Senior Manager, Contracts - Design & Engineering

Sea World•Orlando, FL

12d

About The Position

United Parks & Resorts is hiring a Senior Contracts Manager for Design & Engineering to lead the contracting process for new attractions and themed entertainment. The role is part of the corporate project delivery team and supports park Design and Engineering departments. It focuses on developing scopes of work, driving procurement processes and schedules, resolving bottlenecks and administrative challenges, and ensuring compliance with project and company objectives. The position serves as the key interface with Legal on contract types, terms, and conditions, and extends project management through problem resolution, stakeholder coordination, procurement deliverables tracking, and alignment of contracts with project objectives. The ideal candidate has strong contract and commercial expertise in themed entertainment, construction, manufacturing, or related fields and can work effectively in a fast-paced, lean environment. The position reports to the Vice President, Project Delivery. It requires a bachelor's degree or equivalent experience, preferably in a technical discipline or business administration, and at least eight years of professional contract management experience. Themed entertainment, construction, museum, or hospitality experience is preferred. A Certified Commercial Contracts Manager (CCCM) or Certified Professional Contract Manager (CPCM) credential is also preferred. Candidates should be highly proficient with Microsoft Office; intermediate SAP proficiency is preferred.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience required; a technical field such as engineering, architecture, construction management, or project management, or business administration, is preferred.
At least 8 years of professional experience in contract management.
Expert understanding of legal and commercial terms, including contract types and their appropriate use.
Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
Strong communication skills, including the ability to deliver clear, compelling, comprehensive arguments and find common ground.
Effective prioritization and time-management skills.
Ability to foster trust through transparency and reliability.
Resilience and composure under pressure, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, frequently changing, resource-constrained environment.
Understanding of design, fabrication, installation, construction, engineering, manufacturing, or production contracts, including integration across phases and contract types.
Evidence of inspiring accountability, collaboration, and excellence.
High proficiency with Microsoft Office.

Nice To Haves

Certified Commercial Contracts Manager (CCCM) or Certified Professional Contract Manager (CPCM) certification.
Experience in themed entertainment, construction, museums, or hospitality.
Intermediate SAP proficiency.

Responsibilities

Author comprehensive scopes of work that minimize scope gaps and exposure to claims.
Manage new supplier registration approval in accordance with Supply Chain Management process requirements.
Manage the RFP process and remove obstacles to supplier selection and contract issuance.
Coordinate team expertise to develop conformed bid tabulations for evaluations.
Assess supplier capacity, capability, and solvency risk.
Participate in negotiating final contracts.
Ensure contracts define scope, deliverables, schedules, fees, payment terms, intellectual property rights, insurance, indemnification, warranties, termination provisions, and other key commercial terms.
Manage internal legal review of contracts, advise on risk, and recommend final contract language and terms.
Work with Project Managers to assess fair and approved prices for contracting scopes.
Document contractual exclusions and assumptions with Project Managers and include them in executed contracts.
Advise Project Managers on contracting-related project risks and recommend mitigations and contingencies for forecasts.
Partner with Finance and Project Teams to align contractual commitments and current trends with forecasts and approved project scopes.
Support Project Management with status reporting, communications, and escalation of procurement issues requiring executive attention.
Ensure changes in scope, schedule, or deliverables are properly approved and documented in contracts and project plans.
Coordinate with Finance and Supply Chain Management to resolve invoice nonconformance issues or funding deficiencies and ensure suppliers are paid on time.
Develop and maintain contract templates, standards, and processes.
Establish and maintain the contract database, file structure, and document storage.
Develop and maintain key industry relationships.