Quantity Surveyor - Pre Contract

Quantity Surveyor - Pre Contract
Contract Length: 6-month contract (Possible extension)
Locations: Remote based role - 1-2 days per month on site in Sheffield + flexibility to travel to contractor offices
Rate: £550 per day via umbrella - Inside IR35 

About the Opportunity

We are supporting a major UK infrastructure organisation undergoing significant transformation and modernisation. A newly formed Commercial & Construction Strategy team is now looking to bring in an experienced Pre-Contract Quantity Surveyor to help shape, standardise and strengthen pre-contract activity across a large capital portfolio.

This is a unique opportunity to join a brand-new, high-impact team at a pivotal moment. You'll be helping to build processes from the ground up, bringing consistency to contract practices, guiding strategic decisions, and improving the way the organisation engages with contractors during the earliest stages of delivery.

If you enjoy variety, autonomy, and the chance to influence commercial strategy on major infrastructure programmes, this is an excellent role.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the development, drafting, and negotiation of NEC-based contract terms (primarily Option C).
• Create standardised contract data, schedules and call-off agreements across the portfolio.
• Review scopes of work, identify risks, challenge ambiguities, and ensure commercial robustness.
• Work through a backlog of agreements, taking full ownership of negotiations.
• Support estimating and cost benchmarking activities, providing insight where specialist resource is limited.
• Bring best practice to Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) and improve consistency of approach.
• Contribute to commercial strategy development and continuous improvement within a new and evolving team.
• Engage with procurement, engineering, development and delivery stakeholders as a trusted commercial advisor.

Key Skills & Experience

• Strong and extensive experience as a QS, ideally with a clear pre-contract focus.
• Deep knowledge of NEC3/4 contracts, particularly Option C - drafting, option selection, negotiation, and administration.
• Ability to independently draft and negotiate bespoke commercial terms.
• Proven skill in reviewing scopes and identifying commercial, contractual and risk-related issues.
• Experience creating consistent contract packs and driving commercial standardisation.
• Confident negotiator with strong commercial judgement.
• Flexible, pragmatic, proactive - able to step into gaps and help shape new processes.
• Comfortable working autonomously in a fast-evolving environment.
• Experience in electricity transmission, energy, utilities or major infrastructure.
• Familiarity with public contract regulations.
• Background or exposure to estimating, cost benchmarking or risk analysis.
• Experience of delivering or improving ECI

Please note: Due to the high volume of applications, only successful candidates will be contacted. If you do not hear from us within 48 hours, unfortunately, your application has not been successful on this occasion. However, we may retain your details for any future suitable vacancies and contact you accordingly.

Pontoon is an employment consultancy. We put expertise, energy, and enthusiasm into improving everyone's chance of being part of the workplace. We respect and appreciate people of all ethnicities, generations, religious beliefs, sexual orientations, gender identities, and more. We do this by showcasing their talents, skills, and unique experience in an inclusive environment that helps them thrive. If you require reasonable adjustments at any stage, please let us know and we will be happy to support you.

We use generative AI tools to support our candidate screening process. This helps us ensure a fair, consistent, and efficient experience for all applicants. Rest assured, all final decisions are made by our hiring team, and your application will be reviewed with care and attention.