Commercial Manager

About the role

The Commercial Manager is responsible for growing the Group's revenue base across all three entities – winning new customers and new lines of business, and converting idle or under-utilised tonnage into contracted, cash-generating charters. This is a deal origination and closing role rather than an account servicing role. The successful candidate will be measured on new revenue contracted, fleet utilisation improved and charter days sold. The role reports to the Head of Commercial and works closely with Operations, Technical, Finance and the Group's legal advisers.

Key responsibilities

• Identify, qualify and convert new commercial opportunities across all three Group entities – offshore and subsea contractors, shipping agencies, terminal operators, bunker suppliers, marine construction and EPC firms, ship managers, and government and statutory buyers.
• Build and maintain a live opportunity pipeline with named prospects, deal values, probability weighting and expected close dates; report pipeline movement to the Head of Commercial on an agreed cycle.
• Lead the commercial response to tenders, RFQs and quotation requests – scoping, costing with Operations and Finance, pricing, drafting and submission.
• Develop entry into adjacent service lines identified by management, including market sizing, competitor pricing and go-to-market approach.
• Represent SG Group at industry events, port community forums and customer meetings, and maintain visibility with key decision makers across the Singapore port ecosystem.
• Gather and analyse market intelligence on rates, capacity and service offerings of competing harbour craft, launch and supply boat operators.
• Own fleet utilisation as a commercial metric – track vessel-by-vessel employment, identify idle and cold-stacked tonnage, and return it to revenue-earning service.
• Source charterers and negotiate time charter, voyage charter and bareboat opportunities across the fleet.
• Prepare and negotiate charter party terms in consultation with the Head of Commercial and the Group's legal advisers, including hire rate, duration, delivery and redelivery, manning and crewing responsibility, bunker arrangements, off-hire, substitution rights, insurance and total loss provisions.
• Monitor charter performance post-fixture – hire invoicing, off-hire claims, redelivery condition, and renewal or extension discussions.

About you

• Degree or diploma in Maritime Studies, Business, Shipping, Logistics, Engineering or a related discipline.
• Minimum 5 years' commercial, chartering, sales or business development experience in shipping, offshore, port services or marine logistics.
• Working knowledge of charter party structures and commercial terms – time charter, voyage charter and bareboat. Familiarity with BIMCO forms such as SUPPLYTIME and BARECON is an advantage.
• Proficiency in MS Office, Google Suite and CRM software. Must be able to build and interrogate a costing model in Excel – breakeven per trip or per day, bunker consumption, crewing cost and contribution margin.
• Demonstrable record of winning new business – candidates should be able to name deals they personally sourced and closed.
• Strong negotiator who protects margin and contractual position under pressure, and knows when to walk away.
• Numerate and rigorous – never quotes a rate that has not been costed.
• Strong follow-through – converts meetings into proposals and proposals into signed contracts without prompting.
• Good English communication skills, verbal and written; able to draft quotations and commercial correspondence without heavy editing.
• Team player with strong interpersonal skills; works effectively with Operations, Technical and Finance.

About us

SG Group of companies is a specialist solutions provider for the harbour craft sector. With the first company set up in 2013, the Group today comprises three companies – SeaCabbie Pte Ltd, SG Shipping Pte Ltd and SG Smart Tech Pte Ltd. The Group is headquartered in Singapore with a supporting office in India, and operates a fleet of supply boats, harbour craft and passenger launches alongside a growing maritime technology and electric vessel business. We currently serve clients in Singapore and the South East Asia region.