IT Commercial Lead

About OES

OES is a global education services partner, working with universities, employers, and industry bodies to deliver market-leading online learning solutions. Our purpose is to enhance lives through education, and our vision is to be the world's most impactful enabler of education. We are a values-led organisation that empowers our people to make a meaningful impact every day. Through collaboration, innovation, and a student-focused approach, we create engaging learning experiences while supporting our teams to grow, develop, and thrive in a culture that embraces change and continuous improvement.

The Opportunity

We're looking for an IT Commercial Lead to join our Technology team and play a pivotal role in managing vendor spend, contracts, forecasting, and commercial governance across the function. Reporting to the Group Executive, Technology, you'll combine strong commercial acumen with a keen eye for detail to ensure our financial and operational processes run smoothly and effectively. This is a hands-on role for someone who enjoys diving into the detail and using data to drive better business decisions. You'll work closely with financial, operational, and vendor data to build a clear picture of IT expenditure, contract performance, and commercial activity across the department. You'll ensure invoices are accurate, contracts are proactively managed, forecasts are reliable, and governance processes are consistently followed. Beyond the numbers, you'll have the ability to identify trends, uncover opportunities, and translate data into meaningful insights that support strategic decision-making. Your work will provide the Technology leadership team with confidence that vendor spend, contractual obligations, and financial forecasts are being actively managed, minimising risk and helping the business make informed, commercially sound decisions.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage and maintain the IT contract register, ensuring contract renewals, reviews and obligations are proactively tracked.
• Oversee vendor spend across software, cloud services, subscriptions and professional services.
• Review invoices and payment data to ensure accuracy, compliance and alignment with contractual agreements.
• Prepare and maintain monthly operating expenditure forecasts and support the annual budget process.
• Analyse commercial and financial data to identify trends, risks, savings opportunities and areas for improvement.
• Partner closely with Finance, Technology leaders and vendors to ensure strong commercial governance.
• Manage vendor payment processes and monthly reconciliations.
• Produce insightful reporting that enables stakeholders to make informed business decisions.
• Support contract negotiations and vendor management activities.
• Drive continuous improvement across commercial, forecasting and reporting processes.

About you

You'll be naturally analytical, highly organised and enjoy working through complex data to uncover valuable insights. You're someone who enjoys understanding both the procedural and operational aspects of how a business functions and takes pride in ensuring things are done accurately and efficiently.

We're looking for someone with:

• Approximately 3+ years' experience in a Commercial Analyst, IT Finance, Vendor Management, Contract Administration or similar role
• Experience working with budgets, forecasts, invoices, spend analysis and reporting.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret data and translate findings into actionable recommendations.
• Experience managing vendor contracts, renewals and commercial governance processes.
• Excellent attention to detail and a passion for accuracy.
• Confidence working with spreadsheets and financial reporting tools.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
• A solid understanding of technology vendors, software licensing, cloud services or IT commercial environments.
• Ideally, you'll also bring:
• Experience within a technology, SaaS, services or EdTech environment.
• Exposure to accounts payable, expense management or procurement processes.
• Experience identifying process improvement opportunities through data and reporting.

What’s in it for you?

At OES, we're transforming lives through education. You'll join a high-performing, values-led organisation where your work directly influences business decisions, drives meaningful outcomes, and supports some of the world's leading education providers. If you enjoy working with smart people, solving complex challenges, and making a genuine impact, you'll thrive here.

Along with joining a passionate, energetic and highly skilled team, this role will allow you to gain exposure to many growth and development opportunities. OES offers a hybrid, flexible approach to work, where we work 3 days from our state-of-the-art Cremorne office, and the rest from home (or wherever you choose!). Breakfast, snacks, table tennis, Nintendo Switch are all available in the office, as well as weekly staff drinks. Ultimately, you will be joining a values-driven, collaborative business where your creativity and innovation will be nurtured and celebrated.

We pride ourselves on being a 'People First' employer and if you join the OES Team, you will benefit from:

• Hybrid working arrangement for genuine career-life fit (3 days in our Cremorne Office)
• Professional development and mentoring
• OES Culture Club and events calendar
• Health and wellbeing activities
• Annual flu vaccinations
• Paid parental leave
• Purchased leave
• Study assistance and leave for eligible employees
• Mental health support resources and Employee assistance program (EAP)
• Income protection insurance
• Access to corporate health insurance rates

If you're interested in this exciting opportunity to join a newly created role, we'd love to hear from you. Apply now by submitting your CV and Cover Letter

At OES, we are committed to creating an inclusive and diverse environment, where we encourage candidates of any nationality, age, background, disability, and gender identity to apply. If you feel aligned to the role and would like to further explore your suitability, we welcome your application and would love to consider your fit for the role at OES.