Head of Commercial Planning

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Job reference 341048
Head of Commercial Planning

Competitive salary, £5,500 car allowance or £5,000 cash equivalent, 18% annual bonus potential, family healthcare, 27.5 days annual leave plus bank holidays, and a company pension scheme with highly competitive contribution rates

Location: Royal Mail, 185 Farringdon Road, London, EC1A 1AA – hybrid working with 4 days in the office.

About the role

At Royal Mail, we're transforming how we serve customers, grow our commercial performance and deliver sustainable value for the future. To help drive this ambition, we're looking for an exceptional Head of Commercial Planning to lead the strategic planning, prioritisation and delivery oversight of our commercial initiative portfolio.

This is a high-profile leadership role, responsible for ensuring that commercial investment, product development and delivery activity are focused on the opportunities that create the greatest value for both customers and the business.

Working closely with senior leaders across Commercial, Product, Technology, Operations, Marketing and Finance, you'll provide direction and governance across the full lifecycle of commercial initiatives - from identifying strategic opportunities through to successful market delivery and launch.

What you'll be doing

As Head of Commercial Planning, you will:

• Lead the development and delivery of the commercial planning framework, translating strategy into a clear portfolio of commercial initiatives.
• Identify strategic growth opportunities and capability investments in partnership with senior leaders across the Customer organisation.
• Provide leadership and oversight of the commercial demand portfolio, ensuring initiatives are prioritised and aligned to business strategy.
• Establish robust governance and prioritisation processes to balance short-term opportunities with long-term strategic investments.
• Support investment planning by ensuring initiatives are backed by robust business cases, commercial analysis and value assessments.
• Provide oversight of commercial delivery activity, ensuring effective coordination across Product, Technology, Operations, Finance, Marketing and Commercial teams.
• Lead strategic governance forums and support executive decision-making through clear reporting, insight and recommendations.
• Build and lead a high-performing commercial planning function, embedding best practice, transparency and evidence-based decision making.

About you

We're looking for a strategic and commercially minded leader with the ability to influence at senior levels and drive alignment across complex organisational environments.

You'll bring:

• Significant experience in commercial strategy, planning, portfolio management, business transformation or a related discipline.
• Proven experience leading large, complex cross-functional programmes, portfolios or strategic initiatives.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen, with the ability to evaluate opportunities and support investment decisions.
• Experience influencing senior stakeholders across multiple business functions.
• Excellent portfolio governance, prioritisation and decision-making capability.
• Outstanding communication skills, with the ability to simplify complex issues and drive organisational alignment.
• A track record of building and leading high-performing teams.

Qualifications

• Degree-qualified or equivalent experience in business, finance, economics or a related discipline.
• Professional qualifications in strategy, finance or programme management are desirable.
• Evidence of ongoing professional development in commercial leadership or strategic planning.

Extra Benefits

• Family friendly support - enhanced maternity pay, paternity leave, adoption leave and shared parental leave
• Supportive and generous company sick pay
• Funded Dental – As a manager you are eligible to a level of employer funded dental insurance*
• Health Assessment – As a manager you are eligible to an employer funded health assessment every 2 years*
• Benefits Account – You will have access to your personal benefits account on our ‘My Bundle+’ platform. There are more than 800 retail offers to help you save on things like groceries, days out, holidays and your household bills as well as employer provided and voluntary benefits to suit your lifestyle.
• Your Wellbeing - you and your family have 24/7 access to services and tools to help you get the most out of life. From your physical and mental health to financial and social support and advice. It’s free, and it’s for everyone.

*Available only to permanent employees

Next Steps

The next stage of the selection process will be a face to face/virtual interview consisting of competency based and role specific questions.

Trust is the foundat ion of Royal Mail. We aim to be transparent about the qualities we seek and what a career with us entails, building trust from the start of your journey with us. Your interview is the first step, and we want you to shine. To help you prepare, we’ll provide your interview questions in advance, so you can have your best examples ready. At Royal Mail Group, we value trust and our people.

We understand that candidates may not meet all the criteria for the role. If your experience is different, but you have relevant skills we’d love to hear from you.

Royal Mail Group is committed to inclusion and representing the diverse communities we serve. We welcome applications from all individuals. As a proud Gold signatory to the Armed Forces Covenant, we especially encourage applications from the Armed Forces community, including cadet instructors and spouses/partners.

We are committed to ensuring an inclusive recruitment process. If you require any adjustments to support you during the hiring process, please discuss these with your recruiter when contacted.

We are Forces family friendly and a Gold signatory to the Armed Forces Covenant. We welcome applications from ex-Armed Forces personnel, reservists, veterans, cadet instructors and military spouses/partners.

For more information on Royal Mail Group and our values please click here:

Closing Date: Thursday 16th July 2026. Please note, this advert may close early if the appropriate number of applications has been reached.

#LI-Hybrid #LI-POST #LIMRT

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