Manager/Senior Manager, Commercial Project Management – New Subsea Cable Projects
Keppel · Singapore
JOB DESCRIPTION
We are seeking an experienced Commercial Project Manager to own the commercial development and delivery of new subsea cable projects — from investment origination and underwriting, through financing, entity structuring and contract award, to installation, commercialization and handover to operations.
You will act as the commercial owner of assigned projects, working across engineering, fund management, corporate finance, legal and tax to ensure each project is investable, bankable, properly structured, and delivered on time and on budget. This is a high-visibility role for someone equally comfortable building an underwriting model, negotiating a facility agreement, and managing a supply-and-installation contract.
Key Areas of Ownership
1: Investment underwriting
- Building the investment underwriting model (with the Investment team) for new subsea cable projects, working closely with colleagues from Keppel's Fund Management & Investment (FM&I) platform who are responsible for raising external investments
- Develop and maintain the full project financial model: capex and opex build-up, capacity sales assumptions (IRUs, leases, spectrum), revenue phasing, returns analysis (IRR, MOIC, payback) and sensitivity/scenario testing.
- Support investment committee papers and approvals, ensuring underwriting assumptions are robust, defensible and aligned with fund co-investor requirements.
- Track actual project performance against underwriting through the project life cycle and report variances with mitigation plans.
- Build and own monthly, quarterly exec level Project reporting across all commercial parameters with project dashboard tracking on key risks, mitigations and delivery plans
2: Project financing
- Work with Keppel's corporate finance team to engage with various lenders (commercial banks, ECAs and institutional lenders) and support the structuring and execution of project debt.
- Lead the workstream to put in place the Facility Agreement (FA), coordinating lender due diligence, term sheet negotiation, conditions precedent and financial close.
- Ensure all obligations under the FA are met throughout the project life cycle — including covenant compliance, reporting obligations, drawdown conditions, insurance requirements and lender consents for variations.
- Act as the day-to-day interface with facility agents, lenders' technical advisers and insurers post-close.
3: Entity formation and tax structuring
- Work with legal, finance and tax colleagues to ensure entity formation and holding/tax structures for each project are sound, efficient and compliant across all relevant jurisdictions.
- Coordinate the establishment of project SPVs, joint venture vehicles and consortium structures, including shareholder agreements and joint build arrangements.
- Ensure licensing and regulatory prerequisites tied to the corporate structure (e.g. landing licenses, FBO/telecoms licenses, cable landing approvals) are identified and secured in the right entities at the right time.
4: Commercial delivery
- Own the overall System Budget along with Keppel share and mange Keppel Total Investment Cost Budgets, forecasts, cash flow and margin protection; track committed vs. actual spend and report variances.
- Own the creation and execution of all key commercial agreements (PDMA, SSHA, OMA, FA) to enable the project.
- Assist the preparation and modeling of supply and installation contracts (cable manufacture, marine installation, survey, burial and landing station works, terrestrial fiber, etc).
- Assist in managing variations, claims and disputes; protect Keppel's contractual position and drive timely resolution.
- Assist in negotiating and modeling of crossing and proximity agreements with other seabed users, and support permitting and consenting workstreams where commercial terms intersect with regulatory obligations.
- Assist in negotiating and modeling of all key customer and partner contract
5: Commercialization and stakeholders
- Support with capacity commercialization strategy and analysis — IRU sales, leases and anchor customer agreements with hyperscalers and carriers — in coordination with the Business Development Team.
- Act as the primary commercial interface with consortium partners, landing parties, fund co-investors and joint build partners.
- Maintain the project risk register from a commercial perspective; quantify exposure and lead mitigation.
- Prepare monthly and quarterly board and management reporting on project commercial status, risks and opportunities.
Join our vibrant and inclusive workforce to shape a better future for all!
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JOB REQUIREMENTS
Required Skills:
- 5+ years' commercial project management, investment or project finance experience, with meaningful exposure to subsea cables, telecoms infrastructure, or large-scale offshore/energy projects.
- Strong financial modelling and underwriting capability on capital projects, ideally including investor/fund reporting.
- Direct experience with project financing: lender engagement, facility agreements, financial close and ongoing covenant/obligation management.
- Working knowledge of cross-border entity structuring, SPVs and joint venture arrangements, and the ability to work effectively with legal and tax advisers.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills at senior and board level.
- Willingness to travel internationally, including to manufacturing facilities, vessels and landing sites.
Preferred Skills:
- Experience with submarine telecoms systems (wet plant, SLTE, landing stations) and capacity commercialization (IRUs, spectrum sales).
- Familiarity with consortium/joint build structures, regulatory agreements, ICPC recommendations and cable landing licensing regimes (e.g. IMDA FBO licences, US FCC landing licences).
- Experience with ECA-backed financing or private fund co-investment structures.
- Degree in finance, engineering, business or law; CFA, MBA or contract management qualification a plus.