Senior Contracts Manager

Brunel is seeking an experienced Senior Contracts Manager to provide strategic leadership and oversight for all contracting and contract administration activities associated with large-scale construction projects. This senior leadership role is responsible for managing the complete commercial and contractual lifecycle of a major portfolio of high-value construction contracts, from contracting strategy and procurement through contract administration, change management, claims resolution, and final close-out.

The successful candidate will serve as a trusted advisor to project and executive leadership, providing commercial insight, contractual expertise, and strategic guidance to support project objectives while effectively managing risk. This position is ideally suited for a seasoned contracts professional with extensive experience leading complex construction contract portfolios within the Oil & Gas, pipeline, EPC, or EPCM sectors.

• Develop and execute comprehensive construction contracting strategies aligned with project goals, schedules, and risk profiles.
• Lead the full competitive contracting process, including market engagement, contractor prequalification, tendering, evaluation, negotiation, and contract award.
• Conduct commercial and contractual evaluations of proposals, considering cost, risk, schedule, technical capability, and overall value.
• Develop and implement negotiation strategies for complex, high-value construction contracts.
• Provide recommendations to senior leadership regarding contract awards and commercial decisions.
• Collaborate closely with engineering, construction, procurement, finance, legal, project controls, and project management teams throughout the contracting lifecycle.
• Ensure contracting activities comply with governance requirements, approval processes, and organizational policies.

• Provide leadership for the administration of major construction contracts throughout project execution.
• Manage contract compliance, commercial performance, risks, obligations, and contractor relationships.
• Oversee change orders, contract amendments, claims, disputes, notices, back-charges, and contractor correspondence.
• Establish and maintain effective contract administration processes, procedures, and documentation practices.
• Support early identification and resolution of contractual and commercial issues to minimize project exposure.
• Assess commercial impacts related to schedule delays, productivity challenges, scope growth, acceleration efforts, and execution risks.
• Lead commercial negotiations and dispute resolution activities throughout project delivery.
• Ensure appropriate records and contractual documentation are maintained to support claims management and dispute avoidance.
• Oversee contract completion activities, final account negotiations, commercial settlements, and contract close-out.

• Lead and mentor contract management and contract administration teams, establishing clear accountability and performance expectations.
• Promote consistency in commercial and contractual practices across multiple construction packages.
• Act as the senior escalation point for significant contractual and commercial matters.
• Provide regular reporting to project leadership on contract status, risks, claims, commitments, and commercial performance.
• Support executive decision-making through sound commercial recommendations and risk-based analysis.
• Build and maintain effective relationships with contractors, stakeholders, and project teams while protecting organizational interests.
• Ensure compliance with corporate governance requirements, delegations of authority, contractual procedures, and applicable regulatory obligations.

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business, Commerce, Law, Construction Management, Quantity Surveying, or a related discipline.
• Minimum 20 years of experience in contracts, commercial management, procurement, or contract administration within large-scale construction, Oil & Gas, pipeline, EPC, or EPCM projects.
• Proven experience managing large and complex construction contract portfolios with values in the hundreds of millions or billions of dollars.
• Extensive experience across both pre-award contracting activities and post-award contract administration.
• Demonstrated expertise negotiating and administering major construction contracts, including high-value change orders and claims.
• Strong knowledge of construction execution, project…