Senior Contracts Manager

We are seeking an experienced Senior Contracts Manager to oversee contract administration and commercial management for major engineering projects within a consultancy/PMC environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Administer prime consultancy agreements, sub-consultancy agreements and service contracts throughout their life cycle, ensuring compliance with the conditions of contract and with the Company's delegation of authority.
• Review, draft, negotiate and redline agreements, letters of award, notices to proceed, variation orders, amendments, non-disclosure agreements and framework arrangements, issuing reasoned commentary to support management decision-making.
• Lead the preparation, substantiation and submission of claims for additional fees, extension of time, prolongation and disruption, and lead the Company's defence of claims served upon it.
• Administer the change and variation regime, including assessment of entitlement, preparation of fee build-ups and man-hour pricing, and negotiation to settlement.
• Operate contractual notice provisions and maintain the contemporaneous record, ensuring that condition-precedent and time-bar requirements are observed without exception.
• Prepare and quality-assure contractual correspondence, determinations and recommendations issued by the Company, including those issued in its capacity as the Engineer or Consultant.
• Lead dispute avoidance and early resolution; prepare the Company's position for amicable settlement, expert determination, mediation and arbitration, and coordinate with external counsel and appointed experts.
• Conduct contractual and commercial risk reviews at bid and pre-award stage, identify onerous or unbalanced provisions, and propose qualifications, departures and fall-back positions.
• Maintain the Contracts Department registers (contracts, variations, claims, notices and correspondence) and the departmental control board, and report status, exposure and entitlement to management on a periodic basis.
• Deploy AI-enabled contract management tools for contract review, obligation extraction, risk identification, document analysis and reporting automation, within the Company's confidentiality and data-handling rules.
• Supervise, mentor and review the output of Contract Administrators, and contribute to the development of departmental procedures, templates and precedent.
• Interface with clients, sub-consultants, contractors, insurers and legal advisers, and represent the Contracts function in project and commercial meetings.
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering from an accredited university. A postgraduate qualification in construction law, contract management or quantity surveying is an advantage.
• Minimum of 12–15 years of progressive experience in contract management within engineering or architectural consultancy firms, with demonstrable involvement in major projects covering both post and precontract stages and not a site based.
• Extensive practical experience in contract administration under FIDIC and other standard forms of contract.
• Proven expertise in commercial management, contractual claims, change management, dispute avoidance, contract negotiation and risk management.
• Demonstrated leadership capability, with strong stakeholder management, communication and analytical skills.
• Proficiency in AI-enabled contract management tools and digital contract applications, including the use of artificial intelligence for contract review, risk identification, document analysis and process automation.
• Professional affiliation such as MCIArb, RICS or CIOB is preferred.
• Full professional fluency in English and Arabic, written and spoken.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering from an accredited university. A postgraduate qualification in construction law, contract management or quantity surveying is an advantage.
• Minimum of 12–15 years of progressive experience in contract management within engineering or architectural consultancy firms, with demonstrable involvement in major projects covering both post and precontract stages and not a site based.
• Extensive practical experience in contract administration under FIDIC and other standard forms of contract.
• Proven expertise in commercial management, contractual claims, change management, dispute avoidance, contract negotiation and risk management.
• Demonstrated leadership capability, with strong stakeholder management, communication and analytical skills.
• Proficiency in AI-enabled contract management tools and digital contract applications, including the use of artificial intelligence for contract review, risk identification, document analysis and process automation.
• Professional affiliation such as MCIArb, RICS or CIOB is preferred.
• Full professional fluency in English and Arabic, written and spoken.

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