Federal Contracts Manager

MARKI MICROWAVE LLC•Morgan Hill, CA

2h•$130,000 - $190,000

About The Position

Marki is seeking a Federal Contracts Manager/Contracts Compliance Manager with practical experience in supporting U.S. federal subcontracts primarily for the sale of commercial goods, a good working knowledge of FARs and DFARS, and preferably some experience in commercial contracts management and compliance. Key aspects of the job will be serving as a subject matter expert, assisting Marki with defense prime contractor subcontracts and purchase orders for the sale of goods while also helping maintain Marki’s FAR/DFARS compliance systems. Secondarily is an understanding of defense subcontracts for engineering development services, as well as compliance matters generally for other commercial contracts globally. This role sits at the intersection of Marki's commercial go-to-market engine and its obligations as a supplier into the defense industrial base — requiring close collaboration with Sales, Legal, Trade Compliance, and all other company departments. This role is ideal for a detail-oriented, proactive, hands-on professional who thrives in an environment that is a mix of defense/federal subcontracting and commercial sale of goods, and who wants to grow into additional commercial and international contracts administration and compliance areas.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Contracts Management, Supply Chain, or a related field.
5–8 years of meaningful hands-on experience in federal subcontracts and/or commercial defense sales contracts involving goods.
Practical working knowledge of FAR and DFARS, particularly in the context of subcontract flow-down, procurement of commercial items (FAR Part 12).
Demonstrated ability to review and negotiate purchase orders, subcontracts, and customer terms and conditions in a commercial defense supplier environment.
Comfort working in a matrix/dual-reporting structure and collaborating daily with Sales, Sales Operations, Legal, Product Marketing/Program Management, and Trade Compliance stakeholders.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate regulatory requirements into clear, actionable guidance for commercial teams.
Deep working knowledge of the commercial item acquisition framework — commercial item definitions, COTS determinations, and the reduced regulatory burden applicable to commercial item sellers. Understanding of when and how FAR Part 12 streamlines (or displaces) standard clauses.
Ability to identify, interpret, and assess the risk of FAR/DFARS clauses flowed down from higher-tier prime contractors in purchase orders and subcontracts. Skill in distinguishing mandatory flow-downs from discretionary ones, and in advising on acceptance, negotiation, or pushback.
Solid grasp of Uniform Commercial Code Article 2 dynamics in the context of sale of goods — understanding the interplay between buyer-issued POs, seller acknowledgments, and standard terms and conditions in forming binding agreements.
Working knowledge of key commercial provisions including warranty, indemnity, limitations of liability, IP ownership, and acceptance/inspection terms as they apply to hardware sales.
Ability to evaluate incoming POs from defense prime contractors for compliance risks, problematic terms, and flow-down exposure — including practical judgment on when to accept, seek modification, or escalate.
Experience negotiating, administering, and maintaining long-term supply agreements and master purchase agreements with tier-1 defense customers, including redline preparation and life-cycle tracking.
Disciplined maintenance of contract repositories, clause applicability databases, correspondence records, and key metadata needed to automate compliance reviews and support audit readiness.
Ability to maintain a structured FAR/DFARS clause database — mapping regulatory thresholds, applicability criteria, and compliance obligations across Marki's product and customer portfolio.
Ability to monitor FAR/DFARS rule changes, assess operational impact, and translate regulatory updates into clear internal guidance for Sales, Sales Operations, and Supply Chain.
Understanding of compliance obligations that must be passed to Marki's lower-tier suppliers, including domestic preference, small business, counterfeit parts, and cybersecurity requirements.
Ability to review NRE proposal submissions and draft development subcontracts for FAR/DFARS compliance, including CLIN structuring, statement-of-work scope, data rights provisions (DFARS 252.227), and deliverable/milestone tracking.
Ability to support ongoing compliance with flow-down obligations, reporting requirements, and modification management throughout the lifecycle of an awarded development subcontract.
Awareness and knowledge of and insight into the organization’s vision, structure, culture, philosophy, operating principles, values, and code of ethics; ability to apply this understanding appropriately to diverse situations. Knowledge, insight, and understanding of business concepts, tools, and processes that are needed for making sound decisions in the context of the company’s business; ability to apply this knowledge appropriately to diverse situations.
Knowledge of and ability to align the organization’s people and culture with changes in business strategy, organizational structure, technology and business processes.
Successful communication involves five components. Verbal communication refers to your ability to speak clearly and concisely. Nonverbal communication includes the capacity to project positive body language and facial expressions. Written communication refers to your skillfulness in composing text messages, reports, and other types of documents. Visual communication involves your ability to relay information using pictures and other visual aids. Active listening should also be considered a key communication soft skill because it helps you listen to and hear what others say. You need to be able to listen to understand how to best communicate with someone.
Understands business issues and opportunities and translates or aligns them to a vision, strategy and plans to chart a course of action.
Collaborate with others to achieve common goals. Build strong, positive working relationships with supervisors and team members/coworkers. Exercise the ability to compromise and be adaptable.
Ability to balance the needs of different people in a solution to a problem. Able to meet the needs of different constituents in the solution of a problem. Able to solve problems with multiple criteria that need to be met. Identifies and assesses all potential responses to a problem.
Deal with Conflict Properly. Report on Unethical Behavior. Be upfront about your shortcomings. Be willing to do hard work. Take accountability for your actions. Be a team player. Respect others. Don’t abuse your power. Keep morale up.
Interpersonal competencies help you interact, communicate, and collaborate with others effectively. Typical examples of interpersonal skills include empathy, active listening, and emotional intelligence

Nice To Haves

NCMA Certified Federal Contracts Manager (CFCM) or equivalent professional certification.
Experience with SAM.gov, PIEE/WAWF, and government contract management systems.
Familiarity with the CMMC framework, NIST SP 800-171, and DFARS cybersecurity clause compliance at the supplier level.
Familiarity with EAR/ITAR requirements as they apply to defense hardware sales and international transactions.

Responsibilities

Serve as primary contracts subject matter expert for Marki's subcontracting engagements with higher-tier defense and aerospace prime contractors, covering the sale of hardware components and related goods, working closely with Legal, Sales, and Sales Operations.
Coordinate regularly with Sales and Sales Operations on quote-to-order contract administration and compliance, reviews of customer terms, and order-acceptance gating; particularly for higher-tier defense contractor customers.
As required, help negotiate subcontract terms and purchase orders; identify and mitigate flow-down clause risks from prime contracts and buyers to Marki as a supplier.
Support the Legal department in developing and maintaining standard terms and conditions and playbook for Marki's customer-facing agreements, particularly with tier-1 customers.
Support the maintenance of relevant contracts metadata, analyses, documentation, correspondence records, and deliverable/milestone tracking relevant to Marki subcontracts.
Support the company's FAR and DFARS compliance program, including maintenance of company FAR/DFARS clause applicability database, and associated company policies and procedures.
Track regulatory updates, work with legal to help interpret, develop guidance for the company on applying regulatory requirements, and brief leadership and cross-functional stakeholders on changes with operational impact.
Conduct internal compliance reviews and periodic program reviews to identify risk areas and recommend corrective actions.
Support Marki procurement and supply chain management on flow down requirements.
Serve as a contracts subject matter expert for occasional engineering development services subcontracting engagements, working closely with Marki Legal and other departments.
Assist in proposal reviews for major new product development programs (particularly U.S. defense subcontracts), and helping to manage compliance during performance of awarded development subcontracts throughout their lifecycle.
Assist in the management of contract data repositories and life cycle management, perform management analysis and reporting.
From time-to-time help prepare and delivery contracts-related training to internal stakeholder teams.
Serve as the contracts manager for any direct contracts with U.S. defense agencies, including task order management, modifications, and closeout activities.
Serve as a point of contact with government Contracting Officers (COs) and Contracting Officer Representatives (CORs) on active awards, and ensuring compliance with applicable contract terms, reporting obligations, and SAM.gov/PIEE/WAWF system requirements.
Support international contracting as Marki's international aerospace and defense business expands, both direct sales and sales through authorized resellers and distributors in foreign markets.