Head of Commercial Services

Shape the Future of Commercial Services in One of Greater Manchester's Most Ambitious Council

Trafford is a borough with bold ambitions, thriving communities, successful businesses, outstanding schools and a strong sense of place. It combines opportunity and innovation with a deep commitment to public service.

We're now looking for an exceptional commercial leader to help shape the future of Trafford's traded services offer. This is a rare opportunity to build on strong foundations, lead meaningful change and strengthen sustainable, customer-focused services for schools, education settings and communities. The role will also support income generation, customer retention and the long-term commercial resilience of Trafford’s traded services offer.

About the Role
Leading a portfolio centred on catering and cleaning services for schools and education settings, you will develop and deliver a clear commercial strategy that strengthens existing services, identifies opportunities for growth and supports long-term sustainability. This will include developing competitive pricing strategies and trading models that are financially sustainable and aligned to Trafford’s priorities.

You'll work closely with schools, academy trusts, senior leaders, elected members and partners to shape future delivery models, improve performance and keep services responsive to customer needs. You will provide clear advice and assurance to senior stakeholders, helping them make informed decisions about future commercial direction.

Trafford's education sector is one of its greatest strengths, with long-established relationships across schools and education settings. This offers the change to influence services that are integral to that ecosystem, creating high-quality services that support children, young people and communities.

You will bring evidence, insight and clarity to decision-making, developing robust financial and performance frameworks, using market intelligence and performance data to inform choices about growth, innovation and investment. You will also strengthen frameworks for pricing, governance, bids and future business development.

About You
Trafford has strong foundations, loyal customers and committed teams. It now needs a leader who can bring commercial insight, strategic direction and the confidence to turn ambition into delivery.

You'll be a commercially credible leader who brings clarity to complex challenges and looks beyond day-to-day delivery. You will have a strong track record of balancing commercial opportunity with public service values, growing income or developing business opportunities in a customer-focused environment. You'll be comfortable assessing markets, using financial and performance information, identifying where services can grow or change, and supporting informed decisions about long-term sustainability.

You'll recognise that these services are about more than income generation. Catering and cleaning services play an important role in Trafford's education ecosystem and are valued by schools. You'll protect those relationships while bringing the challenge, insight and commercial discipline needed to keep services competitive, financially resilient and fit for the future.

This is an opportunity to join a service at a defining point in its journey, combining commercial thinking, stakeholder engagement and purposeful leadership to deliver genuine impact.

Find out more at www.ourtraffordourfuture.co.uk or contact our retained advisors at Tile Hill for a confidential discussion:
Helen Alwell – helen.alwell@tile-hill.co.uk – 07931 543313
Anita Denton – anita.denton@tile-hill.co.uk – 07725 554802

Closing Date for Applications: 9am on Friday 17th September

To apply:
To apply, please submit an up-to-date copy of your CV (three sides of A4 maximum), along with a supporting statement (three sides of A4 maximum) detailing your experience, and achievements and addressing the key criteria for the role set out on this site and using examples to demonstrate how you meet the requirements. Documents should be uploaded via our website, please include and upload the below information in two documents only. If you experience any issues whilst applying, please contact matthew.ashby@tile-hill.co.uk

Applications must include:

• Full contact details;

• Names, positions, organisations and contact details for two referees (we will ask your permission before contacting referees);

• Details of your notice period;

• Notification of any dates when you are not available for interview.

At Tile Hill, we are committed to inclusion and accessibility. We champion and support all individuals to ensure everyone feels valued, listened to and motivated to get the very best out of each recruitment process and that processes are designed to meet the needs of individuals. If you have any specific requests and would like a confidential discussion with the Tile Hill team, then please email inclusion@tile-hill.co.uk.

If the organisation we’re representing is a member of the Disability Confident Scheme and you’d like to apply under the scheme, please mention this clearly in bold at the top of your supporting statement. If there are any adjustments that would support you during the application or interview process, please let us know.