Contracts Leader

About you and this role:
 The Contracts Leader serves as a vital connection point between Purchasing, the maintenance and operations organizations, and outside contractors, ensuring the safe, efficient, and effective deployment of contract resources supporting maintenance, operations, and capital work. This role builds and owns the systems, processes, and metrics that govern how contract personnel are onboarded, tracked, billed, and held accountable for quality execution—ensuring contracted work is completed safely, on schedule, and to the required standard. The role reports to the Plant/Site Manager.

Responsibilities / Duties:

• Partners with purchasing, leadership, and contractor firms to plan and deploy the right contract resources for maintenance, operations, and capital project work.
• Develops and maintains systems and processes for onboarding new contract personnel, including safety orientation, site access, training verification, and qualification tracking.
• Establishes and monitors metrics/KPIs for contractor performance, covering safety, schedule adherence, quality, and cost.
• Oversees the billing and invoicing process for contracted services, ensuring accuracy, timely reconciliation, and alignment with contract terms and scope of work.
• Works with stakeholders to define acceptance criteria and ensure contracted work meets quality and workmanship standards.
• Manages completion of the full work process for contracted jobs, from work order initiation through execution, inspection, and close-out.
• Serves as the primary point of contact between site Maintenance/Operations and contractor companies, resolving issues related to scope, schedule, safety, or performance.
• Ensures contractors comply with site safety requirements, permits, and applicable regulatory and environmental standards while on site.
• Partners with Purchasing to evaluate contractor performance and provide input into contract renewals, scope changes, and vendor selection.
• Identifies opportunities to improve contractor utilization, reduce costs, and streamline onboarding, billing, and work-completion processes.
• Maintains accurate records and documentation of contractor qualifications, work history, and performance for audit and continuous improvement purposes.
• Supports capital project planning by advising on contract labor availability, lead times, and resourcing strategy.

Qualifications:

• An associate's degree or technical/trade certification is required; an equivalent combination of education and experience will be considered.
• A minimum of 5 years of experience in maintenance, contract/vendor management, procurement, or a related industrial field required.
• Experience working with maintenance work management systems (CMMS) and/or purchasing/procurement systems preferred.
• Experience developing or managing contractor onboarding, safety, or quality programs preferred.
• A minimum requirement for this position is the ability to work legally in the United States. No visa sponsorship/support is available for this position, including for any type of U.S. permanent residency (green card) process.

Able to meet the following demands of the job, with or without reasonable accommodations:

• Primarily office-based work involving regular use of a computer and extended periods of sitting.
• Periodic visits to plant/field areas to meet with contractors and review job sites, requiring use of standard personal protective equipment (hard hat, safety glasses, hearing protection, steel-toed shoes).
• Ability to walk plant grounds and climb stairs during periodic job site and contractor visits.

Your Skills:

• LeadershipMotivational leaders make decisions, set clear goals, and provide their teams with the empowerment and tools to achieve success. Motivational leaders evoke and see the best in the people they work with, inspiring them to work toward a common goal.
• Communication: Professional communication, encompassing written, oral, visual and digital communication within a workplace context, including with contractors and vendors.
• Cross-Functional Work: Cross-functional work is the work that happens between different teams or departments within an organization, such as Purchasing, Maintenance, and outside contractors.
• Vendor & Contract Management: Skill in managing vendor and contractor relationships, holding outside parties accountable to scope, schedule, cost, and quality commitments.
• Results-Oriented: Result-Oriented is a term used to portray a person who focuses on results and achieves them.
• Critical Thinking: Critical thinking is the analysis of facts to form a judgment. The subject is complex, and several different definitions exist, which generally include the rational, skeptical, unbiased analysis, or evaluation of factual evidence.