Senior Contracts Manager

Overview

Microsoft's Cloud Operations & Innovation (CO+I) is the engine that powers our cloud services. As part of the U.S. Government Airgap team, you will perform a key role in delivering the core infrastructure and foundational technologies for Microsoft's dedicated online services supporting the U.S. Government.

While our U.S. Government dedicated datacenter operations team has a sharp focus on serving our U.S. Government customers and helping them achieve federal missions, together, all of Microsoft's Cloud Operations & Innovation (CO+I) infrastructure is comprised of a large global portfolio of more than 100 datacenters and 1 million servers. Our foundation is built upon and managed by a team of subject matter experts working to support services for more than 1 billion customers and 20 million businesses in over 90 countries worldwide.

The Supply Chain team is responsible for establishing a supply chain that can meet the ever-growing growth of the Cloud and our customers. We support a portfolio of complex, multi-disciplinary, multi-billion, multi-year datacenter construction and lease projects. Furthermore, we support the Operations team that manages and runs the cloud assets.

Microsoft's mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

Responsibilities

Pre-Award & Contract Set-Up

• Integrate business specifications for complex purchasing areas into Request for Information (RFI) and Request for Proposal (RFP) processes
• Independently lead RFP readiness by reviewing contract documents for completeness, commercial alignment, and compliance with AGC-specific government supply chain requirements
• Coordinate timely issue of RFPs in line with program schedules across multiple concurrent workstreams
• Drive closure of technical and commercial deviations prior to contract award, escalating to senior leadership where appropriate
• Lead bid evaluations, contract strategy development, and negotiation preparation for complex, high-value engagements
• Partner closely with cost, procurement, legal, engineering, and project teams to shape and support award decisions

Post-Award Contract Management

• Manage contracts through execution, ensuring compliance with contractual terms, governance requirements, and U.S. government supply chain integrity standards
• Lead administration of change orders and variations, maintaining clear entitlement positions and protecting Microsofts commercial interests
• Review, approve, and where required draft contractual correspondence - including notices, cure letters, non-compliance letters, and formal communications
• Monitor contractor performance against contractual obligations, milestones, KPIs, and commercial commitments; drive corrective action when performance gaps emerge
• Support resolution of billing, valuation, payment, and invoicing issues in collaboration with cost and finance teams
• Maintain rigorous contract records and ensure data integrity in contract management systems

Change, Claims & Risk Management

• Identify risks and roadblocks to contract execution and drive action internally and/or externally to resolve and/or escalate as appropriate
• Coordinate review of Time Impact Analyses (TIAs), extension-of-time requests, and schedule recovery measures; develop Microsofts commercial position on each
• Lead dispute avoidance strategies and drive resolution of complex commercial issues, escalating to legal and senior leadership where required
• Identify and proactively mitigate contractual, commercial, and supply chain risks throughout program delivery
• Ensure compliance with insurance, bonding, parent company guarantees, and other contractual risk controls
• Apply structured risk-based decision-making to balance schedule, cost, quality, and contractual exposure

Policy, Compliance & Governance

• Ensure adherence to Microsoft procurement and contracting policy; educate stakeholders and suppliers on policy compliance; manage the remediation and resolution of sourcing issues
• Analyze root causes of compliance and execution issues, and influence change internally and externally to address them
• Identify opportunities to adapt policy as needed to mitigate risk and better enable suppliers to meet business requirements
• Ensure consistency, timeliness, quality, and accuracy of deliverables, and ensure Procurement stakeholders are aware of SLAs and defined milestone and deliverable terms
• Communicate delays to Procurement stakeholders, and independently propose and execute contingency measures

Stakeholder & Site Engagement

• Lead regular commercial and contract review meetings with contractors and internal stakeholders at the program level
• Act as the principal commercial interface between site delivery teams, the Contracts function, legal, procurement, suppliers, and cross-functional partners
• Provide clear, structured commercial updates to the Contracts leadership team, program leadership, and AGC business stakeholders
• Influence senior managers and engineering leads to adopt contract management best practices and ensure consistent commercial discipline across the program portfolio

Closeout & Continuous Improvement

• Manage contract closeout activities, ensuring all contractual deliverables, warranties, and obligations are satisfied
• Lead final account settlement, release of retentions, lien resolution, and documentation handover
• Drive continuous improvement in contract management processes, tools, templates, and execution practices across the AGC program portfolio
• Share lessons learned and contribute to playbooks, training, and the broader CO+I contracts community of practice

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Masters Degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Engineering, or related field AND 3+ years experience in end-to-end supply chain processes (e.g., planning, sourcing, logistics, fulfillment) and working across functions to deliver program outcomes OR Bachelors Degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Engineering, or related field AND 4+ years experience in end-to-end supply chain processes (e.g., planning, sourcing, logistics, fulfillment) and working across functions to deliver program outcomes OR equivalent experience.

Other Requirements

• Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.
• Citizenship & Citizenship Verification: This position requires verification of U.S. citizenship due to citizenship-based legal restrictions. Specifically, this position supports United States federal, state, and/or local United States government agency customer and is subject to certain citizenship-based restrictions where required or permitted by applicable law. To meet this legal requirement, citizenship will be verified via a valid passport.

Preferred Qualifications

• Masters Degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Engineering, or related field AND 6+ years experience in end-to-end supply chain processes (e.g., planning, sourcing, logistics, fulfillment) and working across functions to deliver program outcomes OR Bachelors Degree in Supply Chain Management, Business, Engineering, or related field AND 8+ years experience in end-to-end supply chain processes (e.g., planning, sourcing, logistics, fulfillment) and working across functions to deliver program outcomes OR equivalent experience.

• Certification in Six Sigma.

• Category Management experience in one or more key categories including General Contractors, Mechanical & Electrical Equipment, Construction Services, Operations Services, AND/OR Systems.

• Demonstrated experience leading complex commercial negotiations and contract execution at the enterprise level.

• Skilled project management experience plus exceptional communication and influencing skills.

• Experience with global and regional planning and development.

• Strong commercial understanding and experience driving and developing contracts on key categories (Mechanical & Electrical Equipment, Power Generation, Construction Services, Operations Services).

• Experience collaborating with key stakeholders to jointly develop and implement category strategies that drive efficiencies, improve performance delivery, and reduce costs.

• Experience developing and enhancing supplier relationships, including strategic supplier development programs.

• Data-driven mindset to support continuous improvement and accurate reporting; proficiency with spend analytics and category management tooling.

• Growth mindset to explore new technologies, new ways of working, and new contracting methods.

• Knowledge of the data center industry and experience managing a variety of project delivery methods - ability to lead a project team in defining risk and developing the appropriate contracting and compensation approach.

• Technical ability to write contracts; ability to set up sourcing plans and negotiation strategies and execute them.

• Excellent communicator who can interact with diverse groups across organizational levels, including executive leadership.

• Familiarity with common process improvement methodologies (Lean, Six Sigma, etc.) and ability to facilitate change management.

• Ability to implement new processes and gain buy-in from cross-functional teams.

Supply Chain Program Management IC4 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $97,600 - $188,400 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $125,000 - $206,400 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here:

https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-corporate-pay

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more about requesting accommodations.