Contract Manager

Universal Plant Services (UPS) is seeking a highly experienced and results-driven Contract Manager to lead the review, negotiation, administration, and governance of customer and supplier contracts across the organization. This role serves as a strategic business partner to executive leadership, operations, finance, procurement, legal counsel, and commercial teams to ensure contracts support profitable growth while protecting the company's financial, operational, and legal interests. The ideal candidate possesses deep expertise in commercial contracting within the oil & gas, refining, petrochemical, power generation, industrial maintenance, and construction services sectors. This individual will bring strong negotiation skills, sound business judgment, financial acumen, and the ability to effectively manage contractual risk in a fast-paced, high-volume environment. The Contract Manager will be responsible for improving contract governance, supporting strategic growth initiatives, strengthening commercial processes, and leading a disciplined contracts function that delivers value across the business. Key Responsibilities: Commercial Judgement & Contract Leadership Lead the review, negotiation, execution, renewal, and administration of customer contracts, Master Service Agreements (MSAs), supplier agreements, subcontractor agreements, purchase agreements, confidentiality agreements, and other commercial documents. Structure and negotiate contract terms that support customer needs while protecting UPS's profitability, cash flow, operational flexibility, and risk position. Evaluate contractual obligations and commercial opportunities to ensure alignment with organizational goals and acceptable risk thresholds. Ensure contracts accurately reflect operational capabilities, service commitments, and project scope requirements. Negotiation Discipline & Relationship Management Negotiate directly with customers, suppliers, subcontractors, and strategic partners, including major oil & gas, refining, petrochemical, power generation, and industrial owner-operators. Build and maintain strong business relationships while securing commercially favorable terms. Lead resolution of contract disputes, scope changes, commercial issues, and contract interpretation matters. Effectively communicate and influence stakeholders at all levels of the organization and customer organizations. Identify, evaluate, and mitigate contractual, financial, operational, legal, labor, insurance, safety, environmental, and compliance risks. Review and negotiate provisions related to indemnification, limitation of liability, insurance requirements, warranties, change management, payment terms, performance obligations, dispute resolution, and termination rights. Provide executive leadership with clear analysis of risks, alternatives, and recommended negotiating positions. Collaborate with legal counsel and executive leadership to establish contract governance standards and escalation procedures. Financial Acumen & Profitability Optimization Analyze contract terms for impacts on revenue, gross margin, working capital, cash flow, and long-term profitability. Support strategic proposals, bids, contract renewals, pricing reviews, and commercial initiatives. Identify opportunities to improve profitability through payment terms, escalation clauses, scope clarification, supplier negotiations, and disciplined change order management. Partner with finance and operations teams to ensure financial assumptions align with contractual obligations. Operational Partnership & Field Execution Support Work closely with operations leaders, site managers, project managers, field personnel, business development teams, and account managers to ensure contract requirements can be executed effectively. Ensure contract terms appropriately address safety requirements, labor obligations, customer site standards, compliance requirements, and operational realities. Support turnaround, outage, nested maintenance, capital project, and specialty service agreements. Provide guidance on contract interpretation and execution throughout the project lifecycle. Process Leadership & Contract Lifecycle Management Develop and maintain a disciplined contract management system that provides visibility into contract status, renewals, expirations, obligations, claims, risks, and approval workflows. Establish standardized procedures for contract review, document management, approval routing, compliance monitoring, and retention practices. Drive continuous improvement initiatives to enhance efficiency, accountability, accuracy, and turnaround times. Maintain contract dashboards, reporting tools, and performance metrics to support business decision-making. Lead, mentor, and develop contract administration professionals and support personnel. Establish clear performance expectations, accountability standards, and workload priorities. Promote a culture focused on customer service, operational excellence, professionalism, and continuous improvement. Ensure adequate staffing and resource allocation to support organizational growth and customer demands. Strategic Leadership & Executive Partnership Serve as a trusted advisor to the CFO and executive leadership team regarding commercial contracting matters. Support strategic growth initiatives, margin improvement efforts, acquisitions, integrations, and business transformation projects. Anticipate emerging risks and industry trends while developing proactive mitigation strategies. Contribute to the professionalization and continuous improvement of business systems and commercial governance practices. Utilize ERP, CRM, Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM), procurement, and document management systems to improve visibility and efficiency. Develop meaningful reports, dashboards, and analytics related to contract performance, risk exposure, renewals, approval timelines, and profitability. Leverage technology and data to improve decision-making and contract lifecycle processes. Preferred Background: Prior senior procurement, strategic sourcing, supply chain, or commercial contracts leadership experience. Experience negotiating with major oil and gas, refining, petrochemical, midstream, utilities, power generation, or industrial owner-operators. Working knowledge of union labor environments, field services contracting, nested maintenance agreements, turnaround work, outage support, and project-based industrial services. Experience in private equity-backed or high-growth businesses with a focus on process discipline, accountability, margin improvement, and professionalization of business systems. Familiarity with ERP, CRM, contract lifecycle management, procurement, or document management systems. Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, supply chain, procurement, legal studies, engineering, construction management, or a related field preferred. Required Experience & Qualifications: 10+ years of experience in contract management, procurement, supply chain, commercial operations, legal operations, or related roles within industrial services, oil and gas, refining, petrochemical, construction, maintenance, power, or field services environments. Proven experience negotiating complex customer and supplier contracts with large, sophisticated corporations. Strong understanding of risk allocation, indemnity, insurance requirements, limitation of liability, payment terms, warranties, change orders, performance obligations, and dispute avoidance. Demonstrated financial acumen, including the ability to connect contract terms to margin, cash flow, working capital, pricing, revenue recognition, and operational performance. Experience managing high-volume contract workflows with multiple internal stakeholders and time-sensitive deadlines. Strong leadership capability with experience managing, developing, and holding a contracts or commercial administration team accountable. Experience working closely with operations and field personnel in a service, maintenance, construction, or industrial environment. Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex legal and commercial concepts into clear business recommendations. High degree of judgment, professionalism, urgency, and discretion in handling confidential and commercially sensitive information. Measures of Success: Improved contract turnaround time and deadline performance. Greater visibility into contract expirations, renewals, commercial risk, and approval status. Stronger protection of margin, cash flow, and risk position in customer and supplier agreements. Improved alignment between contract terms, pricing, scope, and field execution requirements. Higher quality support for large proposals, strategic bids, and complex customer negotiations. More disciplined leadership, workload management, and accountability within the contracts function. Benefits Offered: Health Savings Account Short-term disability 100% employer paid Long-term Disability 100% employer paid life insurance 401K match Paid time offEmployee Assistance Program EEOC Statement: Universal Plant Services is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship status, protected veteran status, genetic information, or physical or mental disability. #J-18808-Ljbffr