Senior Subcontracts Manager

Strata Careers•Durham, NC

5d•Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Subcontracts Manager leads Strata Clean Energy’s Subcontracts & Sourcing pillar and is responsible for developing, negotiating, and administering complex, high-risk subcontracts and vendor agreements for construction-related projects. The role works with the Director and PMO Leadership to establish institutional commercial standards, owns project subcontracts, and uses patterns in negotiated deviations to improve templates and playbooks. Relationship building and collaboration with internal teams and external partners are central to the position. The position leads and develops Subcontracts Managers, allocates work according to risk, business priorities, and capacity, and maintains close collaboration with Legal, Project Management, Finance, Project Controls, Supply Chain, Scheduling, Front-end, and Engineering. It owns critical and non-standard subcontract work, leads negotiations on key commercial and legal terms, oversees RFPs and proposal evaluation, and administers assigned subcontracts from bidding through closeout. The role also owns and improves the subcontracts playbook, templates, exhibits, bid forms, RFP packages, bonding standards, and related processes. It oversees general conditions services for EPC projects and recurring service scopes in other business units, tracks and reports contract status and schedules weekly, and maintains well-documented contract records in Ironclad. This is a full-time, in-office position at the company’s Durham, North Carolina headquarters.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in subcontracts, contract management, or commercial roles, with substantial construction, EPC, or energy experience.
Demonstrated ownership of complex, high-value negotiations involving third-party paper without senior support.
Experience leading, reviewing, or coaching other contract professionals, whether or not in a formal supervisory role.
Strong analytical skills, including the ability to break down high-level information into detail and communicate results effectively to the target audience.
Working fluency with project schedules, scheduling logic, and backwards planning.
Strong written and verbal communication skills and willingness to over-communicate with cross-functional teams for visibility.
Ability to sit, stand, or walk for the entire duration of a workday.

Nice To Haves

Experience with a CLM platform; Ironclad is preferred.
ViewPoint or comparable construction ERP experience.

Responsibilities

Lead, coach, develop, review, and guide Subcontracts Managers.
Create a supportive, positive communication environment and allocate team work according to risk tier, business-unit priority, and capacity.
Promote cross-functional collaboration with Legal, Project Management, Finance, Project Controls, Supply Chain, Scheduling, Front-end, and Engineering.
Own critical subcontract work, including third-party paper, non-standard terms, first-of-kind scopes, agreements above delegated value thresholds, and deviations outside set terms.
Lead negotiations on indemnity, limitation of liability, warranty, liquidated damages, insurance, payment, termination, and dispute resolution, partnering with Legal and Project Management when risk acceptance is required.
Prepare and oversee RFPs, evaluate proposals and price matrices, and provide portfolio-level input into award decisions.
Manage subcontract administration for assigned work, including bidding, prequalified bidders, negotiation, execution, change orders, and closeout after substantial completion.
Review project schedules and plan work using scheduling logic, consideration of downstream commercial impacts, and backwards planning.
Advise Legal Counsel and the Director of Subcontracts & Contract Administration on deviations from standard terms and recommend contract-language improvements as patterns emerge.
Partner with Legal and the Director of Subcontracts & Contract Administration to develop the subcontracts playbook, defining preferred, acceptable, and unacceptable clause positions.
Own quarterly reviews of deviation patterns and translate findings into template and playbook revisions.
Own the subcontract exhibit set and review exhibits quarterly to identify and correct potential scope gaps.
Use recurring change orders as evidence of potential template defects and address them accordingly.
Own the bid form and RFP package standard, including manpower and availability information, milestone-based payment terms, and language addressing construction-scheduling volatility.
Establish a construction review step before RFP issuance.
Own the bond and surety standard, including documented value thresholds and any evidence-based exemption pathway; maintain relationships with bonding companies.
Establish and uphold the three-bid standard for subcontracted work, partnering with the front end on phase code review to align estimates with market conditions.
Develop, implement, and continuously improve streamlined processes.
Oversee general conditions services required for EPC projects and equivalent recurring service scopes in other business units.
Track and report contract status and schedule with project teams and management weekly.
Maintain well-documented contract files and ensure templates, approvals, executed contracts, and pending contracts are recorded in Ironclad.
Work extensively with other departments, providing support and data and driving processes.
Perform other duties as assigned.