Commercial & Contracts Lead

Job description

WHO WE ARE At Proxima Fusion, we're driven by a bold mission - to redefine the future of sustainable energy. Our unique concept, built upon the groundbreaking W7-X stellarator and the latest advances in technology, paves the way for commercially viable fusion power plants. What’s more, our work in stellarator optimization, powered by cutting-edge computation and machine learning, is propelling us into uncharted territories of fusion technology. New higher performance design points are unlocked by high temperature superconducting magnets. To fully grasp this huge opportunity, we’re building a team of extremely dedicated and passionate people who come together driving something extraordinary, radically transforming technology in the world. WHY JOIN PROXIMA FUSION - You will get to work on some of the most complex tech challenges to bring abundant, safe, clean energy to the world. - You'll get to join and learn from an exceptional selection of accomplished and driven individuals. - Do your life’s best work and enjoy the journey. - Get to show that big things are possible in Europe when you assemble the best talent. YOUR IMPACT - You own the owner-side commercial and contracts function across the Alpha programme - Proxima Fusion's first fusion demonstrator, a first-of-kind facility in the several-hundred-million-euro range. - You build the contractual and commercial framework before the major engineering and construction partners are selected: structuring how risk is allocated, how scope is defined, and how change is governed. - Working at the intersection of engineering, legal, and procurement, you translate technical scope into contract language and ensure the owner-side team can govern external parties effectively across the full project lifecycle. - As the programme scales across infrastructure, specialist plant, and equipment supply chains, you are the central commercial interface - coordinating across project owners from infrastructure and manufacturing, and serving as the primary counterpart to the procurement team. - Your work directly shapes whether the programme can move fast and stay in control as complexity grows. WHAT YOU WILL DO - Lead the development and negotiation of owner-side contracts for the Alpha programme - including early engagements, owner's engineer appointments, construction and plant agreements, and key specialist consultant appointments - Build and maintain the commercial management framework - covering change control, claims prevention, payment governance, and commitment tracking - so the owner-side team has clear visibility and control at all times - Translate technical and scope inputs from engineering leads into contract requirements and commercial terms; act as the bridge between what the project needs and how it is contractually captured - Serve as the central commercial interface to the procurement team, coordinating across project owners from infrastructure, plant, and manufacturing to ensure consistent commercial governance regardless of workstream - Serve as the primary interface to legal counsel on contracting matters, ensuring clean handoffs between legal, procurement, and commercial - Support the PMO on cost controls and financial reporting, including maintenance of the commitment register and assessment of commercial impacts from scope or design changes - Monitor contract performance with engineering and construction partners and key suppliers; identify and escalate emerging commercial risks early, before they become programme issues - Build the commercial framework with an eye to future scope growth - as the programme expands into equipment supply chains and manufacturing interfaces, the structures you establish today need to scale WHO YOU ARE - Experienced in commercial and contracts management on major capital projects in industrial, energy, or infrastructure sectors - familiar with standard contract frameworks such as FIDIC or NEC/IPA, or equivalent - Comfortable working at the intersection of engineering, legal, and procurement - able to translate between technical and commercial language, and to identify where contractual gaps or ambiguities could create risk - Experienced coordinating commercial matters across multiple parallel project workstreams - Fluent in both German and English, written and spoken - Entrepreneurial and structured: you build governance where none yet exists, rather than waiting for processes to be handed to you - Familiar with AI tools and digital working methods; you adapt fast and are comfortable operating in a lean, high-autonomy environment - Experience with early-stage programme development - Basis of Design, pre-FEED, or equivalent pre-construction phases - is a strong plus INTERVIEW PROCESS - Recruiter Interview (30-60 min) - Technical Screening (30 min) - Technical Panel (3x60 min) - CEO call (30 min) *This role sits at "L3" of our framework, please inquire during the recruitment process for further information. At Proxima Fusion, our mission is bold: making limitless clean energy a reality. To get there, we need a high-performing, diverse team that brings different perspectives, challenges assumptions, and builds together with purpose. We know that diversity of thought and experience leads to better ideas, stronger execution, and a more resilient team. We don’t look at how you identify, what you look like, who you choose to worship or what ethnicity you are. We care about what you can bring to the table.