Contracts Strategist

Drive Capital; New York (NY); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company equity

401(k) matching

Flexible paid time off

Full medical, dental, and vision insurance

Mental health support

Ongoing professional development

Job summary

Drive Capital is seeking a skilled Contracting Strategist to support government and private sector contracting matters. The role involves negotiating proposals and contracts, managing compliance, and working with cross-functional teams to achieve optimal pricing and service delivery.

The ideal candidate will have at least 7 years of government contracting experience and strong communication skills. Drive Capital offers a competitive compensation package with 401(k) matching, equity, and flexible paid time off.

Qualifications

• Minimum 7 years of experience in supporting government contracting.
• Ability to interpret and elevate clause-level risk related to FAR and DFARS.
• Exceptional communication skills to translate legal requirements.

Responsibilities

• Support drafting and negotiating government contracts.
• Conduct market analysis for strategic pricing decisions.
• Create training programs for internal teams on contracting.

Skills

Government contracting experience

Knowledge of FAR and DFARS

Contract negotiation

Market analysis

Excellent communication skills

Detail-oriented

Job description

What We Do

Gecko Robotics is helping the world’s most important organizations ensure the availability, reliability, and sustainability of critical infrastructure. Gecko's complete and connected solutions combine wall-climbing robots, industry-leading sensors, and an AI-powered data platform to provide customers with a unique window into the current and future health of their physical assets. This enables real-time decision making to increase the efficiency and safety of operations, promote mission readiness, and protect the environment and civilization from the effects of infrastructure failure.

Role At A Glance

We’re looking for a skilled and attentive contracting strategist to focus on United States government and private sector contracting matters. This will include supporting and directing Gecko’s responses to proposals, negotiating with contracting officers, program managers, and procurement teams, shaping our offerings in terms of components and pricing and advising on all related matters. It is essential that the candidate be self‑motivated and comfortable working cross‑functionally to engage the requisite stakeholders and seek out necessary information from across the organization. In a nutshell, your primary role will be to support and enable Gecko to deploy its innovative technology to US Government agencies and commercial sectors in an expedient, precise, and compliant manner.

What You Will Do

• Develop frameworks for crafting and negotiating proposals and other contracting initiatives in accordance with various regulatory frameworks and Gecko’s business objectives
• Draft proposals and negotiate contracts with a focus on balancing risk mitigation, expedient delivery, success for the customer and favorable pricing
• Within the legal / contracting function, partner closely with the Business Development and Capture teams to craft our proposals from both a business and legal perspective, ensuring optimal pricing, offering components, and value propositions
• Provide ongoing support throughout the acquisition and execution lifecycle to mitigate risks and ensure performance obligations are met
• Conduct market analysis to support strategic pricing decisions and enhance competitive positioning
• Develop training programs to ensure internal teams understand and adhere to contracting and pricing strategies
• Provide other executive support as needed

About You

Required Skills

• Experience minimum – 7 years’ experience in supporting government contracting
• Strong working knowledge of FAR and DFARS, including ability to identify, interpret, and elevate clause-level risk
• Experience reviewing solicitations, RFPs/RFQs/RFIs, prime contracts, subcontracts, teaming agreements, NDAs, and flow-down obligations
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including ability to translate contracting requirements for non-legal stakeholders
• High attention to detail and strong ownership of deadlines, submission requirements, and contract deliverables

Preferred Skills

• Exposure to, and ideally expertise in, working with the US government on a wide array of issues, including all things relating to government contracting
• Experience drafting USG and commercial proposals
• Strong negotiator who operates well in ambiguous and fast paced environments
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to build strong relationships cross-functionally, including with business, finance, and technical stakeholders
• Ability to exercise sound judgment and operate under pressure
• Willingness to wear multiple hats with shifting priorities and work on projects of all types
• Thrives in a fast-paced and collaborative environment
• Ability to advise on commercial item/service contracting, SaaS or technology-enabled services, data rights, IP, confidentiality, cybersecurity, and customer-specific compliance obligations.
• Experience in dual-use, defense, robotics, industrial technology, SaaS, data products, or technical services contracting
• Experience with DoD and/or other federal agency contracting, including prime/subcontract structures and flow-down obligations
• Familiarity with IDIQs, BPAs, task orders, OTAs, SBIR/STTR
• Experience partnering with capture, business development, finance, legal, technical, and program teams on pricing, offer structure, risk allocation, and compliance
• Experience supporting proposal pricing, commercial item/service positioning, and risk-based negotiation strategy
• Experience building scalable contracting templates, clause playbooks, workflows, or internal training

Who We Are

At Gecko, our people are our greatest investment. In addition to competitive compensation packages, we offer company equity, 401(k) matching, gender-neutral parental leave, full medical, dental, and vision insurance, mental health, ongoing professional development, family planning assistance, and flexible paid time off.

Gecko values collaboration, innovation, and partnership, and we believe it is our collective responsibility to uphold these values and encourage candidates from all backgrounds to join us in our mission to protect today’s infrastructure and give form to tomorrow’s. All qualified applicants will be treated with respect and receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, uniform service, veteran status, age, or any other protected characteristic per federal, state, or local law.