Contracts Senior Principal

SAIC; United States; Remote; USD 180,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

SAIC is seeking a Contracts Senior Principal to lead strategic contracting and proposal activities within the Defense and Civil Space market. The role supports the Air Force and Space sectors from a remote location anywhere in the United States, partnering with key stakeholders to drive acquisition success.

The ideal candidate demonstrates autonomous, proactive problem solving, advanced written and oral communication, and a deep understanding of non-traditional defense contracting vehicles.

Qualifications

• Extensive federal government contracting experience.
• Experience negotiating with senior stakeholders and executive leadership.
• Proven ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong understanding of acquisition vehicles and data rights.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary strategic interface with customer contacts and acquisition specialists; build trusted relationships at all levels.
• Lead negotiations with a flexible, solutions-oriented mindset.
• Advise leadership on trade-offs of OTA, CSO, and BAA vehicles across IP rights, data rights, and pricing.
• Structure teaming and partnerships with NTDCs to position SAIC competitively.
• Draft and manage OCI mitigation plans and keep program leadership informed.

Skills

Negotiation

Stakeholder management

Contracting expertise

Federal contracting

Strategic thinking

Tools

OTAs (Other Transaction Authorities)

CSOs (Commercial Solutions Openings)

BAAs (Broad Agency Announcements)

NTDC consortium management

OCI mitigation planning

Job description

SAIC has an opening for a Contracts Senior Principal . For the right candidate, this position may be remote anywhere in the United States.

About SAIC's Business Management Organization

SAIC's Business Management function encompasses the full acquisition value chain - from customer engagement and strategy development on the sell side, to program execution, strategic alliances, supply chain management, and subcontractor development on the buy side, to internal finance. Our team of dynamic acquisition professionals provides critical support across key business areas, including Mission IT, Integration, Engineering Services, SETA, and Professional Services, serving both external and internal customers.

Role Overview

SAIC's Business Management organization is seeking an experienced and highly adaptable Contracts Senior Principal to manage contracts and proposals within the Air Force, Space and Intelligence Business Group, specifically supporting the Defense and Civil Space Market. The successful candidate will serve as a strategic partner to key stakeholders throughout the capture, proposal, and contract execution phases, bringing a high level of federal government contracting expertise and a proactive, solutions-oriented mindset.

The ideal candidate demonstrates exceptional autonomy. They will proactively identifying challenges and opportunities without prompting. They are confident, organized, detail-oriented, and skilled at building collaborative relationships while managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Key Responsibilities

At the Senior Principal level, certain professional standards are assumed, including exceptional written and oral communication, the ability to engage and influence senior stakeholders, cross-organizational coordination, independent problem solving, and a continuous commitment to industry awareness and professional development. What follows reflects the depth, complexity, and strategic impact we expect from the right individual that are in supplement to base level skills.

• Serve as the primary strategic interface with customer contacts, including Contracting Officers and acquisition specialists; cultivate and maintain strong, trust-based relationships at all levels of the customer organization, including fostering the kind of accessible, responsive engagement that senior customer leadership values and expects; demonstrate interpersonal agility across a wide range of customer personalities and communication styles; lead negotiations with a flexible, solutions-oriented mindset - recognizing that some positions must be held firmly while others present opportunities to create mutually beneficial outcomes; consistently pursue resolutions that protect SAIC's interests while leaving the customer assured they have been heard, are respected, and are being well-served.
• Demonstrate sophisticated, hands-on proficiency with innovative and alternative acquisition mechanisms, including Other Transaction Authorities (OTAs), Commercial Solutions Openings (CSOs), Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs), and prototype project proposals; serve as a trusted advisor to business and program leadership, providing clear, experience-based counsel on the real-world trade-offs of each vehicle across intellectual property rights, data rights, competitive positioning, cost and pricing considerations, organizational conflict of interest implications, and long-term program implications.
• Possess a sophisticated understanding of the non-traditional defense contractor (NTDC) landscape, including the ability to structure and negotiate effective teaming and partnership arrangements with NTDCs while strategically positioning SAIC's scale, past performance, and enterprise capabilities to compete and win in OTA and other innovation-focused acquisition environments.
• Demonstrate experience with consortium-based OTA models, including familiarity with leading consortium managers such as NSTXL, SOSSEC, and similar organizations; understand how to effectively navigate consortium membership, project call responses, and agreement structures to position SAIC competitively within these vehicles.
• Apply a sophisticated and hands-on understanding of Organizational Conflict of Interest (OCI) identification, assessment, and mitigation; serve as the primary author of OCI mitigation plans, including proactively drafting initial plans, developing mitigation strategies, and authoring updates in response to emergent concerns or evolving program circumstances. Demonstrate the initiative and expertise to drive OCI mitigation strategy forward, taking clear ownership of plan authorship as a core contracts function responsibility, consistently delivering complete, well-reasoned, and actionable mitigation strategies to program leadership for review and approval, ensuring plans remain current, accurate, and defensible throughout the program lifecycle.
• Demonstrate the ability to review, analyze, and interpret contractual documents with a depth