Contract Manager, Complex Contract Management Job Details | National Grid

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National Grid is hiring a Contract Manager, Complex Contract Management in Waltham, MA

This is a Hybrid Role - Must live within a commutable distance to one of our locations

Job Purpose

National Grid outsources a significant portion of its' construction and maintenance work plan to a variety of contractors. The New England Gas Contract Management Team provides best-in-class services to internal stakeholder groups, including the Project Management, Construction, and Procurement New England Gas Teams.

The Contract Manager, as a member of the New England Gas Contract Management Team, supports the business by pursuing best possible outcomes, maintaining/building upon internal stakeholder and strong contractor relationships, championing a strong safety culture, managing contractor contract adherence, timely review and providing recommendations related to change orders, and ensuring appropriate cost management and best outcomes. This position requires focus on timely and reasonable issue resolution and maintaining solid contractor / contract performance.

Key Accountabilities

Contract Management & Stakeholder Engagement

• Provide expert level support related to contract management and contract interpretation to a variety of internal stakeholders, including Procurement and Project Management.

• Leverage knowledge of the construction industry when reviewing contract language and providing recommendations related to change order management.

• Foster ongoing and positive relationships with internal stakeholders and external contractors.

• Manage and respond to a variety of communications from internal stakeholders and external contractors, including but not limited to stand down, suspension, termination, contract amendments, changes in scope, and the negotiation of disputes.

• Understand, document, and timely address communications and disputes, as well as provide recommendations regarding a variety of topics to realize fair outcomes for external contractors and best outcomes for the organization and team.

• Assist various internal stakeholders by leveraging best practice tools related to external contractor outcomes.

• Ensure the highest level of safety, performance, and regulatory compliance of utilized contractors, while maximizing value throughout the contract lifecycle.

• Provide recommendations related to continuous improvement and assist with the implementation of best practices to drive consistency, influence cultural change, and assist with contractor oversight.

• Prepare and deliver presentations to organizational leadership, as required.

Travel

• Meetings may require day visits to construction sites within the NE National Grid footprint, as well as occasional overnight business-related travel. Expected travel is ~20% of the time.

Knowledge & Experience

• Candidates must be adept in interpreting contract terms and managing contractors to the terms.

• 3+ years of directly applicable construction contracting experience or lesser years of experience if possessing law degree.

• Position requires high level competencies in financial analysis, task scheduling, financial and schedule forecasting, and analytics.

• Must have expertise in written and oral communication, ability to communicate and present to all levels of the organization.

• Demonstrates strong interpersonal skills including communicating effectively and objectively.

• Possesses the ability to guide others and clearly articulate reasons for a decision.

• Experience managing and integrating the work of a functional discipline and demonstrates the ability to provide direction, the appropriate structure, and effective resourcing to enable colleagues to perform at their best.

• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects and competing priorities.

• Must be organized, detail oriented, and able to make independent decisions with a high degree of confidence.

• Demonstrate an ability to interpret information and analyse a problem or situation in order to clearly articulate the findings and anticipate obstacles while concurrently thinking about next steps.

• Demonstrated competency in conflict resolution, negotiations and reporting.

• Ability to review, understand, and apply internal policies and processes, as well as provide recommendations related to improving existing processes with a focus on continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree is required. Masters level in engineering and / or a business, or Juris Doctorate is preferred.

• Minimum of 3 years post-undergraduate experience requiring successful management of construction contracts, change orders, involvement in strategic planning and budgetary monitoring and controls is preferred.

• Construction contract management in gas, oil, or utilities is preferred.

• Understanding of regulatory oversight and concepts is preferred.

• Strong work ethic, self-managed, decisive, able to prioritize, organized and articulate.

• Ability to actively and effectively collaborate with internal stakeholders and external contractors a must.

• Must have expertise in written and oral communication, ability to communicate and present to all levels of the organization.

• Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, MS Teams, and SharePoint.

• Knowledge in construction scheduling is preferred.

• Contract Manager positions require travel to construction sites and the office as needed with the expectation of ~20% on-site work. Travel to other locations to support internal efforts is required.

• Additional construction, engineering, utility, contract management, and / or legal skill sets are a plus.

More Information

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Salary

$107,000 - $126,000 a year

Salary commensurate with location and experience

This position has a career path which provides for advancement opportunities within and across bands as you develop and evolve in the position; gaining experience, expertise and acquiring and applying technical skills. Candidates will be assessed and provided offers against the minimum qualifications of this role and their individual experience.

National Grid is an equal opportunity employer that values a broad diversity of talent, knowledge, experience and expertise.  We foster a culture of inclusion that drives employee engagement to deliver superior performance to the communities we serve.  National Grid is proud to be an affirmative action employer. We encourage minorities, women, individuals with disabilities and protected veterans to join the National Grid team.