Contract Specialist

**Contract Specialist**:
The Contract Specialist is responsible for providing leadership and managing the day-to-day activities related to contracts, contract management, and supplier performance management on behalf of VIU. The Contract Specialist will work closely with the Procurement team and other VIU internal business units and will play a key role to ensure that all contracts VIU enters into (excluding employment contracts) include proper terms & conditions, operational requirements and deliverables, adhere to legislative requirements, and minimize risk to the institution.
- Employment Group
- ADMIN
- Position Number
- 00911
- Division
- VP Administration and Finance
- Department
- Procurement and Contract Services
- Campus
- Nanaimo campus
- Location
- Nanaimo, British Columbia
- Country
- Canada
- Appointment Type
- temporary full-time
- Workload
- 35 hours per week
- Pay Level
- Excluded Pay Band 8: Minimum salary is $87,043 and maximum salary is $98,912.
- Starting Salary
- Normal salary placement at the time of hire is $87,043 (prorated if part-time). This position is eligible for annual performance-based salary increases.
- Start:

- As soon as possible
- Appointment End Date
- 25-Oct-2024
- Leave Replacement
- Appointment may end early or be extended depending on return of incumbent.
- Applicant Documents
- CV/Resume, Cover Letter, Referees/References
- Posted Date
- 21-Mar-2024
- Closing Date
- 10-Apr-2024
- Job Reference
- 2338

**Duties**:
This position reports directly to the Senior Manager, Strategic Procurement and works with all levels of management and clients across all departments and faculties. External contacts include representatives from the government and other public sector agencies, auditors, management consultants, and suppliers. Although this position reports directly to the Senior Manager, Strategic Procurement, the Contract Specialist will need to work independently and provide services to all of VIU as required.
- Take a significant role in timely contract and amendment reviews, development, negotiations, contract execution; ensuring accuracy, risk mitigation, and proper signing authority.
- Supports Procurement team in bid preparation with respect to inclusion of applicable contract templates or terms and conditions, and reviews and advises on contractual statements in supplier proposals.
- Maintain contract standards, templates, and relevant terms and conditions in the areas of procurement, outsourcing, collaborative agreements and strategic partnerships.
- Review contracts from all external parties and provide recommendations to align agreements with institutional policies, risk requirements and best practices.
- Examine terms and conditions of contracts including scope of work, pricing arrangements, performance requirements, liability, insurance, privacy, etc. to ensure completeness and accuracy.
- Provide professional and specialized advice and recommendations to internal clients on the formation and administration of contracts including developing contract terms and conditions and generating appropriate contract language to capture intent and risk of planned activities.
- Recommend contractual strategies for successful execution of planned activities to maximize efficiency, cost savings and minimize liability exposure. This will include identifying problems and providing solutions for internal operational issues pertaining to the contract or related agreement that will impact programs or institutional issues including the employment of others.
- Interact with a diverse internal client base, review and understand proposed activity and provide recommendations and advice to determine the appropriate form of contract, and inclusion of specialized terms and conditions.
- Identify, analyze and provide recommendations on potential contracting risks and liabilities associated with business activities by providing advice in the area of contract law, and escalate to Senior Management when necessary.
- Liaise with internal clients to ensure suppliers are completing work to schedule and to required quality levels.
- Single point of contact for managing the indemnity approval process for VIU which includes reviewing indemnity and insurance obligations in contracts and forwarding to University, College and Institute Protection Program (UCIPP) for input and approval, when required.
- Responsible for managing VIU’s central contract database system and associated file systems and ensure:

- Consistency and training Procurement staff with inputting accurate contract data, related documents, and relative communication into contracts system;
- Organize and maintain associated hard copy file systems;
- Issue or make available reports to internal business units on contract data including contract amounts spent to date, contracts reaching their total contract value, contracts expiring within 6 months, next year, etc.; and
- Working with Procurement, internal departments, and suppliers wi