Advisor - Contract Lifecycle Management

Advisor - Contract Lifecycle Management

Unit: Contract Management & Liaison – Client & Service Management (IDS)

Preferred location: Nairobi

Mission

The Contract Management & Liaison area serves as the central interface between Member Associations (MAs) and the International Development Support (IDS) units. The team manages the full support delivery lifecycle, from planning and contracting to coordination of delivery and follow-up. It ensures that MAs requested demand is translated into clear support requests, funding arrangements, and available capacity. By maintaining a holistic overview of MA engagements, the team supports effective coordination across support domains, and consistent relationship management, enabling Mas to receive timely, coherent, and value-adding support while ensuring proper governance, compliance, and reporting.

The Contract Lifecycle Advisor takes a central role in managing the day-to-day execution of the contract lifecycle management process, ensuring agreements are legally compliant, financially viable, and operationally executable. The position ensures that requests from members, countries, and internal stakeholders are properly structured, aligned with IDS support catalogue and requirements, and transformed into compliant & viable agreements. Together with MA Relationship Managers, the role is responsible in translating support requests into operational contracts, drafting and negotiating terms, coordinating with Legal and Finance specialists, and coordinating with Pillar and Support Delivery Leads to ensure that deliverables, timelines, and resource requirements are clearly defined. The position also manages amendments, renewals, and template customization, ensuring consistency and compliance with federation and donor standards. Additionally, the position ensures seamless transition to and storage of signed contracts in the central contact database for effective execution and CVI-wide centralized oversight.

Tasks and Responsibilities

• Contract Intake and Structuring : Review and log incoming service requests, assess alignment with the IDS service catalogue, and translate them into draft agreements with clearly defined scope, deliverables, and timelines
• Contract Drafting, Coordination, and Negotiation : Prepare contract outlines & terms by gathering inputs from Legal, Finance, and support delivery leads, and engaging internal and external stakeholders through to finalisation. Liaise with IDS support delivery leads to define deliverables, milestones, resource requirements, and monitoring KPIs to ensure contracts are operationally executable.
• Amendments, Renewals, and Template Management: Manage and coordinate contract amendments and renewals, leading discussions with Legal and Finance and ensuring timely approvals and updated records. Customise standard contract templates to meet specific requirements, ensuring all adaptations comply with federation policies, donor guidelines, and legal standards.
• Compliance, Handover, and Documentation: Conduct thorough compliance checks and inform all relevant stakeholders about signed contracts; store them in the central contract database to enable effective tracking and oversight. Maintain accurate contract documentation, audit trails, lessons learned and support the development of best practices and tools for future contracts.
• Risk Identification and Escalation: Proactively identify and escalate risks or disputes during contract drafting or negotiation to the CML Team Lead; log issues for continual improvement.
• Training and Internal Communication: Facilitate training and internal communications to enhance awareness and understanding of contract governance across IDS departments.

Responsibilities to Uphold Safeguarding (standards) and Promote a Safe Environment

As someone working for or on behalf of SOS Children’s Villages, you are responsible for helping to create and maintain a safe and protective environment for staff, as well as for the children, young people, and adult program participants supported and cared for by SOS Children’s Villages. You are expected to:

• Commit to the Code of Conduct and reflect on the safeguarding implications of your work on an ongoing basis.
• Actively participate in team discussions to identify risks and share and apply preventative and mitigation measures and strategies.
• Integrate safeguarding principles into your daily decisions and tasks.
• Report any safeguarding concerns promptly and in line with procedures.
• Promote values-based culture, accountability and zero tolerance of harm.

Requirements

• Undergraduate degree in Business Administration, International Development, Law, Finance, or a related field. A postgraduate diploma or Master's degree in Contract Management, Procurement, or Project Governance is desirable, as is professional certification such as CCMP, PMP, or PRINCE2.
• 5–7 years of professional experience in contract management, procurement, office management or business administration within international NGOs or donor-funded programs.
• Proven expertise in drafting, negotiating, and managing contracts in compliance with donor regulations and organizational policies.
• Experience in conducting compliance reviews and risk identification and mitigation.
• Exposure to financial coordination, including budget verification and cost implications of contractual decisions.
• Proven track record in audit readiness and compliance framework implementation.
• Openness to travel up to 15%

Technical Skills

• Contract lifecycle management and compliance – Advanced (Essential)
• Drafting, coordination, and negotiation of contracts – Intermediate (Essential)
• Negotiation and dispute resolution in multi-stakeholder environments – Intermediate (Essential)
• Contract amendment/renewal workflows – Intermediate (Essential)
• Compliance and governance frameworks – Intermediate (Essential)
• Working knowledge of e-signature and workflow automation platforms (e.g., DocuSign, Adobe Sign) – Beginner (Desired)

Language Skills

• English – Essential
• French, Arabic– Desired

Other Competencies and Soft Skills

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills; ability to build rapport and influence across multiple stakeholder groups.
• Strong accountability; takes ownership of assigned contracts, ensuring accuracy and compliance.
• Negotiation abilities; navigates complex, high-stakes discussions with professionalism.
• Critical thinking and problem-solving in complex, ambiguous situations.
• Detail-oriented with strong organisational skills.
• Cross-cultural competence and ability to work with diverse international teams.
• Adaptability to changing priorities and emotional intelligence (Desired).

Ways of Working

• Global collaboration and communication across countries, cultures, and time zones.
• Cross-functional collaboration with colleagues across Legal, Finance, Programme, and other teams.
• Effective collaboration within matrix structures, maintaining open communication across reporting lines.
• Flexibility and adaptability in response to evolving priorities and organisational demand.
• Ownership and accountability; proactively driving tasks and commitments to completion.
• Data-driven approach; integrating performance metrics and dashboards into daily decision-making.

For internal candidates

All internal colleagues from all locations are welcome to apply. Colleagues who are currently in their notice period are encouraged to apply, as long as they have not received their end of service payments.

The internal recruitment process will be conducted in accordance with applicable equal-treatment, non-discrimination and data-protection requirements.

The validation process for this position is still ongoing, and therefore the role, responsibilities, or requirements may be subject to change. We will update the job advertisement accordingly if any adjustments are made. If you have questions or would like more clarity before applying, you are welcome to contact the Hiring Manager or the HR Business Partner directly.

Colleagues from other locations as well as colleagues who are currently in their notice period are welcome to apply for this position, provided they meet the requirements. Applications will be considered in line with our internal selection guidelines.

Contract duration, if applicable, will be determined based on the business need, funding source, applicable local labour laws and the employee's current employment status. Any resulting terms will be communicated during the formal selection process.

Employment contract will be issued according the labour law of the location colleagues are currently working in.

As a general rule, the organisation does not intend to sponsor relocation for internal applications unless expressly stated in the posting or separately approved.

How to Apply

If you are interested in this position, please submit your detailed application in English by 5th July 2026 at Job Listings at SOS Children's Villages International