Contract Manager

About Us: At Morningstar, we empower investors by providing exceptional information and technological solutions that drive informed investment decisions for our clients. As part of our commitment to excellence, and in providing more visibility and value delivery to the business, we are looking for a highly skilled Contract Manager to join our dynamic team. This individual will play a critical role in managing and enhancing the procurement processes related to both technical and non-technical agreements, ensuring the smooth lifecycle of contracts and their alignment with business objectives.
Job Overview: The Contract Manager will be responsible for managing the procurement and contract lifecycle for a wide range of services and encompassing all categories. They will also support the contracting and negotiations for non-tech shared services agreements and tech agreements outside of Central Tech. The successful candidate will support contract lifecycle management, manage renewals/terminations, identify vendor and financial opportunities, report relevant and actionable information and reporting, and ensure all contracts are correctly documented and stored in the shared repository. They will also be responsible for manual entry and maintenance of contract information and metadata in the Contract Lifecycle Management system, ensuring accuracy, completeness, and compliance with organizational standards. The ideal candidate will have a moderately strong background in procurement, contracting, and vendor management within the financial services industry.
Key Responsibilities:

• Contracting Non-Tech Shared Services: Regularly manage and contract non-tech shared services agreements, addressing gaps currently unfulfilled.
• Tech Agreement Contracting: Oversee the contracting of tech agreements outside of the Central Tech function.
• Contract Lifecycle Management: Manage the full contract lifecycle, including initiation/intake; support negotiation and redlining; facilitate execution, and support ongoing compliance. This includes managing contract intake requests and tracking contract progress through internal workflow systems to ensure timely execution and transparency.
• Support Across Categories: Serve as backup support for procurement and contracting across all categories, ensuring smooth operations and business continuity.
• Agreement Migration & Repository Management: Continually identify missing active agreements and migrate them to the shared repository to maintain an organized and accurate contract database.
• Ensure data standards, accurate metadata population, version control, and filing accuracy are maintained to support contract lifecycle reporting and audit-readiness.
• Renewal & Termination Management: Manage the renewal and termination notifications for all agreements, ensuring timely and accurate updates to contracts, including renewals, expirations, and terminations.
• Policy Contribution: Contribute to the development and enhancement of procurement policies and process documentations, ensuring compliance with organizational standards and legal requirements.
• Vendor Management: Support the strategic sourcing of services and engage in vendor management activities, including risk management and performance monitoring.

Qualifications:

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Finance, or a related field.
• Experience: Minimum of 4 years in Procurement or a related field, preferably in the financial services industry.
• Expertise: Extensive experience with procurement processes, contract management software, and vendor management.
• Strategic Sourcing & Risk Management: Knowledge of strategic sourcing methodologies, risk management practices, and cost optimization strategies.
• Market Research: Proficient in conducting market research to identify trends, pricing benchmarks, and best practices.
• Contract Management & Negotiation: Intermediate knowledge of contract management and negotiation techniques, including the ability to draft and review legal documents.
• Category Expertise: Knowledge of a broad range of procurement categories, including both technical and non-technical services.
• Change Management Experience: Experience managing change in procurement processes or systems.
• Training & Development: Ability to train and mentor less experienced team members, sharing expertise and knowledge as needed.
• Analytical Skills: Strong analytical skills to evaluate data, identify trends, and provide actionable insights.
• Ability to Work Under Pressure: Demonstrated ability to juggle multiple workstreams under tight deadlines without compromising quality or accuracy.
• Quality Results: A proven track record of executing complex procurement processes and delivering high-quality results in a timely manner.

Preferred Skills:

• Technical Proficiency: Familiarity with procurement software (e.g., Coupa, SAP Ariba, Oracle Procurement), the Microsoft Suite (e.g., formulas, pivot tables, data analysis), and contract management tools. Power BI or Tableau is a plus.
• Superb communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to tailor messaging to diverse audiences, including senior management and regulatory bodies.
• High attention to detail and a thoroughness that delivers accuracy consistently.
• Extremely high organizational skills, with a keen eye for detail and the ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Expertise at building and maintaining effective cross-functional relationships and exuding a strong partnership attitude.
• Problem solving in ambiguous and ever-changing environments
• Experience working with large data sets and creating financial/operational reporting

Why Morningstar?
At Morningstar, we offer a collaborative and dynamic work environment where innovative thinking and professional growth are encouraged. As a Contract Manager, you will have the opportunity to make a direct impact on the success of the company and its vendors, all while supporting the financial goals of our investor clients. If you're looking for a role that combines procurement expertise with strategic influence, we would love to hear from you.
Morningstar's hybrid work environment gives you the opportunity to work remotely and collaborate in-person each week. We've found that we're at our best when we're purposely together on a regular basis, at least three days each week. A range of other benefits are also available to enhance flexibility as needs change. No matter where you are, you'll have tools and resources to engage meaningfully with your global colleagues.
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