Commercial Contracts and Risk Management

JOB SUMMARY:
The Commercial Contracts & Risk Manager is the primary commercial negotiator for Principle Services, owning end to end contracting for client MSAs, Consulting Agreements, Work Orders, and vendor/subcontract agreements. This role balances speed to signature with disciplined risk management, negotiating directly with large utilities and engineering firms on Work Orders ranging from $50k to $5MM under multiyear MSAs.

The role is accountable for contract structure, negotiation strategy, and execution within established approval guardrails, and for operationalizing contracts after signature through obligation tracking, insurance compliance, and rate governance. The role is also responsible for owning the relationship with our commercial insurance broker and stewarding annual renewal processes. The Manager is also expected to use AI as a default force multiplier, designing workflows that reduce cycle time, improve consistency, and create scalable contract intelligence.

OUTCOMES:
Reduce legal/insurance risk and ensure speed to signature on complex MSAs/SOWs with pragmatic negotiations. Leveraging AI for building and utilizing internal contract review tools to ensure consistency and efficiency, as well as capturing critical contractual obligations to achieve compliance. 

Key Performance Indicators:

Contract cycle time
     80% of contracts executed within target cycle time (to be determined)
Percentage of contracts negotiated within fallback terms
     80% of contracts negotiated within established contract guidelines
Insurance compliance rate
     100% of active contracts maintain compliant coverage
COI turnaround time
    48-hour turnaround from request to issuance
Obligation tracking & post-signature execution
   100% of contract key metadata captured
Outside counsel spend control
   Controlled or declining annual spend vs. revenue

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES:

Contracting & Negotiation (Core Accountability)

• Lead review and negotiation of MSAs, Consulting Agreements, Work Orders, and SOWs with enterprise clients (utilities, engineering firms) and subcontractors
• Negotiate commercial and risk terms directly; operating within established contract guidelines. Escalate deviations from approved positions to executive leadership for approval, following consultation, as needed, with outside counsel
• Draft and redline agreements using established fallback positions and playbooks
• Coordinate targeted involvement of outside counsel on high impact or novel issues
• Support internal project managers during complicated or large procurement efforts by reviewing, processing, and documenting service and material agreements.

Contract Operations & Obligation Management

• Own the contract lifecycle from intake through execution and post signature administration
• Ensure key terms, obligations, renewals, and flow downs are captured as structured metadata
• Translate contractual obligations into operational requirements for internal teams

Commercial Optimization

• Maintain governance over contracted and proposed rates, escalation clauses, and pricing parameters
• Partner with Finance and Business Development to align commercial terms with margin and growth objectives

Insurance & Compliance

• Manage the insurance broker relationship and partner with the broker to facilitate the annual insurance renewal and resulting audits. Not directly responsible for coverage design, claims litigation, or actuarial decisions.
• Ensure compliance with contractual insurance requirements for Principle and its contractors
• Maintain ongoing COI and endorsement compliance through the life of each contract

AI Enablement & Process Improvement

• Design and operate AI assisted workflows for contract intake, review, negotiation support, and obligation extraction
• Build and maintain prompt libraries, clause standards, and review frameworks
• Apply human judgment and governance to ensure accuracy, confidentiality, and consistency
• AI not as a tool, but an operating mindset - continuously identify opportunities to automate repeatable work and improve commercial efficiency

Other duties as assigned.  

• 5 to 8 years of experience owning commercial contract negotiations in engineering, construction, or professional services environments
• Demonstrated experience negotiating:

1. Indemnification
2. Limitation of Liability
3. Consequential Damages
4. Flow down contractual obligations

• Proven ability to manage multiple active negotiations with minimal supervision
• Strong commercial judgment balancing risk, revenue, and speed
• AI native mindset: demonstrated use of AI tools to accelerate review, standardize outputs, and automate repeatable tasks (examples expected)
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365 (Teams, SharePoint, Outlook) and comfort building lightweight workflows

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Legal or paralegal training and/or equivalent in-house contracts experience with substantial negotiation responsibility
• Experience developing contract playbooks, clause libraries, or CLM style workflows
• Experience managing contractual insurance compliance in multi project environments

WORKING CONDITIONS:

• Ability to travel up to 10% of the month.
• Hybrid working environment (home office).
• Extended periods of sitting and working on computer screens
• Must be able to travel for extended periods in a vehicle, airplane or other transportation means.

DISCLAIMERS:
This job description is intended to convey information essential to understanding the scope of the position and general nature of the work performed. It is not exhaustive and should not be construed as an all-inclusive list of job duties, responsibilities, or requirements. Management reserves the right to modify, add, or remove duties as necessary to meet business needs.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws regarding nondiscrimination. Qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or any other status protected by applicable law.

This job description is not a contract of employment, implied or otherwise. Employment with the company is at-will, meaning the employee or the company may terminate the employment relationship at any time, with or without cause, and with or without notice.