Construction Contracts Lead

Microsoft Cloud Operations and Innovation (CO+I) is the team behind the cloud. We are responsible for delivering over 200 Microsoft web portals, Live and Online Services around the world including infrastructure, security and compliance, operations, globalization, and manageability. Our focus is on smart growth, high efficiency, and delivering a trusted experience to customers and partners worldwide. We are looking for a passionate, high energy individual to help build the network that powers the world’s largest online services.

Within CO+I, the Global Supply Chain team is responsible for establishing a supply chain that can meet the ever-growing growth of the Cloud and our customers. We support a portfolio of complex, multi-disciplinary, multi-billion, multi-year datacenter construction and lease projects. Furthermore, we support the Operations team that manages and runs the cloud assets. We are looking to fill a critical role of Construction Contracts Lead on our Supply Execution Chain team to lead a program of build projects in Milan, Italy.

In alignment with our Microsoft values, we are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment for all employees to positively impact our culture every day.

As a Site Contracts Lead, you will play a critical role in ensuring the successful execution of contracts related to site operations and construction projects. You will collaborate with cross-functional teams, legal experts, and external stakeholders to manage contractual agreements, mitigate risks, and drive compliance at the job site. Your attention to detail, negotiation skills, and ability to navigate complex contractual landscapes will be essential for this role.

**Responsibilities**:
**Procurement and Contracts**
- Project Procurement:

- Perform sourcing activities for various professional services, such as General Contractors, Architect Engineers, Commissioning Agents, Cost Management, Project Management, and others.
- Develop sourcing and negotiation strategies to meet project objectives, in relation to the contract
- Participate in supplier assessment and prepare contract award proposals.
- Contract Review and Compliance:

- Responsible for ensuring all contractual requirements are met according to the terms and conditions.
- Executes procurement contracting strategies for large, complex data center construction projects and/or purchasing opportunities to achieve optimal cost and continuity of supply and services.
- Serve as first line of defense/communication with site stakeholders on commercial issues.
- Execute project closeout requirements.
- Change Order Management:

- Lead Change Order negotiations with input from key stakeholders and detailed understanding of contractual conditions.
- Monitor and mitigate the impact of change orders to the project, and partners cross-functionally to resolve/escalate accordingly.
- Attend change management meetings and report on open change orders as applicable.
- OFCI Management & Quality Assurance:

- Help facilitate equipment once delivered to site, including inspections and sign offs.
- Address quality-related issues as they arise and report as appropriate.
- Partner with Labor Planning team on Field Service Representative (FSR) constraints during Cx (Commissioning). Ensure GC schedules are coordinated with Vendor Labor constraints.
- Monitor vendor activity for timely Cx completion.
- Execution Coordination & Communication:

- Assume all post-award contract execution responsibilities.
- Own commercial decision making on all post-award activities through influencing project stakeholders.
- Identify potential challenges related to the project/contract and develop strategies to mitigate the risk and maintain compliance.
- Provide regular status reports on issues, risks and mitigations to leadership.
- Prepare contractual notices as appropriate using language from terms & conditions.
- Address and resolve any payment disputes submitted by suppliers.
- Help facilitate and engage as needed in negotiations with contractors and other parties to resolve disputes with regular updates to the client team.
- Collaborate with project stakeholders to review the GC’s subcontractor procurement deliverables and final recommendation of subcontractor award for each trade package.

**Stakeholder Collaboration**
- Drives business engagement and partnership with cross-functional teams including Planning, Strategic Sourcing, Cost Management, Engineering, Quality, Construction and Project Managers.
- Drives commercial compliance and problem resolution with General Contractors, Subcontractors and Suppliers.
- Actively partners with suppliers to identify and drive continuous improvement and risk management opportunities by evaluating procedural, operational, and/or environmental factors, analyzing root causes of issues, sharing insights with key stakeholders, and influencing the adoption of needed improvements.

**Qualifications**:
**Required/Minimum Qualifications**
- B