Contracts Administrator

Jobtailor; Sunbury-on-Thames; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Jobtailor in the United Kingdom is seeking a procurement and contracting specialist to shape strategy and align activity with project objectives, schedule, risk and governance. You will drive early contract decisions and mobilise commercial plans.

Collaborating with project, engineering, commercial and procurement teams, you will define scope, contracting models, tender strategies and market engagement, testing options and delivering robust governance throughout awards and execution.

Qualifications

• Professional technical or legal qualification.
• Knowledge of full procurement lifecycle: strategy, sourcing, tendering, evaluation, negotiation, award, and early contract management.
• Experience on major capital, energy, offshore, infrastructure projects.
• Strong commercial and negotiation skills for value-based outcomes.
• Understanding contract models, payment mechanisms, change control, and governance.
• Ability to work in cross-functional project teams with engineering, legal, finance and delivery.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management across levels.
• Highly organized with ability to manage multiple tenders.

Responsibilities

• Support development of procurement and contracting strategy aligned with project objectives, schedule, risk and governance.
• Collaborate with project, engineering, commercial and procurement teams to define scope, work packages and contracting model.
• Assist preparation of procurement plans, tender strategies, market engagement plans and decision papers.
• Identify procurement risks, opportunities, dependencies and long-lead considerations.
• Coordinate market engagement to test contracting options and supplier capability pre-tender.
• Develop tender documentation, evaluation criteria, schedules and clarification processes.
• Support bid evaluation, negotiation preparation and award documentation.
• Provide contract and commercial support during early mobilisation and project execution, including administration of deliverables and payments.
• Support contract performance management by tracking milestones, risks and decisions.
• Provide input on contract requirements and options to project teams.
• Support management of variations, amendments, claims and commercial correspondence.
• Assist governance reviews, commercial approvals and stakeholder reporting related to procurement strategy and tender progress.

Skills

Procurement lifecycle knowledge

Contract negotiation

Stakeholder management

Cross-functional collaboration

Contract governance

Attention to detail

Education

Professional technical or legal qualification

Job description

Responsibilities

• Support development of the procurement and contracting strategy, ensuring alignment with project objectives, schedule, risk profile, and governance requirements
• Work with project, engineering, commercial and procurement teams to define the required scope, work packages and contracting model
• Support preparation of procurement plans, tender strategies, market engagement plans, approval papers and decision documents required ahead of go-to-market activity
• Identify key procurement risks, opportunities, dependencies and long-lead considerations
• Coordinate market engagement and supplier input to test contracting options, execution models, commercial structures and supplier capability ahead of formal tendering
• Support development of tender documentation, evaluation criteria, commercial schedules, and clarification processes in line with procurement governance
• Support bid evaluation, negotiation preparation, recommendation papers and award documentation
• Provide contract and commercial support during early contract mobilisation and project execution, including administration of contract deliverables, obligations, payments, changes and key commercial interfaces
• Support contract performance management by tracking supplier deliverables, commercial milestones, risks, issues and required decisions
• Provide practical contractual and commercial input to project teams on emerging issues, interpretation of contract requirements, and available options
• Support management of variations, amendments, claims, and commercial correspondence where required, ensuring appropriate governance and approvals are followed
• Support governance reviews, commercial approvals, management reporting and stakeholder communications related to procurement strategy and tender progress

Qualifications

• Professional technical or legal qualification
• Strong working knowledge of the full procurement lifecycle, particularly front-end strategy development, sourcing, tendering, evaluation, negotiation, award and early contract management
• Experience supporting procurement or commercial activity on major capital, energy, offshore, infrastructure, or industrial projects
• Strong commercial and negotiation skills, with the ability to support value-based outcomes and balanced risk allocation
• Good understanding of contracting models, commercial structures, payment mechanisms, change control and contract governance
• Ability to work effectively within cross-functional, integrated project teams and align procurement activity with engineering, project controls, legal, finance and delivery requirements
• Strong communication, stakeholder management and influencing skills across multiple levels and disciplines
• Highly organised and proactive, with the ability to manage multiple priorities, actions, approvals and tender deliverables in a dynamic project environment