Contract and Project Lead

Lateral Insights•Great Falls, VA

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

We are seeking a Senior Contracts & Project Lead to oversee IT procurement, contract administration, solicitation development, and vendor implementation projects. This role serves as the primary liaison between business, procurement, legal, fiscal, and technical teams to ensure procurements, contracts, and implementation projects are executed efficiently, compliantly, and in alignment with organizational priorities. The ideal candidate is an experienced project and contract management professional with a strong understanding of IT procurements, vendor management, implementation planning, and cross-functional stakeholder coordination.

Requirements

Experience leading IT procurement and contract renewal activities.
Experience managing RFQs, RFPs, SOWs, and related procurement documentation.
Experience managing vendor implementation projects, including COTS and MOTS solutions.
Strong project management experience with the ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously.
Experience coordinating cross-functional teams including procurement, legal, finance, business, vendors, and technical stakeholders.
Strong contract management, vendor management, and stakeholder management skills.
Experience tracking project schedules, budgets, risks, issues, and contract deliverables.
Excellent written and verbal communication, facilitation, and organizational skills.
Ability to develop executive-level project status reports and project documentation.
Experience supporting contract compliance, governance, and audit readiness.

Responsibilities

Lead and manage all new IT procurements and contract renewal activities, ensuring alignment with organizational policies, timelines, agency priorities, and budget requirements.
Coordinate with Procurement, Legal, Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC), and other enterprise stakeholders to address contractual, compliance, and risk-related matters.
Maintain and manage a comprehensive tracking system for contract renewals, procurement activities, policy exceptions, and key contract milestones.
Represent the organization during procurement planning meetings to gather business requirements and ensure alignment between business and procurement stakeholders.
Serve as the primary liaison between program teams and procurement stakeholders, facilitating communication and resolving procurement-related issues.
Support business teams in the development of solicitation documents, including Requests for Quotations (RFQs), Requests for Proposals (RFPs), Statements of Work (SOWs), and related procurement documentation.
Provide guidance on solicitation language to ensure clear, complete, and accurate vendor responses.
Coordinate with program teams, IT, finance, procurement, and other stakeholders to gather requirements and finalize solicitation packages.
Perform quality reviews of solicitation documents prior to procurement submission.
Lead project management activities for vendor implementation efforts involving Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS), Modified Off-the-Shelf (MOTS), and other technology solutions.
Develop and maintain project plans, schedules, milestones, deliverables, and communication plans.
Coordinate activities across internal teams, vendors, and technical stakeholders to ensure successful implementation.
Monitor project scope, timelines, budgets, risks, issues, and contractual obligations while escalating concerns as appropriate.
Prepare and deliver regular project status reports and maintain project documentation to support governance and executive decision-making.
Serve as the primary technical point of contact for contract-related questions, technical compliance reviews, and interpretation of technical requirements.
Conduct initial compliance assessments to verify vendor adherence to contractual obligations and technical requirements.
Escalate complex contract or technical issues to the Business Relationship Manager (BRM) as appropriate.
Maintain comprehensive records of contract deliverables, amendments, performance metrics, issue logs, and supporting documentation to ensure audit readiness and effective contract oversight.