What are the responsibilities and job description for the Contract Manager position at Aleron?
Description
Job Title: Contract Manager
Location: Lake Forest, IL
Employment Type: Temp (8 Months)
Industry: Distribution
Compensation: $50.00-$85.00/Hour
Schedule: 40 Hours/Week 1st Shift
About the Opportunity:
- We are seeking a mid-level Contract Manager to support increased contract volume across government, customer commercial, and supplier agreements.
- This role is focused on execution, throughput, and workload relief, supporting government, commercial, and supplier contracts.
- You will independently manage contract review and negotiations, helping reduce cycle times, clear backlog, and improve overall workflow efficiency.
- This is a hands-on role for someone who can own work end-to-end, apply sound judgment within established frameworks, and keep contracts moving without heavy oversight.
Why You'll Love Working Here:
- Supportive, team-driven culture that values collaboration, transparency, and accountability.
- Opportunity to grow your career with a global workforce solutions leader serving multiple industries.
- People-first environment that encourages employees to bring their authentic selves to work.
- Strong focus on partnership, innovation, and delivering meaningful results for clients and candidates.
Why This Opportunity is Exciting:
This role offers the chance to join a company that prioritises both people and performance-where your contributions directly impact client success while giving you room to grow and develop professionally.
About Acara Solutions
Acara is a premier recruiting and workforce solutions provider-we help companies compete for talent. With a legacy of experience in various industries worldwide, we partner with clients, listen to their needs, and customize visionary talent solutions that drive desired business outcomes. We leverage decades of experience to deliver contingent staffing, direct placement, executive search, and workforce services worldwide.
Sound like a good fit?
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What You'll Do:
- Contract Ownership & Execution
- Own and manage contracts through the full lifecycle: intake, drafting, negotiation, execution, and close-out
- Draft, review, and negotiate customer, supplier, and service agreements using standard templates and playbooks
- Handle a high volume of medium-complexity contracts, ensuring timely turnaround and quality output
- Proactively drive contracts forward by coordinating inputs, resolving comments, and managing timelines
- Government Contracting Support
- Support government contracting workflows, including solicitation responses, representations, and certifications
- Review and apply standard terms
- Identify risks and escalate appropriately
- Help manage compliance-related documentation and contract requirements
- Commercial & Supplier Contracting
- Independently manage customer commercial and supplier agreements
- Review contract terms, identify deviations from standards, and propose practical alternatives
- Partner with supplier managers, sales, and legal to resolve issues and close contracts efficiently
- Balance speed and risk to support business timelines
- Risk Management & Decision-Making
- Identify contractual risks and apply pre-approved fallback positions and playbooks
- Escalate non-standard or high-risk issues appropriately
- Ensure alignment with company policies, legal requirements, and risk tolerance
- Operational Impact & Throughput
- Help reduce backlog and improve contract turnaround times
- Support workload balancing across the team by taking ownership of assigned work
- Maintain accurate contract records and ensure documentation is organized and audit-ready
- Contribute to process improvements that increase efficiency and scalability
- Collaboration
- Act as a key liaison between legal, business stakeholders, procurement, and sales
- Provide clear, practical communication on contract status, risks, and next steps
- Work closely with Joe and Bill to relieve bandwidth constraints and keep work progressing.
Job Requirements
What You'll Bring:
- High School Diploma or GED
- 3 years of contract management experience in a corporate or in-house legal environment
- 3 years of experience handling commercial and supplier contracts independently
What Sets You Apart:
- Experience with contract lifecycle management (CLM) tools
- Contract management certification (CPCM, CCCM, etc.)
- Background supporting both government and commercial contracting environments
- Exposure to government contracting (FAR/DFARS familiarity)
- Strong understanding of contract lifecycle management and risk assessment
- Proven ability to manage high-volume, deadline-driven work
- Execution-focused: gets contracts across the finish line without over-engineering
- Comfortable owning work with moderate complexity and minimal oversight
- Able to balance speed and risk in a practical, business-oriented way
- Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple contracts simultaneously
- Clear communicator who can work across functions and keep stakeholders aligned
- Team player who can step in and immediately add capacity where needed.
Additional Information:
Upon offer of employment, the individual will be subject to a background check
Aleron companies; Acara Solutions, Aleron Shared Resources, Broadleaf Results, Lume Strategies, Viaduct, and Aleron's strategic partner, SDI are Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employers. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, genetic information, sex, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected basis.
Salary : $50 - $85