Commercial Controller
Samara Lombok · Construction · Lombok · Onsite
Role Overview
Samara Lombok is building premium hospitality and construction projects on one of Indonesia's most ambitious developing islands — and we need a Commercial Controller who can hold the financial line without flinching. This role owns the full commercial performance of our construction projects: contracts, cost control, variations, claims, and profitability — all managed against international standards in an environment where supply chains are unpredictable, logistics are complex, and the rulebook is often written in real time. You are not here to report numbers from a comfortable city office — you are here to protect the business commercially from the ground up, embedded on-site in Lombok, working alongside QS, procurement, finance, and project teams to ensure every dollar spent is tracked, justified, and defended. If you thrive when systems are imperfect, build clarity out of chaos, and hold commercial discipline in frontier conditions, this role was designed for you.
Key Responsibilities
- Own and monitor the full commercial performance of all active Samara construction projects, maintaining real-time visibility of cost positions, budget alignment, and profitability even when data sources are fragmented or delayed due to island logistics.
- Review, administer, and protect the company's position across all contracts, subcontractor agreements, variation orders, payment applications, and commercial correspondence — ensuring every commitment is documented, compliant, and commercially sound.
- Lead project cost control and forecasting processes, working directly with QS and project teams to produce accurate cost-to-complete projections and flag deviations before they become business risks.
- Coordinate with procurement to validate that purchasing decisions align with approved budgets and contractual obligations, particularly in a supply environment where lead times and vendor reliability are inconsistent.
- Identify and escalate commercial risks, potential disputes, contractual non-compliance, and cost overrun trajectories early — and come equipped with practical, on-the-ground mitigation strategies, not just theoretical recommendations.
- Prepare concise, high-quality commercial reports, dashboards, and executive updates covering project costs, claims status, variation registers, risk exposure, and profitability — delivered on schedule regardless of operational disruptions.
- Manage the claims and variations process end-to-end: assessment, substantiation, negotiation, and resolution — protecting Samara's financial interests while maintaining professional contractor relationships critical in a small island market.
- Collaborate with the finance team to ensure commercial data feeds accurately into company-wide financial reporting, cash flow forecasting, and project accounting, bridging the gap between site reality and financial records.
- Contribute to the continuous improvement of commercial processes, contract templates, and reporting frameworks — building robust systems from the ground up where they don't yet exist, in line with Hyatt-level operational standards.
- Support senior leadership with commercially grounded input on project decisions, procurement strategies, and contract negotiations, functioning as a trusted advisor who understands both the numbers and the frontier environment.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Quantity Surveying, Construction Management, Mathematics, Finance, or a directly related discipline.
- Minimum 8 years of hands-on commercial management experience within the construction industry — not finance or consulting adjacent, but construction-core.
- Demonstrated experience managing contract administration, claims, and variations on complex construction projects — with evidence of protecting commercial outcomes under pressure.
- Proven track record in project cost control, budget management, and commercial reporting across multiple concurrent projects.
- Strong working knowledge of construction contracts (FIDIC, NEC, or local equivalents) and the ability to interpret, apply, and enforce contractual terms.
- Experience working in remote, developing, or infrastructure-constrained environments — island, emerging market, or frontier project experience is non-negotiable for this posting.
- Fluency in English.
Nice to Have
- Professional accreditation such as MRICS, AIQS, or equivalent quantity surveying or commercial management certification.
- Prior experience working in Indonesia or Southeast Asian construction markets, with familiarity of local regulatory, procurement, and subcontractor landscapes.
- Exposure to hospitality, resort, or mixed-use luxury development projects where finish standards are uncompromising and cost control is equally critical.
- Experience building commercial reporting systems and cost control frameworks from scratch — particularly in organisations transitioning from informal to structured commercial management.
- Working knowledge of construction ERP or project management software (e.g. Procore, Aconex, Oracle Primavera, or equivalent) used for cost and contract tracking.
- Demonstrated ability to train, mentor, or upskill junior QS or commercial team members in environments where specialist talent is scarce.
- Bahasa Indonesia proficiency.
Skills
Contract Administration & Management, Construction Cost Control & Budgeting, Variation & Claims Management, Commercial Reporting & Dashboard Development, Project Profitability Monitoring, Quantity Surveying Principles, Procurement Commercial Oversight, Financial Forecasting & Cost-to-Complete Analysis, Risk Identification & Commercial Mitigation, Stakeholder Negotiation & Management, Frontier/Remote Project Resilience, Cross-Functional Collaboration (QS, Finance, Procurement, Site)