Commercial Director

About the Role

Responsible for the building a sustainable business for Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong, leading the end‑to‑end commercial lifecycle of the business—from deal structuring and contract execution to performance delivery and strategic commercial planning. This role ensures that all commercial activities are commercially viable, operationally efficient, and compliant with legal and contractual obligations.

Working in close partnership with Sales, Finance, and cross‑functional leadership, the Commercial Director drives commercial excellence, sustainable revenue growth, and long‑term business value. The job holder will be a member of the CML Senior Leadership Team (SMT) and will also be in HK Senior Leadership Team (SMT) subsequently.

Key Responsibilities

Contract and Deal Management

• Lead the end-to-end commercial process for new and existing contracts, including pricing, deal structuring, risk assessment, and collaboration with Legal and Finance on contract drafting, negotiations and approvals. Ensure all commercial arrangements – including pricing strategies, margin structures, and performance obligations - are commercially viable, competitive, legally compliant and aligned with business strategy.
• Partner with Legal, Finance, and Compliance teams to ensure all contract terms adhere to company governance frameworks, -regulatory obligations, and internal approval policies.
• Oversee compliance with contractual obligations and manage variations, renewals, and terminations in a timely and controller manner to safeguard commercial value and minimize risk.
• Maintain oversight of interbranch trading arrangements, ensuring adherence to intellectual property and licensing frameworks.

Performance and Governance

• Establish robust tracking mechanisms and governance structures to monitor contract performance, sales execution, and return on investment, ensuring visibility of commercial outcomes across the portfolio.
• Develop and maintain dashboards and KPIs to assess licensing income, contract value realization, and partner performance, enabling data-driven commercial decision-making.
• Drive operational efficiency in deal execution through standardized processes, robust documentation, and effective cross-functional communication across all branches and divisions.
• Partner with Sales and Operations teams to ensure successful fulfilment of contractual commitments, proactively addressing execution challenges and escalating performance, delivery or contractual risks.
• Conduct post-contract evaluations to capture insights and shape future deal strategies.

Strategic and Financial Insight

• Provide commercial insights into market trends, pricing opportunities, and emerging revenue models, particularly in digital learning and online content distribution.
• Develop business cases and commercial frameworks for new markets, product lines, or strategic partnerships, ensuring all proposals are grounded in robust commercial analysis and aligned with divisional strategy.
• Collaborate closely with Sales and Finance to forecast revenue pipelines, assess deal probability, and evaluate product investment decisions.
• Support senior management in shaping market entry strategies, partnership structures, and growth initiatives.
  
  

Leadership and Stakeholder Management

• Lead and develop a high-performing commercial team, fostering a culture of accountability and commercial excellence.
• Build strong cross-functional relationships with Legal, Finance, Operations, and Sales, and other key stakeholders.
• Foster a culture of commercial accountability, transparency, and high performance within the organization.

About You

Essential

• Significant experience in commercial roles in a multi-national organization
• Initiative and ability to successfully implement new ideas, with drive to push through
• Trusted advisor who is commercially astute and has a proven track record of driving business development and change initiatives
• Demonstrates gravitas and ability to clearly communicate compelling messages to management teams 
• A strong communicator with excellent written and oral communication skills
• Able to develop and maintain effective working relationships at all levels within an organisation

Desirable

• Experience and knowledge of the publishing industry.