Skip to Main Content

Job Title


Contract Manager


Company : Zoetis


Location : Kalamazoo, MI


Created : 2024-10-22


Job Type : Full Time


Job Description

Role Description Contract Manager As part of the Vendor and Contract Management (VCM) group, this position will draft and negotiate standard contracts for Veterinary Medicine Research & Development (VMRD). This position will report to the Head of Contract Management, and is part of a team that also consists of Purchasing Associates and Category Sourcing Managers. Responsibilities include: * Draft, review, negotiate, and manage standard and complex contracts (Confidentiality, Material Transfer, Service, and Sponsored Research Agreements) with external collaborators and internal business partners. * Manage a small team of contingent workers and meet regularly with their onsite management to discuss productivity. * Work closely with Head of Contract Management to resolve discrepancies in legal and commercial terms; meet regularly with Corporate Counsel for review of more complex agreements. * Discern procurement needs and determine proper template and language to address risks associated with each purchase. * Review contracts to ensure that VMRD business terms are being met. * Align with relevant internal business functions, such as research, project management, finance, business development, sales, and marketing, as appropriate. * Recognize and comprehend complex intellectual property issues. * Partner with Category Sourcing Managers to ensure compliance with corporate and divisional procurement policies and resolve issues presented in contract negotiations. * Utilize the PO and Legal request system in order to manage timely creation of supplemental contract documents (Exhibits, Scopes of Work, etc). * Partner with other Contract Managers to provide further education and support. * Work with the Contract Administrator to ensure timely pairing of the PO Requests with the fully executed legal documents. * Submit executed agreements to the corporate agreement management system. * Draft agreement templates for attorney review and approval. Assist Head of Contract Management in drafting in-house forms, SOPs, instructions and checklists for internal and intranet use. Make recommendation as to process improvements to minimize delays and simplify processes. * Interact with all levels of internal personnel and external business partners to facilitate successful negotiations with win-win situations. * Advise internal business partners on the contract terms. * Assist in training internal business partners in Vendor and Contract Management processes and terminology. * Collaborate with other procurement teams within Zoetis on projects as necessary. Qualifications: * Bachelor's Degree and relevant work experience in a research environment; J.D. desirable but this is not a corporate counsel track position. * Minimum of 3-5 years professional-level experience working contracts/agreement management, preferably with a global, publicly traded organization. * Leadership, willingness to speak up, and an ability to work independently and cooperatively within an aligned team is critical for this position. * Demonstrate organizational, problem solving, and strong interpersonal skills. Possess superior verbal and written communication skills and be adept at interacting across all levels in the organization. * Ability to interact and interface with a broad range of individuals of varied disciplines and cultures, both external and internal, is essential. * Strong ability and willingness to be flexible and adaptable to work in a complex, global environment cross-functionally and build relationships. * Strong sense of customer service and willingness to work with fellow colleagues to obtain the best outcomes for the company. * The successful candidate will be energetic, outgoing, self-motivated and constructive in his or her approach. * Ability to balance competing priorities tactfully. Desired Skills & Experience * Excellent computer skills. * Legal and/or procurement background is required. * Knowledge of scientific terminology desirable, but not required. * Knowledge of an agreement management system, preferably Ariba Contracts and E-signature tool. * Ability to leverage the agreement management system to conduct searches, author agreements, and create reports. * Knowledge of foreign corrupt practices act, conflicts of interest, IT Security, data privacy, trade compliance and other US and Non-US regulations. Full time Regular Colleague Any unsolicited resumes sent to Zoetis from a third party, such as an Agency recruiter, including unsolicited resumes sent to a Zoetis mailing address, fax machine or email address, directly to Zoetis employees, or to Zoetis resume database will be considered Zoetis property. Zoetis will NOT pay a fee for any placement resulting from the receipt of an unsolicited resume. Zoetis will consider any candidate for whom an Agency has submitted an unsolicited resume to have been referred by the Agency free of any charges or fees. This includes any Agency that is an approved/engaged vendor but does not have the appropriate approvals to be engaged on a search. Zoetis is committed to equal opportunity in the terms and conditions of employment for all employees and job applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, gender identity or gender expression, national origin, disability or veteran status or any other protected classification. Disabled individuals are given an equal opportunity to use our online application system. We offer reasonable accommodations as an alternative if requested by an individual with a disability. Please contact Zoetis Colleague Services at zoetiscolleagueservices@ to request an accommodation. Zoetis also complies with all applicable national, state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment as well as employment eligibility verification requirements of the Immigration and Nationality Act. All applicants must possess or obtain authorization to work in the US for Zoetis. Zoetis retains sole and exclusive discretion to pursue sponsorship for the acquisition or maintenance of nonimmigrant status and employment eligibility, considering factors such as availability of qualified US workers. Individuals requiring sponsorship must disclose this fact. Please note that Zoetis seeks information related to job applications from candidates for jobs in the U.S. solely via the following: (1) our company website at /careers site, or (2) via email to/from addresses using only the Zoetis domain of "@". In addition, Zoetis does not use Google Hangout for any recruitment related activities. Any solicitation or request for information related to job applications with Zoetis via any other means and/or utilizing email addresses with any other domain should be disregarded. In addition, Zoetis will never ask candidates to make any type of personal financial investment related to gaining employment with Zoetis.