Senior Contracts Manager, NA

About Vantage

Vantage powers, cools, protects and connects the technology of the world's well-known hyperscalers, cloud providers and large enterprises. Developing and operating across North America, EMEA and Asia Pacific, Vantage has evolved data center design in innovative ways to deliver dramatic gains in reliability, efficiency and sustainability in flexible environments that can scale as quickly as the market demands.

About Vantage

Vantage powers, cools, protects and connects the technology of the world's well-known hyperscalers, cloud providers and large enterprises. Developing and operating across North America, EMEA and Asia Pacific, Vantage has evolved data center design in innovative ways to deliver dramatic gains in reliability, efficiency and sustainability in flexible environments that can scale as quickly as the market demands.

Construction Delivery Department

The Construction team is responsible for the entire process flow of delivering the physical data centers from shovel ready state through commissioning, working with Sales, Operations, and management along the way. Construction implements and executes upon the work product developed by the Development & Engineering (D&E) team. The team also manages Vantage's build partners to success through technical feedback and review and actively participates in review of schedule and budget. Many times, a role like this at other companies is purely oversight.

One thing that distinguishes Vantage is that our construction teams are given the responsibility and authority to directly drive the process. When compared to external resources, our internal team can ensure the key stakeholders are engaged in the decision-making process to align long-term operational sustainability with value engineering and cost metrics to deliver products aligned with corporate goals. This approach empowers each member of the team to drive high-impact decisions and even more impactful results

Position Overview

This position is based onsite in Port Washington, Wisconsin (WI1 Campus).

Vantage is seeking a Senior Contracts Manager to serve as the commercial and contractual lead for the WI1 Project (Project Lighthouse), supporting the delivery of multiple hyperscale data center buildings and associated infrastructure. This role is responsible for administering all construction-related contracts, managing change orders, tracking contractual obligations, supporting claims resolution, maintaining contract compliance, and ensuring commercial transparency across general contractor, supplier, consultant, utility, and customer-facing agreements.

The Senior Contracts Manager partners closely with Construction Delivery, Legal, Procurement, Project Controls, Finance, and Customer teams to protect Vantage's contractual interests while enabling timely execution of project objectives. The ideal candidate combines strong construction contract expertise with exceptional stakeholder management skills and thrives in a fast-paced environment managing multiple active contracts valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Essential Job Functions

Contract Administration:

• Administer all project-related contracts, including General Contractor Agreements, Master Construction Agreements, Professional Services Agreements, Supplier Agreements, Utility Agreements, and OFCI contracts.
• Ensure compliance with contractual notice requirements.
• Maintain contract registers and obligation tracking tools.
• Monitor insurance requirements, bonds, warranties, and contractual deliverables.

Change Management:

• Lead administration of project change management processes.
• Review and evaluate change order requests for contractual entitlement and compliance.
• Coordinate change review activities with Construction, Legal, Finance, Project Controls, and Customer stakeholders.
• Maintain change order logs and approval workflows.
• Track pending, approved, and disputed change orders.
• Support customer-facing change order negotiations.

Claims and Commercial Risk Management:

• Identify contractual and commercial risks across the project portfolio.
• Maintain project issues and claims registers.
• Prepare entitlement analyses and supporting documentation.
• Coordinate dispute resolution activities and negotiations.
• Support equitable adjustment negotiations and contract interpretation efforts.
• Partner with Legal to develop claims strategies and commercial risk mitigation plans.

Cost and Commercial Controls:

• Partner with Project Controls and Finance teams to validate commercial impacts of project decisions.
• Review contractor pricing submissions and cost proposals.
• Support project budget forecasting related to change activity.
• Validate contractor compliance with contract pricing requirements.
• Assist in developing commercial reporting packages for project and executive leadership.

Contract Compliance:

• Ensure contractor adherence to contract requirements and obligations.
• Review schedule, cost, and performance commitments for compliance.
• Verify contractual documentation remains complete, accurate, and current.
• Monitor compliance with customer lease obligations and project authorizations.
• Conduct periodic contract audits and compliance reviews.

Stakeholder Collaboration:

• Serve as the primary contractual advisor to project leadership.
• Facilitate contract review meetings with internal and external stakeholders.
• Coordinate closely with Construction Delivery, Project Controls, Finance, Procurement, Legal, Operations, Customer Representatives, General Contractors, and Design Consultants.
• Provide guidance and recommendations to support informed commercial decision making.

Reporting and Performance Monitoring:

• Develop executive-level contract status reports and commercial summaries.
• Track change order value, pending exposure, claims status, risk events, notice activity, and contract compliance metrics.
• Present contractual risks, commercial exposure, and mitigation plans to project leadership.
• Support transparency and visibility across all WI1 project construction activities.

Job Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Construction Management, Engineering, Business, Law, Quantity Surveying, or a related field.
• Minimum of 10 years of construction contract management experience.
• Experience supporting large-scale mission critical, industrial, infrastructure, semiconductor, energy, or hyperscale data center projects.
• Experience managing contracts supporting projects exceeding $100M in value.
• Strong understanding of Design-Build Contracts, Cost-Plus Contracts, GMP Agreements, Change Management Procedures, Claims Administration, and Commercial Negotiations.
• Knowledge of contract administration principles, commercial management practices, construction scheduling concepts, cost management and forecasting, risk management, and procurement processes.
• Proficiency with Procore, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Power BI, SharePoint, and contract management systems.
• Primavera P6 experience preferred.

Preferred Qualifications

• Certified Construction Manager (CCM)
• Professional Quantity Surveyor (PQS)
• Certified Professional Contracts Manager (CPCM)
• Juris Doctor (JD) or legal background
• Data center construction experience
• Oracle OCI or hyperscale customer experience

Additional Details

• Salary Range: $165-185k/Annual + Bonus
• This position is eligible for company benefits including but not limited to medical, dental, and vision coverage, life and AD&D, short and long-term disability coverage, paid time off, employee assistance, participation in a 401k program that includes company match, and many other additional voluntary benefits.
• Compensation for the role will depend on a number of factors, including qualifications, skills, competencies, and experience and may fall outside of the range shown.

We operate with No Ego and No Arrogance. We work to build each other up and support one another, appreciating each other's strengths and respecting each other's weaknesses. We find joy in our work and each other, actively seeking opportunities to inject fun into what we do. Our hard and efficient work is rewarded with an above market total compensation package. We offer a comprehensive suite of health and welfare, retirement, and paid leave benefits exceeding local expectations.

Throughout the year, the advantage of being part of the Vantage team is evident with an array of benefits, recognition, training and development, and the knowledge that your contribution adds value to the company and our community.

Don't meet all the requirements? Please still apply if you think you are the right person for the position. We are always keen to speak to people who connect with our mission and values.

Vantage is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Vantage does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firm agencies. Fees will not be paid in the event a candidate submitted by a recruiter without an agreement in place is hired; such resumes will be deemed the sole property of Vantage.

We'll be accepting applications for at least one week from the date this role is posted. If you're interested, we encourage you to apply soon-we're excited to find the right person and will keep the role open until we do!

We operate with No Ego and No Arrogance. We work to build each other up and support one another, appreciating each other's strengths and respecting each other's weaknesses. We find joy in our work and each other, actively seeking opportunities to inject fun into what we do. Our hard and efficient work is rewarded with an above market total compensation package. We offer a comprehensive suite of health and welfare, retirement, and paid leave benefits exceeding local expectations.

Throughout the year, the advantage of being part of the Vantage team is evident with an array of benefits, recognition, training and development, and the knowledge that your contribution adds value to the company and our community.

Don't meet all the requirements? Please still apply if you think you are the right person for the position. We are always keen to speak to people who connect with our mission and values.

Vantage is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Vantage does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firm agencies. Fees will not be paid in the event a candidate submitted by a recruiter without an agreement in place is hired; such resumes will be deemed the sole property of Vantage.

We'll be accepting applications for at least one week from the date this role is posted. If you're interested, we encourage you to apply soon-we're excited to find the right person and will keep the role open until we do!