Lead Contracts & Commercial (BESS)

ROLE MANDATE

The Lead – Contracts & Commercial runs the BUs commercial and finance-governance engine so the BESS business wins competitively and stays profitable as it scales from early reference projects to repeatable volume.

The role architects and protects BESS profitability by owning pricing architecture (hardware + EPC + O&M), contract and commercial governance (warranty, performance guarantees, LDs, inclusions / exclusions), BU controlling (forecasting, margin bridge, cash and working capital) and lifecycle profitability (degradation / augmentation assumptions, service liabilities, warranty reserves).

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Supplier & Tolling Commercials

• Negotiate tolling-partner agreements and partner with Procurement on supplier contracts, LTAs, indexation and delivery safeguards (MOQs, lead times, penalties)
• Ensure warranty pass-through and back-to-back alignment to customer commitments wherever feasible

Contracting & Risk Allocation

• Lead commercial structuring of customer contracts — warranty, performance guarantees / availability, LDs, FAT / SAT / COD acceptance, and clear inclusions / exclusions and interface boundaries
• Build and maintain the BESS Contract Playbook — redlines, fallback positions, risk-pricing logic and time-boxed internal approvals
• Maintain a live commercial risk register — FX, cell-price volatility, schedule / LD exposure, warranty / lifecycle liabilities and counterparty risk

Pricing Architecture & Models

• Design the pricing framework across supply-only, supply + EPC, and long-tenor O&M / service (5–20 years where applicable)
• Build and maintain the cost-per-kWh and lifecycle-profitability model, translating DoD, RTE, degradation / augmentation and availability commitments into pricing, contingencies and provisions
• Set pricing corridors and the approval matrix (deal thresholds, exceptions, escalation) to enable bid speed without margin leakage

Margin, Controlling & EPC Governance

• Own the margin model (BOM, conversion, logistics, commissioning, contingencies, warranty provisions) and run a monthly margin bridge (bid execution as-built)
• Run scenario / sensitivity analysis on cell price and indexation, FX, yield / scrap, logistics volatility and schedule compression
• Implement EPC project financial governance — baseline margin, milestone cash plan, cost-to-complete (EAC), change-order control and stage-gate readiness checks

Working Capital, O&M & Performance

• Own cash levers — advances, LC / BG, milestone billing, receivables / payables — and inventory norms for cells / BOP / containers with S&OP
• Structure long-tenor O&M commercials (pricing, escalation, SLA / KPI penalties, augmentation) and provisioning logic for warranty reserves and service liabilities
• Lead budgeting, quarterly reforecasting and BU dashboards (revenue / margin / cash / risk) with monthly performance reviews

Deal Desk & Bid Commercial

• Run the BU deal desk — bid / no-bid inputs, pricing-corridor recommendations, risk quantification and sign-off packs to the BU Lead
• Lead tender and bid commercial preparation for C&I / B2G / utility tenders (SECI, NTPC, state utilities) where guarantees and execution windows drive risk
• Keep bids anchored to the standard product catalog to prevent unpriced bespoke commitments

SUCCESS MEASURES

• Profitability: Gross margin / kWh and per-project within approved limits; leakage tracked bid actual
• Cash & working capital: Working-capital days and inventory exposure within thresholds; milestone collection discipline
• Execution control: Change orders governed; project margin tracked monthly; stage-gate readiness checks in place
• Supplier protections: LTA coverage for the majority of cell volumes; price / FX protections and commercial risk register maintained
• Operating cadence: Forecast accuracy and timely dashboards; bid approvals within 48–72h where required

CANDIDATE PROFILE

Experience & Background

• 8–12+ years in commercial finance / BU controlling / pricing / project finance / contract-commercial roles within renewables, EV / energy storage, EPC, power infrastructure or industrial manufacturing
• Demonstrated ownership of pricing and margin governance (not only reporting), in performance-guaranteed, high-capex environments
• Comfortable operating in matrix / hybrid models — driving outcomes through governance, SLAs and decision systems
• Exposure to performance-guaranteed, long-tenor service contracts and warranty-reserve provisioning

Domain Expertise

• Strong grasp of BESS economics (/kWh modelling, degradation, augmentation, availability guarantees, warranty provisioning)
• Working knowledge of EPC project commercials — stage-gates, LDs, change orders, milestone billing, cost-to-complete
• Bottom-up cost modelling, design-to-cost, and battery supply-chain dynamics (cell pricing, localization, FX); ability to translate technical specs into financial implications
• Understanding of EPC and O&M contract structures, offtake / PPA frameworks and lender / Independent Engineer bankability requirements

Education

• CA / MBA (Finance) / CFA preferred
• Engineering background (Electrical / Mechanical / Industrial) strongly advantageous

Location: Pune / Transferable