Director of Contract Management

Thomson Reuters • McLean, VA

11d • Hybrid

About The Position

Are you passionate about the chance to bring your contract management and leadership experience to a world class organization that is leading the way in both content and technology to serve and protect our citizens home and abroad? Do you have the skills necessary to ensure scalable contract execution in a technology driven environment? Then Thomson Reuters Special Services (TRSS) is looking for you! About the Role The Director of Contract Management is a senior leader responsible for owning and scaling the company’s contracts function across U.S. Government and commercial business lines. This role leads contract negotiation strategy, execution, governance, and process discipline in a high-velocity environment characterized by frequent negotiations, evolving products, and recurring “battle of the forms” scenarios. The Director serves as the operational counterpart to Legal—translating legal risk frameworks into repeatable, scalable contract execution. This role is accountable for negotiation consistency, contract lifecycle integrity, audit readiness, and the effective use of technology and data to streamline and professionalize the contracts function as the company grows. This is not a legal role ; it is a leadership, execution, and governance role that partners closely with Legal, Finance, Business Development, Product, and Program Management. As the Director of Contract Management , you will also contribute to a variety of areas including:

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree or professional certification (e.g., CPCM, CFCM) strongly preferred.
• 12–15+ years of progressive experience in contracts management, including leadership responsibility.
• Deep experience with U.S. Government contracting, including FAR/DFARS and common contract vehicles.
• Demonstrated success leading complex negotiations, including frequent battle-of-the-forms environments.
• Strong operational judgment with the ability to balance risk, speed, and consistency.
• Proven experience implementing or managing CLM systems and contract process automation.
• Ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and operate effectively in a fast-changing, technology-driven environment.
• Excellent executive-level communication and leadership skills.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. national security clearance.
• U.S. Citizenship essential to comply with government c ontract/agency or department of Federal Government requirements.

Nice To Haves

• Experience supporting technology, software, data, analytics, cybersecurity, or regulated technology products.
• Familiarity with data rights, software licensing, cloud services, AI/ML, and cybersecurity contractual frameworks.
• Prior experience in a high-growth or mid-sized organization with multiple products and territories.
• Exposure to audit-intensive or compliance-driven environments (e.g., cost-type contracts, CMMC, FOCI-mitigated structures).

Responsibilities

• Contracts Leadership & Governance Owning the contracts function end-to-end, including negotiation strategy, execution standards, templates, playbooks, and internal controls.
• Establishing and enforcing contract governance frameworks that ensure consistency, scalability, and disciplined risk management across all deals.
• Serving as the escalation point for complex contract issues prior to Legal involvement, ensuring only true legal exceptions reach Legal.
• Eliminating single-point-of-failure risk through cross-training, documentation, and clear role design.
• Negotiation Strategy & Battle-of-the-Forms Management Defining and overseeing negotiation playbooks, fallback positions, and escalation thresholds for both government and commercial contracts.
• Leading and supervising high-complexity negotiations involving competing templates, non-standard terms, and ad hoc deal structures.
• Ensuring consistent enterprise positions across repeated negotiations while allowing controlled flexibility to close deals.
• Partnering with Legal to ensure negotiation outcomes remain within approved legal and risk tolerances.
• Contract Lifecycle & Execution Oversight Overseeing the full contract lifecycle across prime contracts, subcontracts, contract vehicles (GSA, OASIS+, MDA Shield, IDIQs, and others), task orders, and commercial agreements.
• Ensuring disciplined handling of contract modifications, change orders, funding actions, and close-outs.
• Maintaining accurate contract records, version control, and documentation to support audits, billing, and compliance.
• Technology Enablement & Process Optimization Owning the selection, implementation, and optimization of contract lifecycle management (CLM) and related tools.
• Driving automation and workflow improvements to reduce cycle time, increase visibility, and support scale.
• Establishing metrics and reporting to track contract throughput, negotiation trends, risk exposure, and team capacity.
• Ensuring contracts infrastructure keeps pace with evolving products, offerings, and territories.
• Product & Offering Alignment Partnering with Product, Engineering, and Business teams to understand evolving technology and data-driven offerings.
• Ensuring contract templates, SOWs, and data/IP provisions accurately reflect current product capabilities and delivery models.
• Implementing disciplined product-to-contract change control processes to prevent contract drift as offerings evolve.
• Cross-Functional Partnership Serving as the primary contracts interface to: Legal (risk frameworks and exception handling) Finance (pricing, funding, billing, and audit readiness) Business Development & Capture (proposal strategy and deal structuring) Program Management (contractual performance and change management)
• Acting as a trusted advisor to leadership on contract risk, negotiation posture, and execution readiness.
• Team Leadership & Development Leading, mentoring, and developing contracts managers and administrators.
• Defining roles, responsibilities, and career paths within the contracts organization.
• Establishing consistent training on negotiation standards, compliance, and systems.
• Building a scalable contracts organization aligned with the company’s growth trajectory.

Benefits

• Hybrid Work Model: We’ve adopted a flexible hybrid working environment (2-3 days a week in the office depending on the role) for our office-based roles while delivering a seamless experience that is digitally and physically connected.
• Flexibility & Work-Life Balance: Flex My Way is a set of supportive workplace policies designed to help manage personal and professional responsibilities, whether caring for family, giving back to the community, or finding time to refresh and reset. This builds upon our flexible work arrangements, including work from anywhere for up to 8 weeks per year, empowering employees to achieve a better work-life balance.
• Career Development and Growth: By fostering a culture of continuous learning and skill development, we prepare our talent to tackle tomorrow’s challenges and deliver real-world solutions. Our Grow My Way programming and skills-first approach ensures you have the tools and knowledge to grow, lead, and thrive in an AI-enabled future.
• Industry Competitive Benefits: We offer comprehensive benefit plans to include flexible vacation, two company-wide Mental Health Days off, access to the Headspace app, retirement savings, tuition reimbursement, employee incentive programs, and resources for mental, physical, and financial wellbeing.
• Culture: Globally recognized, award-winning reputation for inclusion and belonging, flexibility, work-life balance, and more. We live by our values: Obsess over our Customers, Compete to Win, Challenge (Y)our Thinking, Act Fast / Learn Fast, and Stronger Together.
• Social Impact: Make an impact in your community with our Social Impact Institute. We offer employees two paid volunteer days off annually and opportunities to get involved with pro-bono consulting projects and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives.
• Making a Real-World Impact: We are one of the few companies globally that helps its customers pursue justice, truth, and transparency.
• comprehensive benefits package to our employees. Our benefit package includes market competitive health, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance programs, as well as a competitive 401k plan with company match. In addition, Thomson Reuters offers market leading work life benefits with competitive vacation, sick and safe paid time off, paid holidays (including two company mental health days off), parental leave, sabbatical leave.
• optional hospital, accident and sickness insurance paid 100% by the employee; optional life and AD&D insurance paid 100% by the employee; Flexible Spending and Health Savings Accounts; fitness reimbursement; access to Employee Assistance Program; Group Legal Identity Theft Protection benefit paid 100% by employee; access to 529 Plan; commuter benefits; Adoption & Surrogacy Assistance; Tuition Reimbursement; and access to Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director