Commercial Director - PNDC (824908)

Salary range: £69,488 - £73,709 per annum

FTE: 1 

Term: Open ended

Closing Date: 12 July 2026

Location: PNDC, Wardpark, Cumbernauld, G68 0EF and ANZIC, Inchinnan, PA4 9AF

PNDC is the University of Strathclyde's flagship industry-facing centres focusing on power networks, decarbonised heat, and decarbonised transport. We don't think about the future of energy, we validate it, de-risk it, and accelerate it to market. Working at the intersection of policy, industry, and deep technical capability, we are where breakthrough technology becomes deployable reality.

With the 2025 launch of our Advanced Net Zero Innovation Centre (ANZIC), we are significantly scaling our capacity to test and integrate high-power net-zero solutions across transport, heat, power electronics, electric machines, and whole energy systems. Four years of consecutive double-digit growth tells its own story and we're looking for the commercial leader to take us to the next level.

The Commercial Director is a senior leadership role responsible for owning and driving PNDC's commercial growth strategy, translating world-class technical capability into sustained revenue, deep industry partnerships, and measurable real-world impact. Reporting to the CEO, the Commercial Director will lead business development, major bids, stakeholder engagement, and the commercial functions across both PNDC facilities.

We are seeking an exceptional Commercial Director to join our Senior Leadership Team, a strategically sharp, commercially driven leader who can translate PNDC's world-class technical capability into sustained revenue growth, deep industry partnerships, and measurable real-world impact.

This is a role for someone who understands that the most valuable thing you can offer a network operator, technology provider, or policymaker is certainty ensuring they have the confidence to invest, collaborate, and commit. You will own the commercial strategy, lead high-value bids, and build the relationships that convert PNDC's innovation pipeline into long-term commercial success.

Working closely with the CEO, CTO and Operations Director, you will own the rolling 5-year financial strategy and business plan, ensuring our two facilities remain at high utilisation while growing the breadth and depth of organisations we serve on a direct commercial basis. You will lead multiple £1m+ bids annually, drive cross-faculty strategic partnerships, and ensure that PNDC's commercial reach extends well beyond its own walls.

You will take full ownership of the business development function, optimising the sales process, building robust pipelines, and driving conversion with the pace and rigour that industry demands. You will strengthen government and policy relationships to position PNDC at the centre of funding opportunities as the energy transition accelerates. And you will ensure our marketing and communications punch at the level our ambition demands, raising PNDC's profile nationally and internationally as a leading force in decarbonisation.

IP commercialisation, governance, KPI delivery, and cross-university collaboration all sit within your remit. You will deputise for the CEO and represent PNDC with customers, partners, government, and across the University of Strathclyde.

You will be a commercially proven leader with a track record of driving growth in a technically complex, innovation-led environment. You will bring experience of winning and delivering large-scale bids, building industry partnerships from the ground up, and navigating the intersection of public funding and private investment. You will understand the energy sector, or can move fast in it, and you will have the presence and credibility to operate at a senior level across industry, academia, and government.

You will be strategically ambitious and operationally rigorous, someone who sees the scale of the Net Zero transition not as a constraint, but as the opportunity of a generation.

For informal enquiries, please contact Will Drury, CEO - will.drury@ strath.ac.uk