Commercial Contract Manager

Commercial Manager, Contract Manufacturing

North Alabama (Huntsville / Shoals area) - Hybrid with remote flexibility

Initial 6 month contract (W-2 or 1099) with potential to extend or go permanent

The opportunity

Our client is a fast-growing space and defence communications company building advanced satellite communications hardware for demanding military and government users.

Having recently established its US technical and manufacturing hub in North Alabama, the business is now moving its product from new product introduction into volume production, and the agreement it signs with its global contract manufacturing partner will shape how it scales for years to come.

They are looking for a seasoned commercial negotiator to lead that agreement from strategy through to signature, and then put in place the governance that keeps it working. This is a rare chance to own a high-impact deal end to end, working closely with the executive leadership team and alongside finance, operations, engineering, supply chain and legal, at a company where your work will directly influence cost, margin and the ability to deliver at scale.

What you'll be doing

• Building and leading the negotiation strategy for a strategic Master Supply Agreement with a global CMS partner, including commercial objectives, leverage mapping, concession plans and walk-away positions.
• Leading negotiations directly with the supplier's executive and commercial teams, aiming for materially stronger commercial terms while keeping the relationship collaborative.
• Drafting, reviewing and redlining the MSA and its supporting schedules.
• Negotiating the terms that matter most in outsourced electronics manufacturing: open-book and cost-plus pricing, material pass-through and cost-down commitments, NRE and tooling ownership, MOQs, inventory and excess and obsolete liability, capacity and lead-time commitments, yield and scrap recovery, quality and warranty, engineering change control, IP protection, milestone payments, and manufacturing transfer and exit rights.
• Keeping operations, finance, engineering, legal and leadership aligned throughout the negotiation, and benchmarking terms against the market.
• Establishing the post-signature governance framework, including KPIs, quarterly business reviews, escalation paths and change control, so the agreement supports both today's production and future growth.

What you'll bring

• A track record of personally leading at least 10 Master Supply Agreement negotiations with global contract manufacturers (20 or more is ideal), with organisations such as Sanmina, Jabil, Flex, Celestica, Plexus, Benchmark Electronics or similar.
• Deep commercial understanding of outsourced manufacturing, including open-book, cost-plus and target-cost models, BOM cost analysis, risk and revenue sharing, inventory liability, capacity reservation, and exit and transfer provisions.
• Experience structuring agreements for products moving from NPI into volume production, where designs, forecasts and production maturity are still evolving.
• The ability to build a negotiation strategy, present and defend commercial positions with senior supplier stakeholders, and challenge constructively without creating conflict.
• Credibility at executive and board level, with an analytical, commercially sharp approach to protecting margin and reducing risk.

It would be great if you also have

• Experience in low-volume, high-mix electronics manufacturing.
• A background in RF, microwave or advanced communications products.
• Exposure to aerospace, defence, space or satcom environments.
• Time spent on the other side of the table as a Commercial Director or Contracts Director within a CMS organisation.
• Experience supporting manufacturing transfers, dual-sourcing strategies or global footprint optimisation.

Interested?

To hear more or to apply in confidence, please get in touch with Karl at EVONA on