Commercial & Contracts Lead

Proxima Fusion is building a team for the Alpha programme, its first fusion demonstrator. The Commercial & Contracts Lead will own the owner-side commercial and contracts function, build the contractual and commercial framework, and serve as the central commercial interface across the programme.

Responsibilities

Own the owner-side commercial and contracts function across the Alpha programme - Proxima Fusion's first fusion demonstrator, a first-of-kind facility in the several-hundred-million-euro range; Build the contractual and commercial framework before the major engineering and construction partners are selected: structuring how risk is allocated, how scope is defined, and how change is governed; Translate technical scope into contract language and ensure the owner-side team can govern external parties effectively across the full project lifecycle; Serve as the central commercial interface coordinating across project owners from infrastructure and manufacturing, and primary counterpart to the procurement team; Lead the development and negotiation of owner-side contracts for the Alpha programme including early engagements, owner's engineer appointments, construction and plant agreements, and key specialist consultant appointments; Build and maintain the commercial management framework covering change control, claims prevention, payment governance, and commitment tracking; Translate technical and scope inputs from engineering leads into contract requirements and commercial terms; Serve as the primary interface to legal counsel on contracting matters; Support the PMO on cost controls and financial reporting, including maintenance of the commitment register and assessment of commercial impacts from scope or design changes; Monitor contract performance with engineering and construction partners and key suppliers; identify and escalate emerging commercial risks early; Build the commercial framework with an eye to future scope growth

Requirements

Experienced in commercial and contracts management on major capital projects in industrial, energy, or infrastructure sectors - familiar with standard contract frameworks such as FIDIC or NEC/IPA, or equivalent; Comfortable working at the intersection of engineering, legal, and procurement - able to translate between technical and commercial language, and to identify where contractual gaps or ambiguities could create risk; Experienced coordinating commercial matters across multiple parallel project workstreams; Fluent in both German and English, written and spoken; Entrepreneurial and structured: you build governance where none yet exists, rather than waiting for processes to be handed to you; Familiar with AI tools and digital working methods; you adapt fast and are comfortable operating in a lean, high-autonomy environment

Nice to have

Experience with early-stage programme development - Basis of Design, pre-FEED, or equivalent pre-construction phases - is a strong plus

Benefits

Work on some of the most complex tech challenges to bring abundant, safe, clean energy to the world; Join and learn from an exceptional selection of accomplished and driven individuals; Do your life's best work and enjoy the journey; Show that big things are possible in Europe when you assemble the best talent