Contract Manager
Company Overview
Our client is a nationally recognized, independent technical services and advisory firm serving complex, regulated industries including healthcare, higher education, hospitality, retail, and manufacturing. The organization provides data-driven guidance and technology-enabled solutions that improve operational performance, safety, and risk management for mission-critical infrastructure systems.
The company operates with a strong reputation for independence, technical rigor, and long-term client partnerships. It is not affiliated with product manufacturers or suppliers and maintains an unbiased, client-first approach.
Position Overview
The Contracts Manager will own the full lifecycle of commercial contracts, with a primary focus on drafting, reviewing, negotiating, and executing customer agreements. Reporting to senior operations leadership, this role is responsible for driving the commercial contracting process from proposal acceptance through execution, amendment, and renewal.
This is a high-visibility role requiring strong commercial judgment, structured negotiation skills, operational discipline, and the ability to collaborate cross-functionally with Sales, Operations, Finance, and customer procurement teams.
While the role may support RFP/RFI responses as needed, the primary focus is commercial contract management rather than government contracting or heavy bid sourcing.
Key Responsibilities
- Own the end-to-end commercial contract process following customer agreement to proceed, including:
- Drafting and issuing contract documents
- Reviewing and redlining customer templates
- Negotiating terms and conditions within defined commercial guardrails
- Serve as a key liaison between Sales, Operations, and customer procurement teams to drive timely contract execution.
- Maintain and evolve standard contract templates, clause libraries, and documentation to ensure consistency, risk alignment, and operational clarity.
- Design and maintain an organized, transparent contract tracking system (CRM / CPQ integration experience strongly preferred).
- Monitor contract milestones including amendments, renewals, and key dates, proactively communicating risks and deadlines.
- Ensure compliance with internal policies and escalate risk-related issues appropriately.
- Partner with Sales and Operations to ensure scope, pricing, and service language align with approved offerings and strategy.
- Deliver reporting and metrics on contract volume, cycle times, turnaround performance, and SLA adherence.
- Support commercial components of RFP/RFI responses as needed.
- Provide light oversight and mentorship to junior contracts team members, with potential to expand leadership responsibilities over time.
Qualifications
- 7+ years of experience in commercial contract management, sales operations, procurement, or a closely related function.
- Demonstrated experience negotiating directly with customer procurement or sourcing teams.
- Strong working knowledge of commercial terms and conditions; comfortable assessing risk trade-offs (not a legal role, but fluent in legal language).
- Exceptional organizational and project management skills; able to manage multiple contracts and deadlines simultaneously.
- High degree of accountability, transparency, and follow-through.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to translate contractual language for non-legal stakeholders.
- Experience building or improving contract tracking systems and processes.
- Comfort adopting and owning new systems (CRM, CPQ, contract lifecycle platforms).
- Bachelor’s degree preferred; business, legal studies, or related discipline a plus.
- Experience primarily in commercial (non-government) contracting environments strongly preferred.
Work Environment
This role operates in a fast-paced, collaborative environment requiring adaptability, independence, and strong prioritization skills. The successful candidate will be proactive, highly organized, and comfortable managing sensitive commercial negotiations with professionalism and discretion.
Travel is minimal (approximately 5%).