A contract specialist, also known as purchasing manager or agent, specializes in reviewing and analyzing contractual agreements between a company and suppliers of products or services. Their core duty is to ensure contractual agreements between clients and companies are fair and legal.
A contract specialist may perform a wide range of duties, including drafting and negotiating contract terms, evaluating bids, analyzing price proposals, and researching current legal regulations. They may look over sales, maintain inventory records, find suppliers, and ensure that their companies are consistently getting the best prices on the best goods and services. Generally, they work for government agencies or private sector organizations.
Most contract specialists hold a bachelor's degree in marketing, economics, law, or a related field. Earning a master's degree in a relevant field and previous experience in a similar role may improve employment prospects. They must possess strong interpersonal and coordinating skills and an in-depth knowledge of contract documents, procurement rules, and legitimate specifications.
How to Become a Contracts Specialist
What is a Contracts Specialist
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a Contracts Specialist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $37.26 an hour? That's $77,502 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -6% and produce -29,200 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Contracts Specialist Do
There are certain skills that many Contracts Specialists have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed Analytical skills, Math skills and Negotiating skills.
How To Become a Contracts Specialist
If you're interested in becoming a Contracts Specialist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 61.9% of Contracts Specialists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 13.5% of Contracts Specialists have master's degrees. Even though most Contracts Specialists have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a Contracts Specialist. When we researched the most common majors for a Contracts Specialist, we found that they most commonly earn Bachelor's Degree degrees or Associate Degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on Contracts Specialist resumes include Master's Degree degrees or Doctoral Degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a Contracts Specialist. In fact, many Contracts Specialist jobs require experience in a role such as Administrative Assistant. Meanwhile, many Contracts Specialists also have previous career experience in roles such as Contracts Administrator or Customer Service Representative.
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Contracts Specialist Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a Contracts Specialist can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as Contracts Administrator, progress to a title such as Office Manager and then eventually end up with the title Senior Account Manager.
Contracts Specialist Jobs You Might Like
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Average Salary for a Contracts Specialist
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12 Contracts Specialist Resume Examples
Build a professional contracts specialist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 12+ resume templates to create your contracts specialist resume.
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Amy Andrews Contracts Specialist |
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Hannah Bell Contracts Specialist Experience Contracts Specialist2011 - Present United States Department of Defense•Norfolk, VA
Contracts Specialist2010 - 2011 Real Alloy Holding•Marion, IN
Purchasing Assistant2006 - 2010 Real Alloy Holding•Marion, IN
Skills Contract CloseoutTechnical AssistanceVendor InvoicesProceduresPurchase OrdersBuyersSupplier PerformanceProcurement ActionsMROInternal Departments Education Bachelor's Degree Business2003 - 2006 Indiana Wesleyan University•Marion, IN |
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Learn How To Write a Contracts Specialist Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Contracts Specialist resumes and compiled some information about how to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Contracts Specialist Resume Examples And TemplatesAnd if you’re looking for a job, here are the five top employers hiring now:
Choose From 10+ Customizable Contracts Specialist Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Contracts Specialist templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Contracts Specialist resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Contracts Specialist Demographics
Contracts Specialist Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among Contracts Specialists, 59.8% of them are women, while 40.2% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among Contracts Specialists is White, which makes up 73.9% of all Contracts Specialists.
- The most common foreign language among Contracts Specialists is Spanish at 49.9%.
Find the best Contracts Specialist job for you
Contracts Specialist Jobs You Might Like
- High Paying Contracts Specialist Jobs - $122K and Up
- Work From Home Contracts Specialist Jobs
- Entry Level Contracts Specialist Jobs
- Part Time Contracts Specialist Jobs
- Actively Hiring
- No Degree Contracts Specialist Jobs
Top Colleges for Contracts Specialists
1. Western Carolina University
Cullowhee, NC • Private
2. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
3. San Diego State University
San Diego, CA • Private
4. Ball State University
Muncie, IN • Private
5. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
6. New York University
New York, NY • Private
7. Bowling Green State University
Bowling Green, OH • Private
8. Georgetown University
Washington, DC • Private
9. Howard University
Washington, DC • Private
10. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
Find the best Contracts Specialist job for you
Contracts Specialist Jobs You Might Like
- High Paying Contracts Specialist Jobs - $122K and Up
- Work From Home Contracts Specialist Jobs
- Entry Level Contracts Specialist Jobs
- Part Time Contracts Specialist Jobs
- Actively Hiring
- No Degree Contracts Specialist Jobs
Online Courses For Contracts Specialist That You May Like
Contracts Management, Contract Administration, FIDIC, Bank Guarantees, Contracts, Letter Drafting, Quantity Surveying...
Understand what is involved in the contract management process and put this knowledge to work with confidence...
An Introductory Guide to Drafting Winning Contracts, Negotiating Well, and Getting What You Want...
Top Skills For a Contracts Specialist
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 7.8% of Contracts Specialists listed Contract Documents on their resume, but soft skills such as Analytical skills and Math skills are important as well.
Best States For a Contracts Specialist
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a Contracts Specialist. The best states for people in this position are Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, and California. Contracts Specialists make the most in Delaware with an average salary of $94,559. Whereas in Virginia and Maryland, they would average $90,715 and $87,348, respectively. While Contracts Specialists would only make an average of $78,980 in California, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. District of Columbia
$95,607
Avg. Salary
2. Virginia
$90,715
Avg. Salary
3. Delaware
$94,559
Avg. Salary
How Do Contracts Specialist Rate Their Jobs?
Top Contracts Specialist Employers
We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ Contracts Specialists and discovered their number of Contracts Specialist opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Us Navy was the best, especially with an average salary of $76,283. Department of Homeland Security follows up with an average salary of $66,334, and then comes Humana with an average of $82,753. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a Contracts Specialist. The employers include Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, Stryker, and Experian
Contracts Specialist Videos
Becoming a Contracts Specialist FAQs
How much does a contract specialist make?
A contract specialist makes $65,000 in a year, on average. The salary for a contract specialist typically ranges from about $50,000 per year to $80,000 in a year.
A contract specialist negotiates, administers, and terminates various contracts for an organization. They assess the organization's needs, determine how to fulfill them, and plan the details of the contracts that will be used to satisfy those needs. They work in many industries, including universities, construction, healthcare, and law.
What is a contract specialist's salary?
A contract specialist's salary is $65,000 in a year, on average. The salary for a contract specialist typically ranges from about $50,000 per year to $80,000 in a year.
A contract specialist negotiates, administers, and terminates various contracts for an organization. They assess the organization's needs, determine how to fulfill them, and plan the details of the contracts that will be used to satisfy those needs. They work in many industries, including universities, construction, healthcare, and law.
What makes a good contract specialist?
What makes a good contract specialist is being knowledgeable about their industry's needs and potential risks. They also possess good communication and problem-solving skills and can organize and prioritize their workload.