Contracts Manager

Your career grows here.

At Echo Electric, a brand owned by Sonepar, we are a leader in electrical distribution. Echo Electric represents over $1.2 billion in sales covering Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Nebraska, and Southern South Dakota. As part of Sonepar, the worldwide leader in electrical distribution, we have a global reach that allows us to offer excellent benefits and develop innovative solutions, while maintaining our strong local roots and close-knit culture. We empower our associates to contribute to our success by adopting the adapt, dare, learn mindset-- adapt to new situations and people, dare to appropriately challenge the status quo, and learn from others and our own experiences.

This position is primarily responsible for the creation and maintenance of Echo Electric contracts, ultimately supporting internal associates and enabling teams to service Echo customers and partners. Manages and coordinates all activities within the contract administration process, including close collaboration with Sonepar Legal resources and prospective external stakeholders. The Contracts Manager will also work with Echo Commercial, Operations, Finance, and Supplier Relations teams as needed to manage the OpCo’s contracts with customers, product vendors, and expense vendors.

Work Location: Remote

We are looking for associates who:

1. Oversee the administration of contracts from inception to execution, including the tracking of deadlines and specific contract dates, expirations, and all terms and conditions.
2. Ensure contracts are created, and subsequent activities are conducted, according to the policies and procedures of the organization.
3. Review proposed Echo customer and vendor contracts, highlighting/redlining unacceptable risks in accordance with company governance and raising relevant business risks for internal alignment with business owners. 
4. Maintain an organized database of Echo’s executed contracts. 
5. Draft contract abstracts for common use by Echo sales and procurement staff. 
6. Coordinate with Echo’s VP of Finance, Sonepar Legal, other OpCo staff, and/or outside counsel to negotiate Terms & Conditions with customers and vendors.
7. Communicate with Echo personnel for context and exercise discretion in editing contracts within established guidelines.  
8. Assist the VP of Finance and other staff in assessing insurance requirements in customer contracts and work with Echo’s outside insurance contacts in obtaining and providing certificates of insurance.  
9. Perform most work independently with minimal direct supervision and refer more complex issues to VP of Finance with possible solutions in mind. 
10. Collaborate with Commercial Channel Teams to identify key metrics and business requirements within contracts, and ensure such measurements are clear, understood, and aligned to business objectives.

What you bring:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent level of job-relevant experience required. 
• Paralegal certification, or significant progress towards such certification, or equivalent legal training is required. 
• Ability to handle a high volume of very detailed work, including review of contract terms and conditions and comparing multiple documents against one another.  

• Highly organized and focused on workflow.   

• Able to understand and analyze significant legal and business concepts included in contract documents.  

• Capable of working with deadline pressures.  

• Create and manage processes to review, comment, communicate, and assess contractual terms.  

• Ability to create contract abstracts from terms and conditions.  

• Must exercise initiative to work productively with only general supervision and direction.  

• Work effectively with others, including executives, service center leadership, Associate Services, Procurement, and Finance departments.  
• Proven ability to lead teams and manage direct reports, positively influence peers and leaders, and take ownership over challenges to drive solutions and deliver results.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. 

• High degree of organizational skills, computer skills, and written communication skills. 

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with OpCo systems, workflow, and sales processes.  
• Familiarity with IronClad or other Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Systems. 
• Experience developing document management and/or CLM processes.
• Prior experience in legal field or with legal concepts, such as experience as a contract specialist, legal assistant, or paralegal.  
• Knowledge of commercial insurance coverages.  
• Prior wholesale or distribution sales, construction, or commercial experience.    

What we offer:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance plus employer paid short term and long-term disability and life insurance.
• Paid time off and paid holidays
• 401K match
• Profit Sharing
• Tuition reimbursement and employee development.
• Annual Safety Shoe Reimbursement
• Employee Discount on products
• Access to a variety of trainings for personal development

Who we are:

We’re the world’s number one distributor of electrical products, solutions and related services. Echo Electric is owned by Sonepar, a global company with over 500 locations nationwide. Whether you grow at one of our local Opcos or at one in another region, we want you to grow with us! All associates are regularly trained and we value promoting from within when possible.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

Sonepar is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their race, color, creed, religion, national origin, citizenship status, ancestry, sex, age, physical or mental disability unrelated to ability, marital status, family responsibilities, pregnancy, genetic information, sexual orientation, order of protection status, protected veteran or military status, or an unfavorable discharge from military service, or any other categories protected by federal, state or local law.

EEO is the Law

Applicants and employees are protected under Federal law from discrimination. To learn more, Click here. 

Pay Transparency Non-Discrimination Provision

Sonepar follows Executive Order 11246, including the Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision. To learn more, Click here.