The Director of Contracts is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the contract, grant and agreement administration process with various USG agencies including USAID, CDC, and DOS, as well as commercial clients and other governmental clients in the United States and elsewhere throughout the world. The Director of Contracts will also manage and lead the Contracts team and have a close working relationship with Palladium’s Global Legal and Compliance, Human Resources, Finance and Accounting, Business Development, Process Excellence, and Project Delivery teams. This person must bring strong interpersonal skills and demonstrated experience building and leading teams to excel.
Primary Roles and Responsibilities:
USG Contract Administration
- Oversee all aspects of contracts, grants and agreement administration from pre-award through project close-out
- Administer various types of contracts, including but not limited to GSA, OASIS, IDIQ, CPFF, FFP and T&M
- Liaise with external clients (Contracting and Agreement Officers) and internal clients and teams
- Manage all existing contracts to comply with contract requirements and company policies
- For USG clients, direct all subcontract and procurement management
- Maintain contract documentation and track and report contract funding, portfolio, backlog, and historical award information
- Oversee start-up and close out of all contracts and task orders.
- Identify and escalate risks as appropriate
USG Subcontract Administration
- Prepare, review, and participate in the negotiations of subcontracts, teaming agreements and non-disclosure agreements, memoranda of understanding, and other agreements and tools
- Prepare templates such as subcontract agreements, including flow-down of prime-contract clauses
- Work with the General Counsel’s Office to ensure that the company and its employees comply with regulatory requirements, contractual terms and conditions, and internal policies and procedures
- Coordinate internal compliance review and monitoring activities, including periodic reviews of departments and projects in close coordination with Director of Risk Management and General Counsel
- Support the Office of the General Counsel in responding to government investigations and queries
- Oversee government reporting and periodic compliance filings (e.g., SAM.gov, service contractor reporting, GSA schedule reporting, FSRS, ESRS, CPARS etc.)
- Support ISO, USAID/OIG and other external and internal audit activities
- Provide strategic advice to portfolio leads and project teams regarding contract management as it is affected by client and local laws and regulations
USG Business Development Support
- Oversee, review, and approve Palladium’s representation and certifications and subcontracting plans for business proposals
- Lead project kick-off meetings with clients
- Identify concerns with requests for proposals (RFPs) and solicitations and ensure that Director of Strategic Growth is appropriately briefed on all significant terms and risks
- Participate in potential protest analysis and execution
Other responsibilities
- Mentor and build contract and compliance capacity within and beyond the core contracts team
- Provide company-wide support for contract review and management beyond the USG space as requested
Essential Criteria:
- Detailed knowledge of U.S. federal contracting and procurement laws, regulations, policies, and procedures
- Proven experience successfully resolving complex contracting challenges throughout for multiple contract types
- Experience providing full-cycle support of the contracts function for multiple contract types and clients
- Mentoring and overseeing others who perform contracts support functions
- Extensive experience anticipating and mitigating risk
- Proven ability to provide vision and leadership in a dynamic and evolving environment
- Strong verbal and written communication skills
- Enjoys building, inspiring, and leading teams
- Embraces collaboration and organizational change
Desirable Criteria:
- USG Contractor warrant would be welcome
- Fluency in Spanish or French a plus
- Legal background desired but not required
- Experience with commercial and non-USG donor clients welcome
