Contracts Manager (Procurement)

Lynx Software Technologies, Inc.; United States; On-site; USD 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Lynx Software Technologies, Inc. seeks an experienced Procurement and Contracts Manager to own procurement and inbound contracting for software, SaaS, and professional services in aerospace/defense. You will lead vendor evaluations, negotiations, and onboarding with cross-functional teams and leadership.

You will drive compliant supplier relationships, monitor spend, and secure favorable terms. If you excel at fast-paced tech environments and contract governance, this is your role.

Qualifications

• Experience in procurement and inbound contracting.
• Ability to run competitive sourcing processes and vendor evaluations.
• Proven negotiation skills with vendors and their legal teams.
• Strong risk management and compliance awareness.

Responsibilities

• Manage end-to-end procurement and contracting for inbound vendor relationships from intake to renewal.
• Partner with stakeholders to define requirements and assist with vendor selection including RFIs/RFPs and evaluations.
• Support vendor due diligence and onboarding, including security and financial reviews.
• Prepare, review, negotiate, and administer vendor agreements (MSAs, SOWs, NDAs).
• Negotiate pricing, payment terms, and renewal conditions with finance.
• Monitor performance and manage renewal processes and spend analysis.

Skills

Procurement

Vendor management

Contract negotiation

Risk assessment

Stakeholder management

Job description

Role Summary

We are seeking an experienced, business-minded Procurement and Contracts Manager to own procurement and inbound contracting for a growing technology company delivering software, SaaS, and professional services, primarily in the aerospace and defense industry. This role supports the full vendor lifecycle-from selection and onboarding through negotiation, renewal, and ongoing management-for the vendors, suppliers, and service providers Lynx relies on.

The Procurement and Contracts Manager will manage the inbound vendor lifecycle-from intake and sourcing support through vendor evaluation, negotiation, execution, administration, renewal, and closeout. This role will work closely with Finance, IT, Engineering, Operations, and executive leadership, and will report to the Director of Legal Operations and act as the primary liaison between vendors and the legal team, helping the company select the right vendors and secure favorable terms while appropriately managing legal and commercial risk.

The ideal candidate is comfortable working independently in a fast-paced technology environment, can run a competitive sourcing process and negotiate directly with sophisticated vendors and their legal and sales teams, and knows how to distinguish issues that require escalation from those that can be resolved using established company playbooks, pre-approved fallback positions, and sound business judgment.

What Success Looks Like

Within this role, success means becoming a trusted partner to both the Legal team and the business. You will help the company select the right vendors, bring them on board efficiently, secure favorable pricing and terms, improve visibility into spend, upcoming renewals, and contractual commitments, and ensure that material risks receive the right level of review.

You will balance speed, commercial practicality, and risk management-finding workable solutions rather than simply identifying problems.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage the end-to-end procurement and contracting process for inbound vendor, supplier, and service-provider relationships, from intake request through execution and renewal.
• Partner with business stakeholders to define requirements and assist with vendor selection, including market research, requests for information and proposals (RFIs/RFPs), vendor demos, and side-by-side evaluations of capabilities, pricing, and risk.
• Support vendor due diligence and onboarding, including security, financial, and compliance reviews, in coordination with IT, Security, and Finance.
• Prepare, review, negotiate, and administer vendor agreements, starting from company standard templates, including:
  • SaaS and software license agreements
  • Master Services Agreements (MSAs) and Statements of Work (SOWs)
  • Professional services and consulting agreements
  • Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs)
  • Hardware, equipment, and other procurement agreements
  • Subcontractor, reseller, and teaming agreements
  • Amendments, renewals, and order forms
• Serve as the primary point of contact for contract negotiations with vendors and their legal, sales, and procurement teams.
• Negotiate pricing, payment terms, multi-year commitments, and renewal terms (including price-increase caps, auto-renewal provisions, and notice windows) in partnership with Finance and budget owners.
• Review proposed vendor terms against company standards and flag legal, commercial, operational, financial, security, and compliance risks.
• Negotiate key provisions (such as intellectual property, licensing, warranties, indemnification, limitation of liability, confidentiality, data protection, insurance, termination rights, and service levels) by advancing the company's standard terms and pre-approved fallback positions per the contracting playbook, and escalating to Legal when a vendor pushes back beyond those positions.
• Support purchase requisition and purchase order processes and help ensure purchases align with budgets, approval thresholds, and company policy, in coordination with Finance.
• Own the renewal process: track upcoming renewals and notice deadlines, engage business owners early, and drive renegotiation, consolidation, or non-renewal decisions.
• Monitor vendor performance against contractual commitments and service levels, and lead vendor business reviews and issue resolution as needed.
• Track and analyze vendor spend to identify savings opportunities, consolidate vendors, and avoid redundant tools and services.
• Coordinate with Finance, IT, Security, Engineering, Operations, and other internal stakeholders when negotiating agreements, and work with Legal to ensure applicable security requirements and flow-down terms are reflected in vendor and subcontractor contracts.
• Escalate significant or non-standard legal issues to the Director of Legal Operations as appropriate.
• Manage executed agreements and key contractual obligations, including renewal dates, notice periods, pricing and volume commitments, reporting requirements, and other milestones.
• Use Lin