Contract Manager

Job Title: Senior Contracts & Claims Manager About the Role

As a key member of the Global Capital Sourcing team, the Senior Contracts & Claims Manager is responsible for the commercial management of medium to large greenfield and brownfield CAPEX projects (valued at $5M+ USD).

In this role, you will protect Lonzas contractual rights and entitlements, ensure contractor compliance, mitigate contract execution risks, and deliver optimized value-for-money and lowest Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). Serving as a commercial expert, you will work in close coordination with Strategic Global Engineering (SGIE), local project teams, Legal, and Finance to deliver high-quality investment projects on time and within budget.

Key Responsibilities

• Contract Execution & Safeguarding: Lead post-award contract execution across project phases (execution, commissioning, evaluation) to secure Lonzas contractual rights, manage change orders, oversee delay/conflict management, and enforce warranty and performance guarantees.

• Claim Management & Dispute Resolution: Identify outgoing claim opportunities and develop defense strategies against incoming contractor claims; prepare required notifications, correspondence, and documentation for negotiations, settlements, alternative dispute resolution (ADR), or arbitration.

• Procurement Strategy & Risk Mitigation: Collaborate with Global Engineering (SGIE) and Project Management to define contracting strategies and risk mitigation plans, ensuring adherence to Lonza's procurement standards and cost-control systems.

• Tender & Contract Negotiation: Review new tenders, support negotiations for major capital contracts and subcontracts with strategic suppliers, and summarize key contractual risks and deviations for project leadership.

• Supplier Relationship & Performance Management: Drive supplier accountability through performance scorecards, manage issue escalations, maintain high-quality vendor relationships, and lead periodic commercial audits of main contractors.

• Stakeholder Alignment & Governance: Engages proactively with key internal stakeholdersincluding Legal, Finance, SGIE, and site project managersto clarify commercial requirements and ensure a unified corporate approach to external suppliers.

• Reporting & Administrative Oversight: Maintain contract progress, variations, and claim documentation in official company repositories, reporting regularly to Project and Procurement leadership.

• General Duties: Perform other related duties and strategic capital procurement initiatives as assigned.

Key Requirements

• CAPEX Contract Expertise: Proven track record in commercial contract management for large-scale industrial CAPEX projects ($5M+ USD), including EPC/EPCM frameworks and complex construction agreements.

• Advanced Claim & Dispute Resolution: Specialized experience in developing claim and defense strategies, handling contract variations, delay management, and participating in dispute resolution or arbitration processes.

• Procurement & Engineering Collaboration: Strong experience working alongside Global Engineering (SGIE), project teams, and legal counsel within a complex manufacturing, biotech, or chemical environment.

• Commercial Negotiation: Demonstrated capability to lead high-stakes negotiations with global contractors, consultants, and strategic capital equipment suppliers.

• Risk & Financial Management: Solid understanding of project cost control systems, bank guarantees, cash flow monitoring, back-charges, and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) principles.

About Lonza

At Lonza, our people are our greatest strength. With 30+ sites across five continents, our globally connected teams work together every day to manufacture the medicines of tomorrow.

Our core values Collaboration, Accountability, Excellence, Passion, and Integrity define how we work together and succeed. Everyone's ideas, big or small, have the potential to improve millions of lives. Innovation thrives when people from all backgrounds bring their unique perspectives to the table. Lonza is committed to fostering an inclusive environment where every employee can grow and make a meaningful impact.

Every day, Lonzas products and services have a positive impact on millions of people.