Senior Contract Manager – U.S. Government Hydroelectric Projects

We are seeking a highly qualified Senior Contract Manager to join our team of contract management experts within our Hydro Power business in North America, reporting to the regional North America Contract Management Leader.

Contract Management at GE Vernova is fully integrated into project management processes and principles, following an end-to-end approach that covers bidding, negotiation, execution, close-out, and warranty. Contract Managers act as commercial and contractual experts throughout all project phases, with a strong focus on contract setup, execution discipline, change management, claims strategy, compliance, and stakeholder coordination.

This role leads the contractual strategy and its execution for key U.S. Government (USG) hydroelectric projects, combining contractual expertise, negotiation skills, and project leadership to structure and manage agreements that have a direct impact on project delivery, compliance, and long-term business success.

The ideal candidate brings strong contract management, government contracting, negotiation, and stakeholder leadership capabilities, along with a high level of accountability, sound judgment, transparency, and collaboration.

Your Impact
- Lead contract management on assigned projects for USG hydroelectric projects from bid phase through execution, project close-out, and warranty.
- Protect the company’s contractual and commercial position through disciplined contract administration, documentation, and change management.
- Drive project-specific contract strategies that balance risk mitigation, compliance, and business objectives.
- Ensure contractual obligations, key notices, flow-down requirements, and entitlement positions are proactively managed throughout the contract lifecycle.

Key Responsibilities
1. End-to-End Contract Management
- Lead contractual activities from bid preparation through execution, close-out, and warranty for assigned U.S. Government (USG) hydroelectric projects.
- Draft, review, and tailor commercial and contractual clauses based on project needs, customer requirements, and the applicable contractual framework.
- Participate in the negotiation and finalization of proposals/contracts, amendments, and other contractual instruments with customers, partners, suppliers, and subcontractors.
- Advise project teams on contractual obligations, rights, remedies, and key execution requirements throughout the project lifecycle.
- Ensure project teams understand and apply contractual obligations in a timely, consistent, and practical manner.

2. U.S. Government Contract Administration
- Interpret and administer USG contract requirements, including applicable Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and, where applicable, agency-specific clauses and flow-down obligations.
- Support the business in identifying contractual compliance risks associated with federal project execution, subcontracting structures, and customer-specific requirements.
- Ensure mandatory contract clauses, notice requirements, documentation obligations, and key compliance provisions are understood and managed across the project team.
- Support the preparation, review, and administration of representations, certifications, amendments, and contractual deliverables required under the applicable government contract framework.

3. Contract Strategy, Risk, and Opportunity Management
- Analyze contracts to identify key risks, opportunities, deviations, assumptions, and commercial watchpoints.
- Develop, maintain, and continuously improve the contract management plan for each assigned project.
- Recommend strategies to protect the company’s commercial and USG contractual interests while supporting successful project execution.
- Partner with Project Management, Legal, Finance, Procurement, and commercial leadership to align contractual strategy with project and business objectives.
- Participate in project risk and opportunity reviews and drive implementation of contractual mitigation and opportunity capture actions.

4. Change Management, REAs, Claims, and Disputes
- Prepare, review, and manage notices, change documentation, amendments, requests for equitable adjustment, claims, and other contractual submissions in accordance with contractual and regulatory requirements.
- Ensure entitlement positions are identified early, documented clearly, and preserved in a timely and defensible manner.
- Support the development of contractual strategies related to delays, disruptions, variations, scope changes, and performance impacts.
- Coordinate major claims and dispute matters with Legal and other internal stakeholders, and support resolution strategies consistent with business objectives.
- Manage bonds and insurance-related contractual matters as required.

5. Subcontracting, Supplier Contracts, and Flow-Downs
- Ensure relevant prime contract obligations, regulatory clauses, and project-specific requirements are appropriately assessed and flowed down to suppliers and subcontractors, as required.
- Support subcontracting strategies and key contractual terms in collaboration with Procurement, Legal, and project leadership.
- Review subcontract and supplier contract structures to confirm consistency with project execution needs and contractual risk allocation.
- Help ensure subcontractor and supplier correspondence, notices, and contractual records are managed in alignment with prime contract obligations.

6. Compliance, Documentation, and Audit Readiness
- Maintain robust contractual records, correspondence logs, notice trackers, obligation trackers, and claim files throughout the project lifecycle.
- Ensure contract files and supporting documentation are complete, organized, and maintained to support compliance, audit readiness, and dispute resolution.
- Monitor contractual deviations, changes, and execution events to protect and enforce the company’s contractual rights.
- Support internal reviews, audits, and management reporting related to contractual performance, obligations, and risk exposure.
- Establish and maintain practical commercial procedures related to correspondence, notifications, delays, variations, insurance, and claims documentation.

7. Stakeholder Leadership and Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Serve as the primary contract management lead for assigned projects and provide strategic contractual guidance to project leadership.
- Build effective working relationships with customer representatives, partners, subcontractors, suppliers, and internal stakeholders.
- Work closely with Project Directors, Project Managers, Legal, Procurement, Finance, commercial leaders, and functional teams to support sound decision-making.
- Manage and analyze incoming and outgoing correspondence with customers and partners, while ensuring reliable archiving and traceability.
- Escalate key contractual issues openly and promptly to ensure visibility, alignment, and timely resolution.
- Contribute to a culture of collaboration, rigor, transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement.

8. Leadership and Capability Building
- Lead complex contractual negotiations and issue resolution efforts in a matrix environment.
- Support less experienced contract management professionals by sharing best practices, guidance, and lessons learned where applicable.
- Promote disciplined contract management practices across the project organization.

Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Law, Business, Finance, or a related technical field.
- Minimum of 10 years of demonstrated experience in contract management within complex project environments such as Energy, EPC, Construction, Infrastructure, or large industrial projects.
- Demonstrated experience supporting USG contracts, government-funded programs, or projects subject to federal contractual frameworks.
- Strong working knowledge of Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR); familiarity with agency-specific clauses and additional federal contracting requirements.
- Demonstrated ability to compile, structure, draft, substantiate, and negotiate complex, high-value amendments, changes, and contractual submissions in compliance with USG contractual standards and requirements.
- Strong understanding of project financial aspects, including costs, margins, risks, opportunities, and commercial exposure, and how they relate to contract management.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
- Demonstrated ability to analyze, structure, substantiate and solve complex contractual and commercial issues.
- Proactive approach, strong sense of ownership, sound judgment, and willingness to drive improvements.
- If required, ability to satisfy applicable USG security clearance, compliance, or eligibility requirements.
- Familiarity with export control, documentation discipline, and regulated project environments is an asset where applicable.
- Ability to travel to project sites, customer meetings, and internal project reviews as required. Travel requirement: approximately 15-25% depending on project and customer needs.

Preferred Qualifications / Desired Characteristics
- Strong and proven experience in turnkey (EPC) or similarly complex project delivery models.
- Experience in hydropower, renewable energy, large infrastructure, or industrial project environments.
- Ability to negotiate effectively with internal and external stakeholders in complex, high-value project settings.
- Sound judgment regarding contractual and commercial risks, with the ability to anticipate, assess, and proactively mitigate potential events.
- Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic environment.
- Experience working within a complex matrix organization.
- Ability to influence project teams and business stakeholders without direct authority.