Senior Manager, Contract Administration

Position Title: Senior Manager, Contract Administration

Base Salary: $117,928 to $142,681 annually DOE

Bonus: Target annual bonus

Benefits: Medical, dental, vision, 401k, flexible spending account, paid sick leave and paid time off, parental leave, quarterly performance bonus, training, career growth and education reimbursement programs.

Ziply Fiber is a local internet service provider dedicated to elevating the connected lives of the communities we serve. We offer the fastest home internet in the nation, a refreshingly great customer experience, and affordable plans that put customers in charge. 

As our state-of-the-art fiber network expands, so does our need for team members who can help us grow and realize our goals.  

Our Company Values: 

• Genuinely Caring: We treat customers and colleagues like neighbors, with empathy and full attention. 
  

• Empowering You: We help customers choose what is best for them, and we support employees in implementing new ideas and solutions. 
  

• Innovation and Improvement: We constantly seek ways to improve how we serve customers and each other.  
  

• Earning Your Trust: We build trust through clear, honest, human communication. 
  

Job Summary

The Senior Manager, Contract Administration owns and oversees all Network Engineering, Planning, and Outside Plant Construction contracts that support Ziply Fiber’s network build, expansion, and ongoing operations. This role leads all contract and vendor management needs for Ziply Fiber’s Operations organization and has full ownership of all contract documentation processed by the Contract Administration organization.

The Senior Manager, Contract Administrator leads and develops a high performing team of 7–9 professionals and contractors, fostering a culture of excellence, innovation, and accountability. This role oversees every phase of the contract lifecycle, including bidding, negotiation, execution, and approval.

Additionally, the Senior Manager leads the development and continuous improvement of contract administration processes and training materials, ensuring all contractors meet local, state, and federal regulatory, licensing, and insurance requirements prior to performing work for Ziply Fiber. The total annual contract spend across all markets may exceed $600M in capital and operational expenditures, underscoring the scale and strategic importance of this role.

The Senior Manager is also responsible for developing and implementing vendor performance scorecards and leading ongoing vendor performance management. This role serves as the authoritative leader for ensuring rigorous compliance with all licensing and insurance requirements.

In partnership with the Planning/Engineering/Construction/Operation organization, the Senior Manager aligns contract strategies with business needs to support Ziply Fiber’s expansion plans. This role owns the review and alignment of all existing contract units and leads the evaluation and creation of new contract units required as Ziply Fiber expands into new markets.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities: 

The Essential Duties and Responsibilities listed below are a range of duties performed by the employee and not intended to reflect all duties performed.

Vendor Onboarding, Governance & Branding

·       Establish and maintain efficient processes and tracking systems for onboarding new vendors and scaling additional resources.

·       Collaborating with internal marketing team leads to ensure Ziply vendors are being properly branded, especially for expansion markets.

·       Enforce proper vendor onboarding, requirements/management.

·       Establish Contract Administration teams’ performance metrics/KPI’s, as well possible new tools to support the team

·       Quarterly evaluation of current headcount to job responsibilities/volumes to ensure there is adequate alignment between workload volumes and headcount.

Vendor Performance Management & Reporting

·       Establish performance feedback loops for the vendors through scorecards/data.

·       Prepare and present monthly performance scorecards for vendors and clients.

Financial Oversight, Billing Analysis & Invoice Processing

·       Oversee establishing tracking mechanisms, conduct financial analysis, directly with finance, and oversee the vendor invoice processing.

·       Review the analyzed vendors billing data to identify trends/gaps/overbilling

Contract Development, Negotiation & Administration

·       Own establishing new contract language for Statements of Work (SOW), Descriptions of Work (DOW) as well as all Work Orders.

·       Lead the development of DOW/SOW language for Engineering, OSP, ISP, environmental, and barricade/flagging agreements.

·       Interpret and manage the awarded contracts for Installation, Engineering, and Construction, ensuring fiscal, engineering, construction, and operational control.

·       Negotiate/BID specialty agreements outside the scope of Line Extension/GC agreements.

Legal/Regulatory Support & Dispute Resolution

·       Work directly with legal and regulatory when Ziply encounters any sort of legal or compliance issue related to Ziply’s prime vendors, their sub-contractors

·       Serve as the arbitrator interpreting DOW/SOW/W/O for both the field team and vendor when unit/billing disputes are encountered

Other Duties

·       Performs other duties as required to support the business and the overall growth of the organizations the admin team supports.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Engineering, or related fields.
  
• Minimum of eight (8) years of progressive experience in contract administration, telecommunications engineering, outside plant construction, or network planning, with at least five (5) years in a senior or leadership role.
  
• Demonstrated experience leading and developing high‑performing teams, including performance management, coaching, and succession planning.
  
• Demonstrated experience managing large‑scale capital and operational spend, including vendor financial performance, invoice governance, and cost controls.
  
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams) and data/reporting tools such as Power BI.
  
• Working knowledge of contract law principles, contract interpretation, and commercial negotiation.
  
• Strong working knowledge of telecommunications construction practices, including inside and outside plant engineering, installation, and construction.
  
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively, both written and verbal, with executive leadership, legal and regulatory partners, and external vendors
  
• Project Management experience and the ability to manage priorities of projects in relation to resources, processes, timeliness, and the ability to multi-task in competing projects.
  
• Experience in data orientation, analytical and decision-making skills.
  
• Ability to conduct formal meetings and make group/executive presentation and/or conduct training sessions.
  

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment, applying sound judgment and strong reasoning skills across a variety of situations.
  
• Ability to multi-task and collaborate effectively with other personnel to meet deadlines.
  
• Strong verbal and written communication, attention to detail, and organizational skills.
  
• Ability to work within critical deadlines.
  
• Ability to adjust to rapidly changing priorities and schedules.
  
• Ability to provide excellent customer service.
  
• Ability to travel up to travel when the time requires it.
  
• Ability to manage/motivate/grow, and performance manage direct reports
  

Work Authorization

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the US for any employer. Sponsorship is not available for this position.

Physical Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Essential and marginal functions may require maintaining physical condition necessary for bending, stooping, sitting, walking, or standing for prolonged periods of time; most of time is spent sitting in a comfortable position with frequent opportunity to move about. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

Work Environment

Work is performed in an office setting with exposure to computer screens and requires extensive use of a computer, keyboard, mouse, and multi-line telephone system. The work is primarily a modern office setting.  Remote work location may be considered at the direction of the organizational leadership.   

At all times, Ziply Fiber must be your primary employer. Unless otherwise prohibited by law, employees may not hold outside employment nor be self-employed without obtaining approval in writing from Ziply Fiber. In holding outside employment or self-employment, employees should ensure that participation does not conflict with responsibilities to Ziply Fiber or its business interests.

Diverse Workforce / EEO:

Ziply Fiber is an equal opportunity employer. Ziply Fiber will consider all qualified candidates regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, marital status, sexual orientation, veteran status, and the presence of a non-job-related handicap or disability or any other legally protected status.

Ziply Fiber requires a pre-employment background check as conditions of employment. Ziply Fiber may require a pre-employment drug screening.

Ziply Fiber is a drug free workplace.