Contract Specialist

KONE; Lisle (IL); On-site; USD 93,000 - 123,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Flexible work schedule

401K Employer Match

Health Insurance

Paid Time Off

Job summary

KONE Americas is hiring a Contract Specialist to review, analyze, and negotiate high‑exposure contracts across construction, modernization, service and repair. You will help reduce risk with minimal attorney involvement while ensuring compliance with relevant laws.

The role requires 5+ years in contract management, a Bachelor’s or JD, and strong analytical, communication, and negotiation skills. Hybrid work exists, with a focus on collaboration and risk mitigation.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree, Paralegal Certification, JD, or equivalent combination of education and relevant contract management experience.
• 5+ years of experience managing complex commercial contracts, with ability to identify risks and provide practical risk‑mitigation recommendations.
• Exceptional organizational, prioritization, and follow‑up skills with proven ability to manage multiple contracts and meet deadlines.
• Strong issue‑spotting, analytical, and problem‑solving capabilities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, customer‑service orientation, and the ability to build effective relationships with business partners while maintaining the highest standards of ethics and confidentiality.

Responsibilities

• Assist branch with assessment of terms and conditions, clarifications and compliance requirements prior to and during the bidding or contracting stage.
• Research statutory and common law legal issues.
• Within the Law Department, point of contact for contracts.
• Advise branches when order entry is incorrect or incomplete.
• Analyze customer response to the Rider/Addendum using analytical skills to determine if the customer response is acceptable per the KONE guidelines.
• Negotiate the necessary insurance and/or bonds per the term of the contract.
• Report to the manager any issues that require modification to the Work Instructions, areas that require additional training or issues within the schedule process.

Skills

Contract management

Negotiation

Risk assessment

Analytical skills

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree

JD

Paralegal Certification

Equivalent experience

Tools

DocuSign

Cobblestone

Adobe Acrobat Pro

Microsoft 365

Job description

Founded in 1910, KONE is a global leader that provides elevators, escalators and automatic building doors, as well as solutions for maintenance and modernization that add value to buildings throughout their life cycle. Our mission is to improve the flow of urban life and make our world’s cities better places to live by providing innovative solutions that help make people’s journeys safe, convenient and reliable. Our operations in over 60 countries around the world has helped us achieve our position as an innovation and sustainability leader with repeated recognitions by Forbes, Corporate Knights for clean capitalism and others.

Are you ready to make your next career move to join our team as our Contract Specialist for KONE Americas? Do you enjoy reviewing, analyzing, and performing risk assessment of construction, modernization, maintenance, and repair contracts? Does identifying areas that require modification, propose modifications, and effectively negotiate the contracts with customers motivate you? Do you thrive in areas where there is cross‑functional team participation? Do you demonstrate a passion effectively negotiating contracts with customers to reduce risk to KONE? Are you committed to ensuring all appropriate KONE personnel comply with contract requirements by being organized and time management driven? If you answered a resounding YES to these questions, then we have an amazing opportunity for you!

Location of position: This position is hybrid and involves a mix of on‑site and remote workdays.

As our Contract Specialist, you will protect KONE’s reputation and business interests and help ensure it complies with all relevant laws and regulations. The primary focus of this position is to expand the functions and capabilities of Contract Management by handling high risk/high exposure contracts with minimal attorney involvement. Under minimal supervision, reviews, analyzes, revises, and negotiates construction, modernization, service and repair contracts to reduce risk for KONE. You will bring 5+ years of experience working with high profile, high exposure contracts to KONE. Bachelor or JD degree preferred, paralegal certification or equivalent experience in a similar field.

Other Listed Duties:

• Assist branch with assessment of terms and conditions, clarifications and compliance requirements prior to and during the bidding or contracting stage.
• Research statutory and common law legal issues.
• Within the Law Department, point of contact for contracts.
• Advise branches when order entry is incorrect or incomplete.
• Analyze customer response to the Rider/Addendum using analytical skills to determine if the customer response is acceptable per the KONE guidelines.
• Negotiate the necessary insurance and/or bonds per the term of the contract.
• Report to the manager any issues that require modification to the Work Instructions, areas that require additional training or issues within the schedule process.

Hiring Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree, Paralegal Certification, JD, or equivalent combination of education and relevant contract management experience.
• 5+ years of experience managing complex commercial contracts, with ability to identify risks and provide practical risk‑mitigation recommendations.
• Exceptional organizational, prioritization, and follow‑up skills with proven ability to manage multiple contracts and meet deadlines.
• Strong issue‑spotting, analytical, and problem‑solving capabilities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, customer‑service orientation, and the ability to build effective relationships with business partners while maintaining the highest standards of ethics and confidentiality.

Technical Aptitude:

• Experience working within Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) tool or similar contract management.
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365 applications (Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, PowerPoint) and contract administration tools such as DocuSign, Cobblestone, and Adobe Acrobat Pro.
• Ability to leverage technology to improve contract review, document management, and workflow efficiency (familiarity with AI‑enabled contract review or legal technology tools is a plus, not required).

At KONE, we foster an innovative and collaborative culture, valuing each individual's contribution. Employee engagement and sustainability are key focuses, promoting ethical practices and mutual respect. We're proud to offer experiences and opportunities to help you achieve career and personal goals while maintaining a healthy work‑life balance. We hire individuals who value culture because we believe culture drives innovation. We value your authentic self. Collaborative, creative, and supportive work environment. Passionate about safety, quality, and innovation. We care about the communities where we live and work.

Just some of our many benefits include:

• Competitive salary
• Flexible work schedule
• Opportunities to learn and grow
• 401K Employer Match
• 401k Employer Non‑elective Contribution
• Well‑being Program
• Medical, Prescription, Dental and Vision Insurance
• Digital Health Solutions & Telehealth
• Health Savings Account (HSA)
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)
• Employee Family Assistance Program (EFAP)
• Family & Medical Leave
• Parental Leave
• Leave to Care for a Domestic Partner
• Paid Time Off & Holidays
• Company Paid Life and AD&D Insurance
• Supplemental Life and AD&D Insurance
• Company Paid Short‑term and Long‑term Disability
• Buy‑Up Long‑term Disability
• Critical Illness Insurance
• Hospital Indemnity & Accident Insurance
• Identity Theft Protection
• Legal Insurance
• KONE Credit Union
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Commuter Benefits

The hiring range for this role in Moline, IL is $83,000 – 108,885. The compensation package offered will depend on candidate’s ability to meet the requirements of the role, needs for the business strategy, and a range of factors unique to each candidate, including their skill set, years and depth of experience, certifications, and location. We will also consider candidates in the following areas. Below are the different ranges applicable to those locations: Lisle, IL area hiring range: $93,400 – 122,640 Variable Compensation KONE Annual Bonus plan at 10% Target Incentive (50/50) based on achievement of company goals and individual goals.

Read more on www.kone.com/en/careers/

KONE is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, status as a protected veteran or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law.

At KONE, we are focused on creating an innovative and collaborative working culture where we value the contribution of each individual. Employee engagement is a key focus area for us and we encourage participation and the sharing of information and ideas.

Sustainability is an integral part of our culture and the daily practice. We follow ethical business practices and we seek to develop a culture of working together where co‑workers trust and respect each other and good performance is recognized.

In being a great place to work, we are proud to offer a range of experiences and opportunities that will help you to achieve your career and personal goals and enable you to live a healthy and balanced life.

Read more on https://kone.com/global/en/careers.html

At KONE, our purpose is to shape the future of cities. As a global leader in the elevator and escalator industry, we move two billion people every day, making their journeys safe, convenient, and reliable with smart and sustainable People Flow®.

In 2025, KONE had annual sales of EUR 11.2billion, and at the end of the year over 60,000 employees in close to 70 countries.

KONE class B shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. in Finland.