Senior Manager, Contract Administration

Ziply Fiber•Everett, WA

1d•$117,928 - $142,681

About The Position

The Senior Manager, Contract Administration owns and oversees all Network Engineering, Planning, and Outside Plant Construction contracts that support Ziply Fiber’s network build, expansion, and ongoing operations. This role leads all contract and vendor management needs for Ziply Fiber’s Operations organization and has full ownership of all contract documentation processed by the Contract Administration organization. The Senior Manager, Contract Administrator leads and develops a high performing team of 7–9 professionals and contractors, fostering a culture of excellence, innovation, and accountability. This role oversees every phase of the contract lifecycle, including bidding, negotiation, execution, and approval. Additionally, the Senior Manager leads the development and continuous improvement of contract administration processes and training materials, ensuring all contractors meet local, state, and federal regulatory, licensing, and insurance requirements prior to performing work for Ziply Fiber. The total annual contract spend across all markets may exceed $600M in capital and operational expenditures, underscoring the scale and strategic importance of this role. The Senior Manager is also responsible for developing and implementing vendor performance scorecards and leading ongoing vendor performance management. This role serves as the authoritative leader for ensuring rigorous compliance with all licensing and insurance requirements. In partnership with the Planning/Engineering/Construction/Operation organization, the Senior Manager aligns contract strategies with business needs to support Ziply Fiber’s expansion plans. This role owns the review and alignment of all existing contract units and leads the evaluation and creation of new contract units required as Ziply Fiber expands into new markets.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Engineering, or related fields.
Minimum of eight (8) years of progressive experience in contract administration, telecommunications engineering, outside plant construction, or network planning, with at least five (5) years in a senior or leadership role.
Demonstrated experience leading and developing high‑performing teams, including performance management, coaching, and succession planning.
Demonstrated experience managing large‑scale capital and operational spend, including vendor financial performance, invoice governance, and cost controls.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams) and data/reporting tools such as Power BI.
Working knowledge of contract law principles, contract interpretation, and commercial negotiation.
Strong working knowledge of telecommunications construction practices, including inside and outside plant engineering, installation, and construction.
Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively, both written and verbal, with executive leadership, legal and regulatory partners, and external vendors
Project Management experience and the ability to manage priorities of projects in relation to resources, processes, timeliness, and the ability to multi-task in competing projects.
Experience in data orientation, analytical and decision-making skills.
Ability to conduct formal meetings and make group/executive presentation and/or conduct training sessions.
Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment, applying sound judgment and strong reasoning skills across a variety of situations.
Ability to multi-task and collaborate effectively with other personnel to meet deadlines.
Strong verbal and written communication, attention to detail, and organizational skills.
Ability to work within critical deadlines.
Ability to adjust to rapidly changing priorities and schedules.
Ability to provide excellent customer service.
Ability to travel up to travel when the time requires it.
Ability to manage/motivate/grow, and performance manage direct reports

Responsibilities

Establish and maintain efficient processes and tracking systems for onboarding new vendors and scaling additional resources.
Collaborating with internal marketing team leads to ensure Ziply vendors are being properly branded, especially for expansion markets.
Enforce proper vendor onboarding, requirements/management.
Establish Contract Administration teams’ performance metrics/KPI’s, as well possible new tools to support the team
Quarterly evaluation of current headcount to job responsibilities/volumes to ensure there is adequate alignment between workload volumes and headcount.
Establish performance feedback loops for the vendors through scorecards/data.
Prepare and present monthly performance scorecards for vendors and clients.
Oversee establishing tracking mechanisms, conduct financial analysis, directly with finance, and oversee the vendor invoice processing.
Review the analyzed vendors billing data to identify trends/gaps/overbilling
Own establishing new contract language for Statements of Work (SOW), Descriptions of Work (DOW) as well as all Work Orders.
Lead the development of DOW/SOW language for Engineering, OSP, ISP, environmental, and barricade/flagging agreements.
Interpret and manage the awarded contracts for Installation, Engineering, and Construction, ensuring fiscal, engineering, construction, and operational control.
Negotiate/BID specialty agreements outside the scope of Line Extension/GC agreements.
Work directly with legal and regulatory when Ziply encounters any sort of legal or compliance issue related to Ziply’s prime vendors, their sub-contractors
Serve as the arbitrator interpreting DOW/SOW/W/O for both the field team and vendor when unit/billing disputes are encountered
Performs other duties as required to support the business and the overall growth of the organizations the admin team supports.