Contracts and Tenders Manager

Work Schedule

Environmental Conditions

Job Description

Join our team as a Contracts & Tender Manager at Thermo Fisher Scientific, where you'll contribute to our mission to make the world healthier, cleaner, and safer. In this position, you will lead and manage contract management activities for revenue-generating commercial and government-related contracts across our operations, while also providing leadership and direction to the contracts management team.

You’ll review, negotiate, and draft various commercial agreements while providing expert guidance on contractual risk to cross-functional teams. In addition, you will support the development of team capability, operational excellence, and continuous improvement initiatives across the function. Your responsibilities will include supporting RFP/RFQ responses, managing third-party channel relationships, and implementing process improvements through template standardisation and playbook development.

This role offers the opportunity to make a significant impact by ensuring contractual compliance while facilitating business growth. You’ll collaborate with legal, finance, sales, and business leadership teams to optimise contract processes, support commercial objectives, and maintain strong customer relationships.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a high-performing contracts management team, fostering collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement

• Provide coaching, mentoring, and guidance to team members to support professional development and succession planning

• Support workload prioritisation and resource allocation across contract and tender activities

• Review, negotiate, draft, and manage a broad range of commercial and government-related contracts

• Provide expert guidance and risk assessment on contractual matters to cross-functional stakeholders

• Support RFP/RFQ responses and contract negotiations for complex commercial opportunities

• Drive consistency in contracting practices through leadership of standardisation initiatives and best practice sharing

• Lead process improvement activities including template development, playbook creation, and workflow optimisation

• Partner with cross-functional leaders to align contract strategy with broader commercial objectives

• Identify opportunities to improve team efficiency, scalability, and customer experience

• Act as a senior point of escalation for complex contractual and commercial matters

• Champion a culture of customer focus, operational excellence, compliance, and continuous improvement

• Maintain strong relationships with internal stakeholders, customers, and third-party partners

Requirements

• Advanced Degree plus 6 years of experience, or Bachelor’s Degree plus 8 years of experience in commercial and government contracts management, including contract negotiations and RFP activities

• Preferred Fields of Study: Business, Law, or related field

• Advanced certifications in contract management preferred

• Advanced knowledge of federal and state contracting processes, including FAR compliance

• Demonstrated experience managing complex, high-value international contracts

• Demonstrated experience leading, coaching, or mentoring teams within a commercial, contracts, or operational environment

• Proven ability to influence and lead cross-functional teams in a matrix organisation

• Strong people leadership and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to motivate and develop others

• Experience managing competing priorities whilst supporting team engagement and performance

• Ability to drive organisational change and process improvement initiatives through effective leadership

• Outstanding interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to build relationships at all levels

• Strong analytical and risk assessment capabilities

• Excellent project management and organisational skills

• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office suite

• Experience with contract lifecycle management systems and Salesforce preferred

• Ability to support international business needs

• Strong attention to detail and commitment to accuracy

• Knowledge of export compliance and international trade regulations

• Demonstrated professional integrity and sound business judgment

• Ability to succeed in a diverse, collaborative environment

• Experience in life sciences or scientific instruments industry preferred

BENEFITS

We offer competitive remuneration, annual incentive plan bonus, healthcare, and a range of employee benefits. Thermo Fisher Scientific offers employment with an innovative, forward-thinking organization, and outstanding career and development prospects. We offer an exciting company culture that stands for integrity, intensity, involvement, and innovation!