What are the responsibilities and job description for the Legal Contract Manager position at Wetalentia?
Location: Miami, FL — On-site
Employment type: Full-time
Role summary
We are seeking a hands-on Contract / Legal Manager to sit on-site in Miami and take ownership of: (1) closing out existing disputes and claims with subcontractors; (2) active contract administration on current projects; and (3) review/negotiation of new prime and subcontract agreements. You will partner with outside counsel, the US leadership team, and corporate Legal in Italy to protect margin, accelerate close-outs, and de-risk upcoming work.
What you’ll do
- Claims & litigation management
- Coordinate strategy, timelines and documentation for ongoing litigation/arbitration/mediation; manage outside counsel and budgets.
- Drive timely claims preparation and defense (time, cost, scope) with project teams; issue first claims within days of entitlement events.
- Lead settlement negotiations and draft settlement agreements and releases.
- Contract administration (live projects)
- Read the contract forensically; map obligations, notice requirements, change mechanisms, risk allocation and remedies.
- Track variations, change orders and potential claims; ensure compliant notices and backup are issued on time.
- Identify opportunities for commercial recovery (unforeseen conditions, client-driven changes, delay/disruption, force majeure, etc.).
- Analyzing the Contract with the Client to identify opportunity and mitigate contractual risks.
- Front-end contracts (new work)
- Review, redline and negotiate prime contracts and subcontracts (payment terms, LDs, caps, indemnities, insurance, warranty, IP, dispute forums).
- Align flow-down terms to subs/suppliers; develop commercial risk registers and negotiation fallback positions.
- Governance & enablement
- Standardize templates, playbooks and checklists; train PMs/engineers on contract essentials (notices, records, contemporaneous evidence).
- Interface with Corporate Legal (Italy) on strategy, sign-off and reporting; maintain a clean document trail and matter tracker.
- Corporate Governance: working with the Company Secretary to prepare corporate documents (Board Resolutions, Filing, Shareholders’ Meeting etc) and guarantee the compliance with statutory deadlines.
What you’ll bring
- 7 years in contract management/claims/legal within construction/infrastructure/industrial projects in North America.
- Strong knowledge of contract law and construction delivery models (Design-Bid-Build, CM/GC, EPC, PPP); comfortable with AIA/FIDIC or similar.
- Demonstrated success closing claims and litigations and negotiating complex commercial terms.
- Ability to read drawings, schedules and cost reports and convert technical facts into commercial arguments.
- Excellent drafting, negotiation and stakeholder management skills; high urgency and ownership.
- Bachelor’s/Master’s in Law, Construction/Engineering, or related (BAR of Florida)
- Languages: English required; Italian a plus for HQ interactions.
- Nice to Have: experience in large, multi-stakeholder projects (airports, healthcare, marine, heavy civil).
Work setup & travel
- On-site in Miami Monday–Friday; occasional travel to New York and job sites as needed.
Compensation & benefits
- Competitive base salary, medical/dental/vision, retirement plan match, paid time off, and other standard benefits.
Salary : $160,000 - $200,000