin, WIP, risk and opportunity positions are accurate and clearly understood.
• Support the Head of Commercial with weekly and monthly CVR reviews, providing clear commentary on performance, risks, opportunities and required actions.
• Review job-level and workstream-level costs, including labour, plant, materials, subcontractors and other direct costs.
• Challenge incorrect cost allocations and work with Finance and Operations to resolve coding or cost issues.
• Identify trends in cost movement, productivity, under-recovery, margin pressure or operational inefficiency.
• Ensure risks and opportunities are clearly tracked, understood and reflected in commercial reporting.
• Provide clear recommendations to improve margin, recovery and commercial control.

Contract and Change Management

• Ensure relevant contract requirements are understood and applied across UU workstreams.
• Support the identification, preparation and submission of Compensation Events, variations or change requests where required.
• Review commercial submissions to ensure they are accurate, well evidenced and aligned to contractual entitlement.
• Ensure scope changes, additional works and variations are captured, valued and progressed.
• Support the QS team with contractual queries, commercial evidence requirements and escalation of disputed items.
• Use agreed client and internal systems to manage submissions, records, queries and approvals.
• Escalate contractual risks, recurring disputes or areas of commercial exposure to the Head of Commercial.

Operational, Client and Stakeholder Management

• Act as a senior commercial contact for allocated UU workstreams.
• Build effective working relationships with client representatives to support query resolution, approval flow and payment progression.
• Support client meetings and commercial reviews, providing clear updates on WIP, AFPs, rejections, risks, actions and workstream performance.
• Work closely with Operations, Planning, Finance, Administration and Commercial teams to ensure commercial requirements are understood and delivered.
• Challenge and influence internal teams where information is incomplete, inaccurate or affecting commercial recovery.
• Support operational teams in improving evidence standards, job completion quality, coding accuracy and commercial awareness.
• Maintain a collaborative client relationship while protecting the business's commercial position.

Team Support and Development

• Provide guidance, support and coaching to Quantity Surveyors and Assistant Quantity Surveyors.
• Review work produced by QS team members, providing feedback to improve accuracy, evidence quality and commercial judgement.
• Support the development of good commercial behaviours, including ownership, challenge, accuracy and timely escalation.
• Help embed consistent QS processes across allocated workstreams.
• Support onboarding, training and day-to-day development of junior commercial team members where required.
• Promote a culture of continuous improvement, accountability and strong commercial governance.

Reporting and Analysis

• Support weekly and monthly commercial reporting for UU Non-Core.
• Provide clear updates on revenue, cost, margin, WIP, AFP progress, rejections, aged items, risks and opportunities.
• Maintain and review trackers and reports to provide visibility of workstream performance.
• Analyse trends across rejections, under-recovery, aged WIP, operational process issues and cost movement.
• Use reporting to drive improved commercial control, better first-time submission quality and stronger cash recovery.
• Provide clear insight and recommendations to the Head of Commercial.

Skills and Experience Required

Essential

• Proven experience as a Senior Quantity Surveyor or experienced Quantity Surveyor within utilities, construction, infrastructure, highways, water, wastewater or a similar operational environment.
• Experience overseeing end-to-end QS processes, including Applications for Payment, WIP, cost control, CVR reporting, forecasting and final account.
• Ability to manage multiple workstreams in a high-volume, fast-paced contract environment.
• Strong understanding of schedule of rates contracts or similar pricing mechanisms.
• Strong cost, value, margin and CVR management experience.
• Experience reviewing commercial submissions, supporting evidence, client queries and payment issues.
• Confident dealing with client representatives, including supporting commercial reviews and resolving queried or disputed items.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence Operations, Finance, Planning, Administration and Commercial teams.
• Ability to challenge constructively where processes, costs, evidence or submissions are not correct.
• Strong Excel, reporting and commercial analysis skills.
• High attention to detail, with the ability to identify errors, trends, risks and improvement opportunities.
• Organised, proactive and able to manage multiple priorities, deadlines and escalations.

Desirable

• Experience working on water, wastewater, utilities or framework contracts.
• Knowledge of NEC contracts or similar contractual arrangements.
• Experience using client systems, commercial trackers or contract management platforms.
• Experience managing rejections, aged WIP, AFP queries or high-volume billing processes.
• Degree qualified in Quantity Surveying, Commercial Management or a related discipline.
• RICS qualified, working towards RICS chartership, or open to professional development.
• Experience supporting, mentoring or reviewing the work of junior QSs or Assistant QSs.
• Experience supporting process improvement, reporting automation or commercial governance improvements.

Personal Attributes

• Commercially astute and confident.
• Strong leader who can support, guide and challenge others.
• Proactive, organised and able to work at pace.
• Comfortable taking ownership and managing escalations.
• Strong communicator who can build trust with internal teams and client representatives.
• Detail-focused, with strong governance and commercial discipline.
• Comfortable challenging information where required.
• Resilient and able to manage pressure in a high-volume environment.
• Practical, solutions-focused and commercially balanced.
• Able to spot trends, risks and repeat issues.
• Collaborative, while able to protect the commercial position.
• Focused on accuracy, recovery, team development and continuous improvement.

Living the Company Values

By embedding our company's core values and purpose into each role, every employee understands how their individual development and contributions align with our purpose of 'improving today for a better tomorrow'.

This role holder is expected to:

• Leading: Acts as a role model, shaping the learning agenda and influencing change.
• Agile: Anticipates learning needs, adjusts quickly to changing operational contexts.
• Nurturing: Supports the development of others through coaching and structured development plans.
• Engaging: Inspires and motivates learners, builds trust and credibility.
• Safe & Secure: Ensures all learning is aligned to safety and compliance standards.

Your Contribution to the Company

• Strive to be always positive and constructive.
• Adhere to all company policies.
• Speak frankly about the facts of the situation – open discussions are the best way to find solutions.
• Help others through communicating clearly.
• Deliver on commitments.
• Ensure that any ideas that may enhance the productivity or systems of the company are brought to the attention of Senior Management, or your colleagues.
• Deliver our Company Values understanding that by working together in unity we are 'Stronger Together'.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

At Lanes Group, we are dedicated to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued and empowered. We believe that our differences make us stronger and are committed to providing equal opportunities for all employees. We welcome and encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, including those from underrepresented groups. Join us in our commitment to creating a more inclusive and diverse world.