Associate Sr. Principal - Business Contract

Uniti; United States; On-site; USD 109,000 - 143,000; Full time

Job summary

Uniti is seeking an Associate Sr. Principal - Business Contract to lead end-to-end contracting governance for SOWs and MDU agreements. You will set the contracting operating model and drive cross-functional alignment with Legal, Procurement, Finance, and Operations.

You will own complex negotiations, manage risk, and deliver executive visibility on pipeline health and contract performance, while standardizing templates and playbooks for scalable contracting across the organization.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive experience in contracts management and commercial negotiations.
• Experience partnering with Legal, Procurement, Finance, and Operations.
• Proven ability to lead high-stakes negotiations with senior leaders and external partners.

Responsibilities

• Own the contracting operating model for external partner SOWs and MDU agreements; manage intake governance, negotiation strategy, approval workflows, and execution standards.
• Lead complex negotiations and redlines on scope, milestones, pricing, invoicing, change control, and remedies; align with enterprise risk and commercial guardrails.
• Establish portfolio-level governance for MDU agreements and amendments; ensure exhibits, obligations, and service commitments are complete and enforceable.
• Collaborate with business leaders to ensure alignment with deal economics and business cases; enforce commercial terms and responsibilities.
• Serve as escalation point for contractual risk (liability, indemnity, insurance, confidentiality, data/security, IP, regulatory, dispute resolution) with Legal and senior stakeholders.
• Define and track contracting KPIs (cycle time, aging, bottlenecks, renewals); provide executive-ready reporting and improvement recommendations.
• Own and improve contracting toolkit (templates, clause library, negotiation playbooks, training).
• Coordinate with Procurement on onboarding and adherence to policy and delegation of authority.

Skills

Contracts management

Commercial negotiations

Stakeholder management

Excel

Leadership with Legal/Procurement/Fin

Tools

Power BI

Tableau

SQL

Job description

About The Role

As an Associate Sr. Principal - Business Contract, you will lead end-to-end contracting governance and execution for External Partner Statements of Work (SOWs) and MDU (multi-dwelling unit) agreements. This role sets the contracting operating model, translates business objectives into scalable contractual frameworks, and drives cross-functional alignment across Legal, Procurement, Finance, and Operations. Accountable for ensuring agreements align to approved deal economics, enterprise risk posture, and delegation of authority requirements, while delivering executive visibility to pipeline health, contract cycle time, and portfolio-level risk. Owns standardization of templates, playbooks, and controls to improve throughput, reduce risk, and strengthen partner outcomes.

What You Will Do:

• Own the contracting operating model for external partner SOWs and MDU agreements, including intake governance, negotiation strategy, approval workflows, and execution standards.
• Lead complex, high-value negotiations and redlines on scope, deliverables, milestones, SLAs, rate cards/pricing, acceptance criteria, invoicing, change control, and remedies; align positions with enterprise risk and commercial guardrails.
• Establish and maintain portfolio-level governance for MDU agreements and amendments, ensuring exhibits/attachments, construction or implementation obligations, and service commitments are complete, consistent, and enforceable.
• Partner with business leaders to validate alignment to approved deal economics and business cases; drive disciplined adherence to commercial terms, term/termination, responsibilities, and performance requirements.
• Serve as the escalation point for contractual risk (liability, indemnity, insurance, confidentiality, data/security, IP, regulatory considerations, and dispute resolution), driving resolution with Legal and senior stakeholders.
• Define and track contracting KPIs (cycle time, aging, bottlenecks, renewal exposure, red-flag terms, and risk themes); provide executive-ready reporting and recommendations to improve performance.
• Own and continuously improve the contracting toolkit (templates, clause library, negotiation playbooks, training), enabling consistent decision-making and scalable contracting across the organization.
• Ensure audit-ready documentation and controls; coordinate with Procurement/Vendor Management on onboarding requirements and adherence to policy and delegation of authority.

Do You Have:

• 10+ years of progressive experience in contracts management, commercial negotiations, and partnering with Legal/Procurement/Finance; demonstrated success leading complex SOWs and service agreements.
• Proven ability to lead high-stakes negotiations, balance risk and commercial objectives, and influence outcomes with senior leaders and external partners.
• Strong command of commercial contract terms and enterprise risk concepts (liability, indemnity, insurance, confidentiality, data/security, IP, and dispute resolution).
• Executive-ready communication and presence, with strong stakeholder management, organization, and attention to detail.
• Strong analytical and reporting skills to drive KPI discipline, pipeline visibility, and process improvement; advanced Excel skills preferred.

Even Better:

• Experience leading contracting in telecom, OSP, construction/services, and/or MDU environments, including partner ecosystems and field/implementation commitments.
• Ownership of CLM and e-signature tools (selection, configuration, workflow design, user adoption, and reporting) and demonstrated contracting process transformation.
• Experience developing contracting playbooks/guardrails and training programs for business stakeholders at scale.
• Background in infrastructure, telecom, real estate, and/or MDU underwriting; strong commercial acumen.
• Experience with Power BI, Tableau, and/or SQL to enable portfolio analytics and executive dashboards.

Physical Tasks- Standing Occasionally: 0-33% | Walking Occasionally: 0-33% |Sitting and Stationary: Continuously: 67-100% | Bending: Occasionally: 0-33% | Crouching: Occasionally: 0-33% | Carrying: Occasionally: 0-33% | Reaching: Occasionally: 0-33% |Lifting -Lowering >1-15 lbs: Occasionally: 0-33% | Repetitive Hand Action: Medium Dexterity: Continuously: 67-100% | Fine Manipulating: Frequently: 34-66%

Audio Visual Needs - Hearing: Continuously: 67-100%| Near Vision: Continuously: 67-100% | Far Vision: Occasionally: 0-33% | Peripheral Vision: Occasionally: 0-33%

Equipment Used in Job Performance: Computer, Printer, Fax, Telephone, Basic Office Supplies, Copier

The starting compensation range for this job is $108,600 to $142,700. Our compensation approach s designed to be fair and competitive. Pay for this role is based on factors such as your experience, skills, education and location.