Contracts Manager - Hybrid Chicago Loop Office

NORC at the University of Chicago • Chicago, IL

5h • $140,000 - $150,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Join NORC at the University of Chicago as a Contracts Manager, a key leadership role responsible for overseeing a complex contract portfolio while training, managing, mentoring, and developing a team of contracts professionals. This is an opportunity to impact one of the nation's most respected nonprofit, nonpartisan, and objective research institutions. As a Contracts Manager, you will help shape continued organizational growth by ensuring NORC’s legal agreements, risk assessments, and compliance practices are sound, strategic, and aligned with our mission. Location : Hybrid role based in either our Chicago Loop or Washington, D.C. office, with a minimum of six days per month in the office. DEPARTMENT: Contracts and Grants, Purchasing NORC’s Contracts and Grants Department is a growing and collaborative team of contracts and legal professionals that drafts, reviews, and negotiates all of the organization’s legal agreements. Analysis of legal agreements and identifying risks is a critical function of the Contracts department. Contracts also manages and advises on a wide variety of privacy, data governance, audit, and conflicts matters to ensure regulatory compliance. Our Contracts department is a dynamic and highly visible team within a growing nonprofit organization. In taking responsibility for assessing and advising on any potential risk to the organization, we are integral to ensuring NORC’s success.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree required (MBA, or related advanced degree preferred.)
• At least 7 years of work experience in all aspects of pre/post award administration activities under government funded awards and other client-funded agreements (e.g. commercial clients, state/local government entities, foundations, and other non-federal funders.)
• Demonstrated experience managing, training and mentoring staff.
• Expertise in Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), working knowledge of Agency Supplements and the 2 CFR 200 (Uniform Guidance); strong familiarity with the full range of federal award types such as. FFP, CPFF, Time and Materials, grants, and commercial contracting.
• Thorough knowledge of a variety of legal agreements, including subcontracts/subawards, vendor/purchasing agreements, nondisclosure agreements, purchase orders, and teaming agreements.
• Strong knowledge of federal cost accounting standards.
• Excellent leadership, communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills.
• Strong organizational, analytical, critical thinking, and time management skills.
• Strong track record in contract negotiation, subcontracting, purchasing, and pricing experience.
• Highly skilled in all aspects of a project lifecycle, including bid development, compliance with proposal and contract requirements, risk analysis, and contract closeout.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite required.
• Qualified applicants must be eligible to work in the U.S. We regret that we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this position.

Nice To Haves

• MBA, or related advanced degree preferred
• Experience with enterprise business systems and tools, including Deltek/Costpoint, CRM platforms such as Salesforce, and emerging data or AI-enabled tools that support contract and proposal management a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead and supervise other Contracts and Grants staff members including managing a team of direct reports.
• Manage a complex portfolio of contracts and grants.
• Evaluate risk in legal agreements and advise senior management on key contract terms.
• Train, mentor, and support the development of junior level contracts staff.
• Advise project and proposal teams, research and executive leadership, and contracts staff on business, financial, and legal requirements for government and commercial clients.
• Collaborate with NORC’s Purchasing team on complex procurement matters.
• Develop and maintain relationships with counterparts at key NORC clients.
• Contribute to enterprise-wide staff training on contracts, grants, and administrative processes.

Benefits

• Generously subsidized health insurance, effective on the first day of employment
• Dental and vision insurance
• A defined contribution retirement program, along with a separate voluntary 403(b) retirement program
• Group life insurance, long-term and short-term disability insurance
• Benefits that promote work/life balance, including generous paid time off, holidays; paid parental leave, bereavement leave, tuition assistance, and an Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Number of Employees: 501-1,000 employees