Contracts Lead

Gulf Drilling International; Doha; On-site; QAR 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

Gulf Drilling International in Doha seeks a Contracts Lead - Supply Chain with extensive contracting expertise in Oil & Gas. The role focuses on strategy development, pre/post-award governance, and supplier relationship management to optimize value and compliance across the procurement lifecycle.

You will lead cross-functional teams, drive competitive sourcing, and ensure ethical, transparent tendering while mitigating contract risks in a demanding on-site Qatar environment.

Qualifications

• Minimum 12+ years of hands-on contracting and procurement experience.
• Deep Oil & Gas industry background.
• Proven expertise in Category & Contracting Strategy Development, Post-Award Contract Management, and Supplier Relationship Management.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and execution of category and contracting strategies across the organisation.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams to drive pre- and post-contract award delivery.
• Oversee draft, review and approval of contracts ensuring regulatory compliance in oil & gas.
• Lead negotiation with strategic suppliers and manage contract governance models.
• Coach and mentor juniors in contract management and drive process improvements.

Skills

Contracting

Procurement

Stakeholder Management

Leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in relevant field

Tools

ERP systems

Job description

Contracts Lead (Supply Chain) Gulf Drilling International

Position Overview
Role: Contracts Lead - Supply Chain - 2 No's
Location: Qatar (On-site)
Language Requirement: Preference for candidates with proficient #Mandarin fluency

What You Will Bring

minimum of #12+ Years of hands-on experience in contracting and procurement.

Deep industry background in Oil & Gas.

Proven expertise in Category & Contracting Strategy Development, Post-Award Contract Management, and Supplier Relationship Management.

#Preferred: Upstream experience (Wells, Drilling, Exploration) and strong team leadership capabilities.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Category and Contracting Strategy Development:
  • A strategic thought leader who will lead the development and execution of category and contracting strategies, which challenge the status quo, leverage industry best practices and drive maximum commerciality and value delivery for the GDI organization.
  • Lead and facilitate cross-functional collaboration across the business (including Operations, Technical, Business Development, Legal, Finance, and IT etc) to proactively drive strategy delivery - both pre and post-contract award.
  • Implementation of robust contracting, procurement and inventory management strategies, tactics and contract structures to secure third party services and materials in compliance with business need, quality requirements and on best commercial terms that fully accounts for market capacity/capability and risks/opportunities.
  • Lead the execution of all Sourcing activities in compliance with the approved strategy (competitive tenders and single/sole source negotiations), ensuring a fair, transparent and ethical process is maintained throughout, which ensures all bidders have a fair and equal opportunity to participate (E&C Gatekeeper role).
  • Prepare comprehensive Strategy and Award Recommendation papers and present to executive stakeholders at the Tender Committee for endorsement.
  • Oversee the drafting, review, and approval of contracts, ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory standards specific to the oil and gas industry.
• Deal Making & Negotiation
  • Lead deal making and negotiation efforts with complex and/or strategic suppliers, develop detailed negotiation plans and ensure full alignment / co-ordination with the broader contract management team to effectively execute.
  • Establish clear escalation pathways with executive stakeholders, leveraging appropriate to overcome negotiation stalemates and maintain momentum of discussions.
• Leveraging a deep understanding of key legal / contractual terms and conditions to effectively negotiate alternative positions and arrive at a favourable position which does not expose GDI to unnecessary liability exposure or contractual risk, but maximizes value.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with key strategic suppliers and stakeholders, fostering collaboration and trust. Consulting with suppliers & internal stakeholders to identify opportunities for process improvement, innovation, and value optimization.
• Manage Supplier Relationships effectively and collaboratively to drive continuous performance improvement via relevant contract key metrics (E.g.: QHSE, Operations, Cost). Constructively challenging Suppliers in terms of the contract delivery and performance, and agreeing corrective action where necessary.
• Co-ordination of Contract Kick-off meetings and regular Business Performance Reviews (BPRs) with key strategic suppliers.
• Establish well defined contract management governance models, adopting a tiered approach which aligns contractor and GDI focal points at an operational, tactical and strategic level. Thereby ensuring conversations and communications with Suppliers are targeted at the right level of each organization and any challenges / issues can be overcome effectively without causing unnecessary distraction to the operational delivery and safety performance.
• Thoroughly evaluate and assess all claims and disputes received from contractors to effectively establish entitlement and quantum. Thereafter, building counterproposals and negotiation tactics in alignment with the contract management team to ensure compliance with contract terms, and mitigate any potential value leakage as a result of such claim.
• Internal Stakeholder Management
• Candidate must possess a strong stakeholder management skillset with the ability to effectively collaborate across all levels of the organization to effectively influence and drive decision consensus cross-functionally within the GDI organization, including at executive stakeholder level.
• Proactively identify & understand commercial/procurement needs from internal stakeholders and collaboratively propose competitive solutions. This may involve constructively challenging the Business Demand and/or Procurement Practices in order to drive value and efficiency for the GDI organization.
• Cost Control and Reporting
  • Collaborate closely with internal stakeholders to develop budget and forecasts related to contract expenditure.
  • Regularly monitor the contract spend vs commitments vs approved contract value to provide timely updates to stakeholders on potential variances and prompt early attention where estimate future demand appears to exceed remain approved contract value.
  • Actively monitor 3rd party spending across portfolio to identify potential gaps in contract coverage, or opportunities to improve the commerciality within the respective category. In collaboration with the contract management team and contractors, identify and frame potential value improvement opportunities (build an opportunity funnel). Thereafter drive and track the execution of these opportunities to determine value realized.
• Ethics & Compliance
  • Understand and ensure adherence to legal, regulatory, and corporate governance requirements.
  • Promote an ethical work environment and prevent conflicts of interest.
  • Ensure that the tendering and contract processes are conducted to a high ethical standard and communicate contract terms & implications to relevant stakeholders across the organization, to ensure transparency and accountability.
  • Ensure accurate record maintenance in the ERP system and oversee contract renewal and/or closure as required.
• Ensure application of the Supply Chain Standard and applicable processes, using commercial judgement, common sense and a simplification mind-set, understanding the difference between non-negotiable compliance elements (Safety, E&C, Code of Conduct, Law) and CP operating practices, while always keeping enterprise business value in focus.
• 'Outside-in' mindset, demonstrating continuous curiosity with regard to industry leading practices and innovation. Willingness to challenge the status quo internally to bring improved commerciality and enabling ways of working to GDI.
• Identify and implement process improvements to enhance efficiency, effectiveness, and seamless integration of the end-to-end supply chain.
• Establish policies and procedures for contract negotiation, execution, and compliance to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.
• Coaching and mentoring:
  • Key contributor to the learning agenda, driving increased contract management competence across the GDI organization, providing coaching, guidance and mentorship to junior team members within the Supply Chain organization, but also to the broader contract management community (Company Representatives and Subject Matter Experts across the business).
  • Foster a collaborative team environment that promotes knowledge sharing, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Job Info

• Job Identification 3
• Posting Date 09/28/2026, 08:04 AM
• Apply Before 10/19/2026, 09:00 PM
• Job Schedule Full time
• Locations Gulf Drilling International Ltd. (Q.S.C),, Doha, 9072, QA