What does strong commercial acumen mean?

The term strong commercial acumen is an attribute you will commonly see listed in job ads. An alternative term you'll see in job ads, which means the same thing, is 'business acumen'.

Typically an employer will need this attribute in job candidates where they have a responsibility to manage money or budgets, do buying, selling or negotiating where there is a financial impact on the organisation and/or its clients.

Basically to have financial or business acumen means you will understand financial concepts such as profit and loss, cash flow, profit and loss, income and expenditure, gross and net margin and so on. To have business acumen also means that because of your knowledge of these types of financial concepts you will be in a position to assess financial risks, and the financial impact of actions that either you might take, or, if you are in a leadership position, the financial impact of the actions of people for whom you are responsible.

When this is a required attribute, employers will probably want to see evidence of your track record which demonstrates financial acumen.