Job Summary

The job holder leads the end-to-end commercial contract process, ensuring efficient, compliant execution of supply, capacity, and confidentiality agreements. Oversees contract strategy, governance, and stakeholder alignment, including methodology development, negotiation best practices, and executive performance reporting. Drives creation of commercial materials and proposals while ensuring timely contract approvals and cross-functional collaboration to support strategic business goals. #LI-CT1

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead a global contract administration team to ensure the short-, mid- and long-termin strategy regarding commercial contracts are met. This includes ensuring team skill and professional development and succession planning. Scope of functional responsibility includes process, approval, pricing, contract compliance, and CDA's.
• Drive the execution of global contract strategy within area of responsibility and drive business processes and systems relating to customer contracts. Provide related reporting to the organization and external auditors ensuring accuracy and precision with respect to all calculations and summaries. Strategy includes contract framing and workflow approach as well as negotiation and execution methodology utilizing industry best practices. 
• Development of negotiation acumen for large strategic contracts which includes development of executive presence, execution on negotiation strategy, objection handling, and successfully concluding negotiations that benefit West. 
• Proactively partner with relevant stakeholders to deliver a continuous improvement philosophy to the contracting processes and to propose and execute process improvements and implement new standards where needed (short-, mid- and long-term). Includes oversight and execution of contract governance process which ensures awareness and visibility of contracting progress as well as trends across all stakeholders.
• Own the reporting and dashboards to monitor contract development and execution. As a result of these trigger any pro-active actions required such as termination, re-negotiation etc. Includes quarterly reporting with commercial leadership and periodic reporting to executive team including support on strategic contract approvals and contract team performance.
• Accountable that contracts are executed in compliance to the terms laid out within the respective agreements and are supported by the Contract Management System. Includes all CDA execution and full compliance function. Oversight of the contract compliance function includes validation of new executed contracts as well as an annual review of existing contracts. Role will proactively lead all department activities related to integration and updates to the Contract Management System. 
• Works cross functionally with colleagues to optimize and execute the West Contract Process and to ensure that all stakeholders are familiar with the contract terms, requirements thereof, and meeting new stakeholder expectations. Responsible for contract approval execution for all new contracts. 
• Oversee pricing activities related to contracted customers including price increase implementation, management reporting to monitor price increase and surcharge performance. Pricing activities include cyclical projections of annual price increases for budgeting purposes. 
• Prepare customer-facing and internal proposal templates to provide consistent, effective proposals with clear messaging that highlight the West value proposition. 
• Accountable that areas covered by these responsibilities are fully compliant at all times and to partner with compliance to ensure that processes are in place to assure this. Also includes other duties as assigned.

Education

• Bachelor's Degree in Finance, Business or equivalent eperience required
• Master's Degree in Business preferred

Work Experience

Minimum 12 years in Business, Commercial Operations or Commercial required

Preferred Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Conscientious, team player with a desire to provide service excellence
• Requires strong interpersonal skills and excellent oral and written communication skills
• Leadership qualities to engender cooperation, respect and support globally and cross-functionally
• Requires in-depth knowledge and experience of West customer facing business processes
• Sound independent reasoning and judgment to establish work priorities, handle questions and be flexible to respond to constantly changing priorities or shifting deadlines
• Continuous improvement mindset
• Strong project management skills
• Managerial or supervisory experience preferred
• Negotiations experience or training a plus
• Able to comply with the company’s safety and quality policies at all times

Travel Requirements

Physical Requirements