Principal Contract Manager

Principal Contract Manager
Hybrid – San Ramon or Oakland, CA
Perm Position

The Principal Contract Manager plays a pivotal role in overseeing the lifecycle of multiple strategic third-party contracts. This position ensures adherence to contractual terms, tracks key milestones, and manages contract renewals and amendments. The ideal candidate is a seasoned contracts professional with expertise in monitoring, analysis, compliance, and reporting—working collaboratively across departments to ensure consistent and effective compliance practices.

Job Responsibilities

• Lead complex cross-functional projects and contract activities.
• Advise senior leadership (internal and external) on contracting strategies and negotiation matters.
• Independently negotiate complex contract issues.
• Lead efforts to identify, analyze, and enhance existing business processes or create new workflows to meet evolving goals.
• Collaborate closely with key stakeholders to ensure strategic alignment.
• Act as the primary liaison between the Contracts Team and our clients Legal Department and compliance groups (e.g., Risk).
• Provide guidance, support, mentorship, and training to less experienced contract management staff.
• Design and deliver contract management training to internal and external stakeholders.
• Maintain oversight of program contracts and related obligations.
• Analyze contracts to detect potential compliance issues.
• Identify and resolve discrepancies or cases of non-compliance.
• Evaluate and improve compliance programs and procedures.
• Conduct audits and inspections to ensure contract compliance.
• Communicate compliance obligations clearly to all stakeholders.
• Deliver training and guidance on compliance procedures.
• Prepare detailed reports on contract compliance activities and results.

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• Minimum of 9 years of direct experience in a comparable role, with the ability to manage complex sourcing strategies and ensure contract compliance during l arge-scale digital transformations (e.g., system integrator services and software professional services).
• Proven track record of managing sophisticated contracts to minimize value leakage.
• Experience with QA and QC of contract documents.
• Subject matter expertise in contract composition, management, administration, and negotiation.
• Ability to apply advanced business knowledge, project management practices, and industry best practices.
• Conflict resolution and negotiation skills with a focus on win-win outcomes.
• Strong budgeting, resource allocation, and procurement knowledge including RFPs, bids, and agreements.
• Experience with terms & conditions, contracts, ability to understand terms, KPI's, audit, compliance, manage supplier relationship.
• Excellent communication skills tailored to varied audiences.
• Strong analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving abilities.
• Experience with report generation, modeling, and simulations.
• Ability to independently manage priorities based on departmental goals.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) and contract systems/applications (e.g., SRM, Ariba, SAP, scheduling tools).
• Experience in process development, review, and continuous improvement.

• Master’s degree in a related discipline.
• Professional certification(s), such as:
  • Project Management Professional (PMP)
  • Program Management Professional (PgMP)
  • Lean Six Sigma (Green or Black Belt)
• Knowledge and experience in transmission pipeline construction.
• Utility industry background.