Senior Commercial Manager

Job Description

The Senior Commercial Manager is accountable for driving sales, revenue growth, and profitability within the Repair and Conversion division at Seaspan Shipyards. This leadership role is responsible for cultivating strong customer relationships, identifying and securing new business opportunities, and overseeing the execution of contractual obligations. The scope of business development includes marine ship repair, pipe spool fabrication for marine and industrial applications, as well as destructive and non-destructive testing technologies. The role also supports cost estimation and procurement activities, providing strategic commercial insights to senior leadership.

Note: Due to business needs, this position is required to be fully on-site based at 203 East Esplanade, North Vancouver .

What You’ll Do

• Drives revenue growth and manages expenditure targets to meet or exceed financial performance goals.
• Develops long-term commercial strategies aligned with corporate objectives and growth targets.
• Develops a deep understanding of client operations to proactively identify opportunities and provide innovative, cost-effective solutions tailored to customer needs.
• Leads negotiations of complex commercial contracts, including pricing strategies, risk assessments, and settlement agreements.
• Leads and mentors’ commercial teams, influencing mid-level strategy, customer portfolio management, and resource allocation. Provides thought leadership across commercial functions and represents Seaspan in national and international industry forums. Mentors emerging commercial leaders.
• Oversee the full lifecycle of contracts, including order processing, trip planning, issue resolution, and settlement negotiations.
• Manages multiple commercial initiatives across Repair & Conversion, marine fabrication, and testing technologies; drives strategic revenue growth and profitability across business lines. Oversee cross-functional alignment with Operations, Finance, Procurement, and Legal, reporting to Director-level leadership.
• Maintains continuous communication with internal teams and external stakeholders to ensure alignment and responsiveness.
• Represent Seaspan Shipyards on industry committees and forums to advocate for and protect the company’s interests.
• Provides commercial intelligence, competitor analysis, and forecasting to support decision-making by senior leadership.
• Perform additional duties as required, both internally and externally focused.
  
  
  

What You’ll Bring

• Bachelor’s degree in business, Mechanical Engineering, Maritime Engineering, or a related discipline is required; Master’s degree is preferred.
• Minimum of 12+ years’ experience in marine operations, sales, customer relations, or a related field with demonstrated success managing complex commercial contracts and driving revenue growth.
• Experience in negotiating legal aspects of sales contracts, in collaboration with Legal Counsel.
• Proficiency with planning and customer relationship tools (e.g., Salesforce, ERP/MRP systems, MS Office Suite).
• In-depth knowledge of marine transportation, construction, and material inspection industries.
• Strong customer orientation with proven negotiation and relationship management skills.
• Effective communication and interpersonal skills demonstrates a proactive and solution-oriented mindset.
• Strong leadership qualities with the ability to serve as a capture leader for sales initiatives.
• Experience in managing and executing complex commercial contracts.
• Willingness and flexibility to travel and work outside standard business hours, including national and international assignments.
  
  
  

Why you’ll love working here

• This is a full-time, permanent position. With multiple operations and long-term projects, Seaspan employees enjoy job stability as we look ahead to build ships for decades to come .
• In addition to an annual bonus and pension plan matching, this role provides you a very competitive salary in line with the successful candidate’s experience.
• We also provide the best-in-class health and wellness benefits package for this position, including things such as extended health care (i.e. paramedical services for massage therapy, speech therapy, mental health coverage, physiotherapy, and more), dental care, vision care, life insurance, medical leave coverage, parental leave coverage, childcare benefit partnership, $500 personal spending account, and an Employee Family Assistance Program (EFAP).
  
  
  

The estimated salary for this position is $156,600 - $191,400. In determining final salary, Seaspan considers many factors including the successful Candidate’s skillset and experience as well as position location and internal equity. The final base salary offer will be at the Company’s sole discretion and presented as part of a competitive total compensation package.

About Us

Seaspan Shipyards is one of North America’s most modern shipyards and unique in its ability to provide a complete range of services including new construction, conversion, refit, repair and life-cycle maintenance work for Canada’s Coast Guard and Navy as well as commercial vessels including cruise-ships and deep-sea vessels. Seaspan Shipyards operations include Vancouver Shipyards, Vancouver Drydock and Victoria Shipyards.

To learn more, visit our website: www.seaspan.com

This position may involve defense articles and/or technical data regulated by the U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations (“ITAR”) and the U.S. Arms Export Control Act. In compliance with ITAR, the successful candidate will be subject to a security clearance through the Canadian Controlled Goods Program as regulated by the Controlled Goods Regulations and Defense Production Act. The successful candidate will be required to maintain their security clearance throughout their employment in this position.

Seaspan is committed to Employment Equity, supports diversity in the workplace, and encourages applications from all qualified individuals including, women, members of visible minorities, Indigenous persons, and persons with disabilities. If you require any accommodations at any stage of the recruitment process, please reach out to our Talent Acquisition team at [email protected] for confidential support. We are committed to providing an inclusive and accessible environment.