Job Summary:The Director, Contracts Administration - Business Support leads Howard Energy Partners' front-end contracting function, working alongside commercial teams, project teams, and HEP attorneys to negotiate, draft, and execute agreements that support the business. The position is accountable for building a contracts administration function designed to scale with increasing contract volume while maintaining deal momentum, sound judgment, and effective coordination with Legal.
This ground-floor leadership role will establish and lead the Business Support Contracts Administration team, including defining roles, recruiting talent, and shaping operating practices. The position initially reports to the EVP, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary while the function is established and is expected to transition to a senior legal leadership position reporting to the General Counsel as the legal function's structure is finalized.
Duties/Responsibilities:Team Build-Out and Leadership
- Stands up the Business Support Contracts Administration function, including team structure, roles, and staffing plan, in partnership with the General Counsel.
- Recruits, hires, and develops contracts administration professionals and builds a bench with clear growth paths.
- Establishes team priorities, workload management, and performance standards aligned with business needs.
Front-End Contracting
- Leads contract intake, preparation, and first drafts from approved templates for commercial and project agreements.
- Supports and, where appropriate, leads negotiations of standard and moderately complex agreements within defined playbook parameters, escalating to attorneys by exception.
- Manages contract execution, including approvals, signatures, and clean handoffs, so deals close on time.
- Works daily with commercial teams, project teams, and HEP attorneys to keep transactions moving and serves as a trusted first point of contact for contract needs.
Standardization and Scale
- Develops and maintains contract templates, fallback positions, and negotiation playbooks in partnership with the legal team.
- Defines standard terms, negotiable terms, and escalation points so the team can manage more of the process confidently while reserving attorney judgment for matters that require it.
- Implements workflows, tools, and metrics, including turnaround time, standard-form adoption, and escalation rates, that allow contract support to grow faster than headcount.
- Trains business stakeholders on contracting processes, templates, and self-service resources.
Cross-Functional Coordination
- Partners with the Enterprise Contracts team on repository standards, obligation tracking, and lifecycle handoffs so executed agreements transition cleanly into administration.
- Coordinates with Legal Operations on intake, routing, contract lifecycle management administration, and reporting.
- Performs other contract- and legal-related duties as required or directed.
Required Skills/Abilities:- Strong command of commercial contract structures, terms, and risk concepts, including limitations of liability, indemnities, insurance, and credit support, with the judgment to know what to resolve and what to escalate.
- Demonstrated people leadership, including building, managing, or meaningfully growing a team.
- Experience developing or working within contract templates and playbooks.
- Proficiency with contract lifecycle management systems and modern contracting tools.
- Exceptional organizational, communication, and stakeholder-management skills, with comfort operating at deal pace across business, legal, and executive audiences.
- Ability to anticipate needs, manage multiple priorities, and coordinate across departments.
- Proactive, resourceful, and able to work independently with minimal supervision.
- Commitment to integrity, accuracy, and continuous improvement.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
Education and Experience:- Bachelor's degree required.
- Minimum of eight years of progressive experience in contracts administration, contract management, or commercial contract support, including experience supporting or leading negotiations of commercial agreements.
- Energy industry experience, particularly midstream, natural gas, or liquids infrastructure, preferred.
- Experience standing up or transforming a contracts function, including recruiting and process design, preferred.
- Experience with commercial agreement types common to midstream operations, including transportation, gathering, processing, storage, interconnect, and services agreements, preferred.
Certifications:- No certification is required. CCCM or CPCM certification through NCMA, or an equivalent certification, is preferred. A paralegal background or JD is welcome but not required.
Travel and Work Environment:Occasional travel may be required between HEP offices and to business meetings, up to 20%. The preferred location is San Antonio, Texas, where the company's corporate headquarters are located. Candidates may also work from the commercial office in Houston, Texas.
Physical Demands and Hazards for Office Employees:This position requires prolonged periods of sitting, frequent computer use, occasional lifting of office supplies, and may involve travel.
