The Associate Contracts Manager is an early career role on the contracts management track. This person reviews and redlines customer and supplier agreements and supports negotiations. They also load, verify, and maintain purchase orders through acceptance.
The role suits someone with a foundation in contract review or administration who wants to grow into a Contracts Manager. They negotiate standard terms with guidance from the Director of Legal & Compliance, and take on more complex agreements and greater independence as they gain experience. They work closely with Programs, Configurations, Pricing, Sales, Engineering, and Finance.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Contract Review, Redlining & Negotiation:
- Review, redline, and negotiate commercial and government agreements, including:
- NDAs and confidentiality agreements
- Customer terms & conditions and purchase order terms, including flowdowns
- Supply, sales, and services agreements
- FAR/DFARS flowdowns
- Identify legal, operational, and financial risk in contract language and propose alternative language.
- Negotiate directly with customers and suppliers on standard and moderately complex terms; escalate high-risk or non-standard issues to the Director of Legal & Compliance.
Purchase Order Administration:
- Review customer purchase orders against quotes supplied by ABT and confirm terms, pricing, and requirements match.
- Load and verify POs in the Ruby system, ensuring accuracy and completeness for review and acceptance.
- Create the initial FilePro job structure for each new PO to establish the correct project setup and workflow.
- Review and process PO amendments and modifications, ensuring changes are incorporated into internal systems.
- Coordinate with internal teams when PO data is incomplete, unclear, or inconsistent, and resolve issues before acceptance.
Compliance & Records:
- Review customer POs and contracts for required government flowdowns (FAR/DFARS) and ensure ABT flowdowns are maintained and communicated to applicable suppliers.
- Ensure compliance with internal policy and applicable regulations, including ITAR, EAR, and FAR/DFARS.
- Maintain the ABT contract storage system so all executed contracts, amendments, and correspondence are current and accessible.
- Track contract milestones such as expirations and renewals.
- Support process improvements for contract intake, review, and archiving.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
Requirements
Required:
- Bachelor's degree, or an associate's degree with equivalent contracts experience.
- 2–4 years of experience in contract administration, contract management, or purchase order review.
- Hands-on experience reading, interpreting, and redlining commercial and/or government contracts.
- Strong attention to detail and accuracy with data entry and records.
- Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
- Clear written and verbal communication, including with external customers and suppliers.
- Proficiency in MS Office, especially Word track changes.
Preferred:
- Working knowledge of FAR and DFARS.
- Experience in a manufacturing, aerospace/defense, or high-technology environment.
- Some experience negotiating contract terms directly with customers or suppliers.
- Paralegal certificate or contracts certification (e.g., NCMA CFCM or CCCM).