Contracts Agent

Contracts Agent

 JOB SUMMARY

 This position will develop contracts for our category management strategies and business partners in Power Delivery including Transmission, Substation, Distribution, Vegetation Management and others. 

JOB REQUIREMENTS 

Education 

•  Bachelor's degree in business, Management, Law, Finance, preferred 
•  Formal education in contract language and law is preferred 

Experience 

• Experience in procurement or contracts preferred
• Construction contract experience is a plus
• Electric Utility experience is a plus
• Maximo experience is a plus

 

Knowledge and Skills

•  Contract law and drafting 
• Legal and commercial negotiations 
• Self-motivated and ability to work with minimal supervision 
• Customer focused with ability to build and maintain relationships with internal customers, suppliers, contractors, and other key stakeholders at all levels
• Effectively handle tight deadlines, large workloads, and multiple projects with positive enthusiasm
• Superior written and oral communication, to successfully negotiate contract terms and write such contracts in a clear, logical, and concise manner 
• Contract negotiations 
• Ability and determination to support multiple projects under tight deadlines
• Excellent organizational skills are required to plan and manage assigned workload and customer expectations effectively to meet internal business unit requirements 
• Ability to think strategically and apply broad seasoned judgment to decisions 
• Strong Communications skills
•  Strong Customer Service skills 
• Analytical, negotiation and interpersonal skills 
• Ability to effectively work and participate in cross-functional and cross-company teams at all levels in the organization to ensure buy-in by multiple companies when working on system projects

KEY JOB RESPONSIBILITIES 

• Duties will include the daily support of all sourcing and contracting activities "from cradle to grave", including advising customers on Request for Information (RFI) and Request for Proposal (RFP) preparation, lead pre-bid meetings, review of offers upon receipt from bidders, cost & price analysis, negotiations, risk assessment, preparing contract documents and agreements; assists in contract administration, incorporation of changes, expediting & follow-up, disposition of claims, and contract closeout 
•  Expectations include outstanding oral and written communications with ability to excel in high- level communications with Management at multiple levels 
• A typical agent will support projects continuously with defined turnaround parameters for all contract related documents (RFPs (Request for Proposal), Master Agreements, Non-Disclosure, Amendments, Service Orders, Statements of Work, etc.) throughout the year. 
• Ensure that overall risk is properly controlled and mitigated 
•  Ability to develop a detailed knowledge of the Southern Company procurement policies/procedures and have the capability to become a Subject Matter Expert (SME).
• Expected to build and maintain a detailed knowledge and understanding of essential legal provisions, contract common law, contract formation issues, remedies, liquidated damages, litigation avoidance, and dispute resolution 
•  Ensure all required terms and conditions are included in procurement documents and works with legal, risk management and financial services (accounting) to resolves contractor exceptions and issues in a timely manner 
• Ability or potential to draft contract language in the form of special conditions for complex, non- standard purchases 
•  Responsible for identification and evaluation of new sources of supply, domestic and globally, when necessary to meet customer needs, including performing market research and analysis 
•  Ability to build and maintain a fundamental to proficient knowledge of our contracting systems utilized in daily support 
•  Conflict Resolution, the ability to engage and fix identified issues 
• Maintain the primary interface with contractors in an ethical and respectful manner while protecting the company’s interests 

BEHAVIORAL ATTRIBUTES 

• Must demonstrate behaviors consistent with the Southern Company values of safety first, intentional inclusion, act with integrity and superior performance 
•  Self-motivated 
• Customer focused
• Strong Communicator
• Strong work ethic 
• Exhibits an intense sense of urgency 
•  Promotes teamwork 
• Practices ethical behavior 
• Displays creativity, initiati