Contract Manager

ClearCompany; Australia; On-site; AUD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading defence contractor in Australia is seeking an EL 1 - Contract Manager to lead procurement efforts, ensuring compliance and managing contracts. The ideal candidate will be highly professional with strong communication and negotiation skills, demonstrating leadership in a collaborative environment focusing on strategic outcomes.

Benefits

Building Defence Capability Payment (BDCP)

Qualifications

• Ability to interpret legislation and apply it to commercial outcomes.
• Proven experience in contract management.
• Strong leadership abilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead critical procurement efforts as a Contract Manager.
• Provide guidance on contract management and reporting.
• Mitigate commercial risks and ensure compliance.

Skills

Professionalism

Negotiation

Communication skills

Contract administration

Risk management

Stakeholder engagement

Job description

Overview

The Role

Are you ready to lead critical procurement efforts as an EL 1 - Contract Manager in Defence?

In this role, you will champion strategic procurement planning, tendering, and contract formation, while managing resources and setting priorities as the Commercial Lead. Your leadership will be central to driving commercial outcomes, guiding teams, and ensuring alignment with organisational objectives. You\'ll work both independently and collaboratively with the broader team to deliver high quality outcomes.

Key responsibilities include providing guidance and advice aligned with applicable policy, managing branch level contract registers and planned procurements, and leading reporting and forecasting on contracting activities to the Executive Group and wider team. You\'ll also chair a community of practice focused on contracting and procurement excellence.

This role requires interpreting legislation and policy, mitigating commercial risks, and ensuring compliance with procurement frameworks. You\'ll offer expert advice on legal, financial and technical matters, build strong stakeholder relationships and resolve complex contract issues.

This role is eligible for an additional remuneration benefit known in Defence as a Building Defence Capability Payment (BDCP). This enables Defence to provide a premium, in addition to the base salary otherwise payable under the Defence Enterprise Collective Agreement (DECA), for positions in occupational disciplines/classifications that are critical to Defence capability. For further information, please contact the contact officer.

About our Team

Joint Capabilities Group (JCG) was formed in July 2017 and has continued to evolve since its inception. We are a fully integrated civilian-military-contractor workforce, drawing on high quality and motivated people from diverse backgrounds and academic disciplines who embody Defence and Australian Public Service values.

JCG is a multi-domain Group comprising of Space, Cyber and the Defence Networks, and delivering Military Strategic Effects and Logistics for the Defence Enterprise.

Cyber Operations Division (COD) is responsible for the integration, operation, management and security of Defence\'s global strategic communications capability that enable military operations and support Defence business. COD is also responsible at the strategic level to the Chief of Defence Force and Chief of Joint Operations for advice and technical control for the Command, Control, Communications and Cyber security in support of ADF Operations.

COD consists of four branches. They are:

• Service Management Branch (SMB)
• Enterprise Technology Operations Branch (ETOB)
• Defence Strategic Communications Branch (DSCB)
• J6 Operations Support (J6OS)[CKM1]

ETOB works with Defence business owners to improve the security, performance and stability of the application and platform services that enable military capability and support Defence enabling services.

ETOB manages applications across finance, human resources, logistics, information management, whole of government and security domains.

ETOB is also responsible for Defence enterprise cloud services, End User Computing, application hosting services and data centre management for Defence.

Our Ideal Candidate

We\'re looking for someone who brings energy, expertise, and a commitment to excellence.

Our successful candidate will demonstrate the following:

• A high standard of professionalism, integrity, discretion and sound judgement
• The ability to interpret and apply legislation, regulations, policies, procedures, standards and corporate objectives to deliver complex commercial outcomes
• Accountability for contract administration, performance, and risk management, with the confidence to take decisive action when needed
• A collaborative mindset, working with stakeholders, technical experts and broader team to deliver impactful contract management and advice aligned with best practice
• Proven experience in operational and professional contract management environments
• Self-motivation, drive, and the ability to achieve results both independently and as part of a team
• Exceptional negotiation and communication skills, with the ability to translate complexity into clarity for diverse audiences
• Strong leadership capabilities, including the ability to guide, develop, and inspire teams to achieve strategic outcomes