Contract Manager

Spirax Group; Norwich; On-site; GBP 75,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Spirax Group seeks an experienced Contracts Manager to support EMEA & APAC operations. This role focuses on practical contract execution, risk mitigation, and governance beyond legal teams; embedded with sales and proposals to align terms with business objectives.

You will lead negotiations, oversee due diligence and sanction checks, ensure compliance, and drive contract discipline across regions while coordinating with PM and PCM for risk assessments and timely orders.

Qualifications

• Proven ability to negotiate and execute contracts with practical business impact.
• Experience in governance, compliance, and due diligence for commercial agreements.
• Ability to support sales during live negotiations and align terms with objectives.
• Strong risk identification, assessment and mitigation across multiple jurisdictions.
• Experience handling international contracts including liquidated damages considerations.

Responsibilities

• Negotiate enforceable agreements and manage contractual risk.
• Support sales teams by aligning terms with business objectives.
• Ensure governance and compliance meet minimum standards before approvals.
• Conduct sanction and financial checks prior to order acceptance.
• Standardise contract governance across EMEA & APAC for consistency.
• Review priorities and push for information to ensure timely execution.
• Identify and mitigate risks with PM & PCM on liquidated damages.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to ensure cross-functional alignment.

Skills

Contract negotiation

Risk management

Sales support

Governance & compliance

Due diligence

Decision making

International contracts

Liquidated damages

Job description

Contract Manager

The Role:

We seek an experienced Contracts Manager to support EMEA & APAC operations. This role requires hands-on contract execution experience, with a deep understanding of practical contract implementation, challenges, and risk mitigation beyond legal aspects. Industry experience is highly advantageous.

The Contracts Manager will be embedded with the sales & proposals teams, actively supporting contract negotiations to align terms and conditions with business objectives. While legal support is available for contracts over €500k, this role is responsible for making key business decisions related to contract terms and governance within the approved thresholds, ensuring consistency across the group.

Additionally, the Contracts Manager will oversee contract governance, compliance, and due diligence, ensuring that sanction checks and financial reviews are conducted before quoting and order logging. The role demands proactive engagement, driving sales teams to provide necessary information and regularly reviewing the three-month lookahead to maintain contract discipline and timely execution.

Key Responsibilities:

• Negotiation skills, ensuring enforceable agreements and effective risk management.
• Support sales teams by aligning contract terms and general conditions with business objectives.
• Ensure governance & compliance, verifying adherence to minimum contract standards before approvals.
• Conduct due diligence, ensuring sanction and financial checks are completed before order acceptance.
• Standardise contract governance across EMEA & APAC, ensuring consistency and best practices.
• Review contract priorities proactively and push for necessary information to ensure seamless contract execution.
• Identify, assess, and mitigate contractual risks, working with the project management team to evaluate liquidated damage claims and minimise exposure.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders, ensuring cross-functional alignment in contract management and risk assessment.

Essential Skills and Experience:

• Strong contract negotiation & execution experience with a focus on practical business application.
• Ability to evaluate contractual risks, enforceability challenges, and business impacts.
• Experience in supporting sales teams during contract discussions and live negotiations.
• Holding an understanding of contract governance, compliance, due diligence, and financial risk mitigation.
• Strong decision-making and risk management skills, ensuring contract terms align with business priorities.
• Proactive approach to driving priorities, ensuring timely responses, and enforcing contract discipline.
• Experience in international contract management across multiple jurisdictions.
• Expertise in risk identification and liquidated damage claims assessment in collaboration with PM & PCM.

Desireable Skills and Experience:

• Industry experience in manufacturing, engineering, or industrial sectors.
• Knowledge of EMEA & APAC market regulations and business practices, in relation to contract laws, tax implications, and trade regulations.
• Strong understanding of international commercial and contract law.
• Proven experience in implementing standardised contract governance across regions.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, fostering collaboration across business units.