Contract Manager - The Ashlar Group

Company - Major Automation Company
Position - Contract Manager
Compensation - $76K - $114K a year
Position Type - Full Time
Location - Atlanta, GA


Position Summary:
The Contract Manager works under the supervision of attorneys and is responsible for drafting, reviewing, negotiating, and finalizing sales and procurement contracts that support the company business objectives, with a specific concentration on services contracts (both for the company as the services provider and as the purchaser of services from third parties) and complex customer contracts. The Contract Manager develops negotiation strategies, conducts negotiations with customers or vendors, evaluates risk exposure, and makes recommendations to business clients within the company, including senior management. The Contract Manager works with internal organizations such as Pricing, Global Sales, and the CFO and Controller's Offices to limit margin erosion and ensure compliance with internal policies such as order and revenue recognition. The Contract Manager must be able to work under the pressure of deadlines and demands of a variety of business clients and contract counterparties.

Key Areas of Responsibility:

• Meet with internal clients to fully understand the business objectives and assess the risks arising out of a proposed sale transaction. Actively lead the company team in negotiating with the customer's management, attorneys and contract professionals. Serve as the company primary point of contact during negotiations for customer or vendor and within the company.
• Review, edit, and draft responses to customer terms and conditions; develop or facilitate the development of contract templates and other tools to be used by sales teams.
• Advise the company business people and senior management and make recommendations to the company attorneys about contractual risks which create legal and business exposure to the company.  Identify risks; facilitate internal review of issues, and obtain management/legal resolution.  Exercise sound judgment in determining when issues require the involvement of other parts of the business or the Law Department. Work closely with bid support personnel, pricing, and other internal organizations to minimize margin erosion and mitigate risk items between bid review and contract signature.
• Following execution of a contract, provide front-line contractual support for interpretation, including working with the company sales teams, senior management, and other members of the Law Department on potential disputes and accounting or revenue recognition issues. 
• Maintain in-depth knowledge of the company procedures, processes and policies, especially the Contracts Policy, Incoming Orders and Backlog Policy, and the Revenue Recognition Policy; be knowledgeable of commercial contractual laws and practices within the software industry; possess working knowledge of the company Solutions (products and services) and capabilities, financial analysis (P&L), tax laws, and general business laws.
• Develop and provide education to internal organizations (e.g.  Sales, Customer Services, Professional Services and Law Dept. associates) regarding contracting best practices and other relevant topics.

Basic Requirements

• Business or Liberal Arts Degree
• 4 - 7 years commercial contracting experience with a focus on sourcing or sales contracting
• Requires conceptual and innovative thinking (i.e. identifying solutions); able to articulate complex ideas both legal and technical in nature
• Must have or acquire an in-depth knowledge of the company policies, organizational relationships and procedures, and acquire a working knowledge of the company solutions (products and services)
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to negotiate internally and externally at high levels; strong writing skills and attention to detail
• Ability to work under short deadlines with minimal advance notice and minimal supervision; self-sufficient and independent
• Customer-facing and must present a positive and professional image to customers or vendors; excellent interpersonal skills
• Ability to identify legal issues and escalate them as appropriate to the relevant attorney
• Conceptual thinking in complex/completely new situations and the ability to communicate ideas both internally and externally

Preferred Requirements

• 8 - 10 years of commercial sales contracting experience
• In-depth knowledge of services contracts including outsourcing, SaaS and managed services.
• Lead and conduct negotiations with minimal supervision to minimize the company financial and legal risk; possess excellent conflict resolution skills
• Ability to supervise and coordinate efforts of one or more personnel from different areas both internally and externally