Contract Manager

Microsoft•Chicago, IL

2h•Onsite

About The Position

Microsoft Cloud Operations and Innovation (CO&I) is the team behind the cloud. Within CO&I, the Global Project Controls (GPC) team is responsible for delivering core datacenter infrastructure for Microsoft’s cloud business. The MS portfolio consists of complex, multi-disciplinary, large scale, multi-year datacenter construction and lease projects. We are looking for a passionate, high-energy individual to help build the cloud datacenters that power the world’s largest online services. In alignment with our Microsoft values, we are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment for all employees to positively impact our culture every day. “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.” This role is site based location and will be based out of Chicago, Illinois Relocation support will be provided, and successful candidates must relocate or reside within 50 miles of the site office location.

Requirements

Master's Degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Data Analytics, Business, Finance or related field AND 4+ years experience in data science/analytics, finance, project management, supply chain, and/or operation OR Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Data Analytics, Business, Finance or related field AND 6+ years experience in data science/analytics, finance, project management, supply chain, and/or operation OR equivalent experience.
Ability to meet Microsoft, customer and/or government security screening requirements are required for this role. These requirements include, but are not limited to the following specialized security screenings: Microsoft Cloud Background Check: This position will be required to pass the Microsoft Cloud background check upon hire/transfer and every two years thereafter.

Nice To Haves

Master's Degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Data Analytics, Business, Finance or related field AND 8+ years experience in data science/analytics, finance, project management, supply chain, and/or operation OR Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Supply Chain, Data Analytics, Business, Finance or related field AND 12+ years experience in data science/analytics, finance, project management, supply chain, and/or operation OR equivalent experience.
Strong contract management and contract negotiation experience, specifically in construction services.
Knowledge of construction services contract mechanisms such as firm-fixed price, guaranteed max price (GMP), etc.
Working knowledge of critical path method (CMP) scheduling, construction safety and sustainability.
Working knowledge of Engineering and Managing Engineering contracts is an advantage
Experience in leading commercial negotiations and administrating changes to construction contracts as projects go through the construction cycle.
Experience on large-scale mission critical construction projects - sourcing, managing, and administering contracts over USD $50M.

Responsibilities

Manages contract and price negotiation activities across multiple categories and cross-functionally, ensuring Microsoft’s price and capacity needs are met while reflecting broad stakeholder and supplier engagements; identifies cost-reduction opportunities and drives cost competitiveness with suppliers and internal teams.
Demonstrates strong BATNA-driven negotiation discipline, entering GC/AE negotiations with clear alternatives to protect Microsoft’s commercial position and strengthen outcomes.
Serves as an influential leader, driving alignment across senior stakeholders and cross-functional teams, leading through complex contractual decisions, tradeoffs, and escalations with clear communication and executive-ready recommendations.
Understands construction industry contracting norms and Microsoft contracting requirements; participates in and/or leads negotiations that meet business goals, mitigate risk, and enable predictable execution.
Develops negotiation strategies for construction services and subcontractor scopes, organizes and evaluates bid results, and communicates strategy, risks, and outcomes to senior management.
Supports stakeholder procurement requests for complex purchasing categories by leveraging processes, workflows, and technology; manages resolution of escalated pricing issues.
Executes and manages contracts in compliance with established control processes to ensure delivery and execution align with business requirements; manages contract changes, resolves disputes, and partners with project teams to keep projects on schedule and within budget.
Identifies risks and roadblocks to contract execution and drives action internally/externally to resolve or escalate as appropriate; monitors and mitigates change-order impacts to the business case and partners cross-functionally to maintain accurate impact models.
Provides strong functional leadership and mentorship to the contracts site execution team, ensuring capability growth, consistent application of contract management best practices, and an aligned, high‑performance culture across multiple projects.
Applies an end-to-end understanding of the tradeoffs between Microsoft and key suppliers to drive business impact by influencing senior managers cross-functionally, or cross-regionally to apply market intelligence and adopt practices that enable execution with consistency, accuracy, quality, and timeliness of delivery. Manages supplier scorecard process, leads strategic business reviews, educates stakeholders on policy compliance, analyzes root causes of issues, and influences change internally and/or externally to addresses issues.
Ensures adherence to policy, educates stakeholders and suppliers on policy compliance, and manages the remediation and resolution of sourcing issues. Identifies opportunities to adapt policy as needed to mitigate risk and better enable suppliers to meet business requirements.
Ensures consistency, timeliness, quality, and accuracy of deliverables, and ensures Procurement stakeholders are aware of Service Level Agreement (SLA) and/or defined milestones and deliverables terms. Communicates delay to Procurement stakeholders, and independently proposes and executes contingency measures.
Develops pricing and negotiation strategies for multiple complexes purchasing categories, ensures that strategies clearly articulate the tradeoffs, roles, and responsibilities across parties, and gains senior executive support for strategies both internally and externally. Identifies negotiation setbacks and takes action to mitigate contract disagreements.
Drives early business engagements for complex business areas or purchasing categories with cross-functional leadership including planning, strategic sourcing, cost, engineering, quality, construction, project managers, to define and drive action on supply solutions and strategies, business requirements, optimal sourcing on spend/budget and align on priorities.
Shares expertise to advise cross-functional teams on sourcing decisions.
Embody our culture and values