Senior Contracts Manager

COMPANY OVERVIEW

Pattern Energy Group is an independent, fully integrated group of energy companies that develops, constructs, owns and operates renewable energy and energy storage projects and transmission assets across North America.  The company generally focuses on wind, solar, energy storage and transmission projects, with limited investments in other generation technologies.

The Pattern Energy team has a history as one of the top North American renewable energy and transmission providers in the industry. The team is dedicated to delivering the highest value for its customers, partners, financial supporters, and the communities in which it works, while exhibiting a strong commitment to promoting environmental stewardship and corporate responsibility.

Pattern Energy Group operates in the United States, Canada, and Mexico with offices in San Francisco, Houston, San Diego, Albuquerque, Toronto, Boulder and Mexico City.  Pattern Energy Group’s corporate headquarters are in San Francisco.

JOB PURPOSE

The Senior Contracts Manager will serve as one of the key points of contact for both pre-award negotiation and post-award execution contracting activities for construction projects (including large-scale / complex), including preparing, drafting and reviewing, commercial input and analysis of terms and conditions (in collaboration with project management, internal counsel and commercial teams), preparation of exhibits and appendices, contract compliance monitoring across the project portfolio, preparation and tracking of notices, management of contract changes and claims management for Pattern Energy’s Engineering, Procurement and Construction (“EPC”) group. The Senior Contracts Manager will be responsible for supporting the development (including automation) of contracts management processes, procedures, and best practices. The Senior Contracts Manager will be responsible for the development of Contracts Managers and Contract Administrators through active management of the group to ensure they are meeting deadlines, that workload requirements are manageable, and fostering a cohesive and collaborative team.

The Senior Contracts Manager will be responsible for coordinating with both internal and external stakeholders to ensure there is “one voice” in communications with external parties as well as serving as the main commercial contact for contractor communication and issue escalation. Overall responsibilities are scope dependent for pre-award contract origination activities, including extensive major construction and procurement contract negotiations, template creation and lessons-learned implementation and post-award contract compliance and risk monitoring to ensure consistency and quality of agreements, terms of all contracts are implemented and adhered to, including coordination and communication with internal stakeholders on status of compliance obligations and creation of tracking, key performance indicators, and other related reporting tools.

Key Accountabilities

Key responsibilities will include the following:

• Support key stakeholders (project management and legal) with drafting, reviewing, providing commercial expertise and input and coordinating internal and external review and approvals for agreements initiated by Pattern’s EPC group. Examples include Engineering, Procurement and Construction Agreements/Balance of Plant Agreements, Turbine Supply Agreements, Transformer Purchase Agreements, Module Supply Agreements, Energy Storage Agreements, Master Services Agreements, Task Orders, Construction Management Agreements, Change Orders, and non-disclosure/confidentiality agreements.
• Oversee Contract Managers and/or Contract Administrator(s), including resource planning, expense reporting and oversight, performance and goal planning and professional development.
• Support contract management processes in Sharepoint and InEight.
• Support the creation of contracting strategies and contracting matrices.
• Consulting with numerous disciplines to ensure that all input is captured where required (e.g., insurance, engineering, project controls, document controls, permitting, tax, etc.).
• Responsibility for supporting and facilitating internal and external stakeholder communication.
• Develop, manage and strengthen strategic partnerships and relationships with Pattern’s contractor and internal stakeholder community.
• Identify problematic commercial provisions of agreements; seek resolution by consulting with pertinent internal stakeholders.
• Involvement with all disciplines/project-related meetings to ensure contract management is present and compliance is adhered to.
• Assist and organize responses to document production/research requests (both internally and externally generated) from financing counterparties, independent engineers, etc. where applicable.
• Post-award management and administration of agreements, contracting plans, commercial risk management, contract change requests, and claims management.
• Determine and ensure proper approvals for all governance related matters are obtained before execution of any contract /or contract change request.
• Prepare formal contract related correspondence to contractors in collaboration with project management, management and in-house legal counsel.
• Ensure Pattern contract documents are accurate, consistent, current, and well maintained within established internal document management protocols.
• Ensure lessons learned are captured, incorporated into new agreements and templates, and the feedback loop with stakeholders is complete.
• Provide advice, guidance, and overall commercial expertise to the EPC group relating to contract terms and conditions, owner obligations, claims avoidance, etc.
• Identify opportunities to develop and improve processes and procedures.
• Other special projects and duties as directed by management.

Experience/Qualifications/Education Required

Educational and Required Work Experience

BA / BS degree or equivalent education. Minimum of ten years of direct contract negotiation and management experience in a fast-paced corporate / large scale infrastructure project environment. Familiarity with complex construction agreements, with the ability to read, understand, comprehend, and identify pertinent information from agreements/contracts, in particular in the area of contract origination and formation. Experience developing and leading contract management of large value construction and procurement contracts strongly preferred. Renewables industry experience would be a plus.

Additional Requirements

Must possess strengths in the following:

• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
• Ability to draft, read, understand, and summarize complex contractual terms and conditions.
• Demonstrated commercial expertise in the area of major construction and procurement agreements.
• Self-starter. Ability to research, learn and understand new concepts.
• Strong attention to detail.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Good organizational, planning and implementation skills, including the ability to coordinate and work in a team-first environment.
• Demonstrated ability and track record of success supporting a matrix organizational structure.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and manage multiple projects/requests with shifting priorities.
• Ability to communicate effectively and collaboratively with all levels of personnel, both within Pattern and externally.
• Good time management skills.
• Diligent, flexible and of high integrity.
• Willingness to be in office, both on a hybrid or full-time basis.
• Willingness to travel to project sites and corporate locations.

Technical Skills

• Strong computer skills, experience with contract management software (InEight, Procore, CLM), Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, and Adobe Acrobat.

PATTERN ENERGY GROUP LP IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

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