What does a contracts specialist do?
A contract specialist is responsible for evaluating contract agreements between the business and its clients. Contract specialists write beneficial deals that would develop good, professional working partnerships. They negotiate terms with clients, analyzing bid offers, review legislation processes and regulations, provide immediate resolution for breach of contracts, manage procurement proposals, and communicate with potential and existing clients for any amendments and clarifications. A contract specialist must have excellent communication and negotiation skills and broad knowledge of legal terminologies and contract styles.
Contracts specialist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real contracts specialist resumes:
- Manage multiple task orders in an IDIQ environment.
- Provide clarity on medical and drug cover benefits for a Medicare advantage insurance plan.
- Manage inventory and distribution activities of the third-party logistics provider.
- Develop marketing strategies to expand Medicaid manage care provider network and enrollment.
- Manage the influenza vaccine annual contracting and RFP process for a national specialty pharmaceutical distributor.
- Process purchase orders and subcontracts, including managing insurance requirement compliance and certify payroll documentation.
- Work closely with Medicare and Medicaid sales representatives.
- Procure medical supplies in support if veterans.
- Prepare bid packets and homes for rehabilitation.
- Draft and implement internal policies regarding HIPAA, CMS rules, appeals and charitable care.
- Ensure that providers are in compliance with all HIPAA regulation, patient privacy and patient rights.
- Coordinate a $50K NMCI infrastructure expansion project which support an increase of NMCI services by 15 percent.
- Review, negotiate and maintain contracts such as blanket purchase agreements, teaming agreements, subcontract agreements, and NDAs.
- Review / adjudication of terms and conditions, NDAs, supplemental agreements, and other documents with legal / contractual implications.
- Verify patients' insurance benefits, coverage limitations and liability.
Contracts specialist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 7% of Contracts Specialists are proficient in Veterans, DOD, and Contract Administration. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Math skills, and Negotiating skills.
We break down the percentage of Contracts Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Veterans, 7%
Provided diagnostic services and recommendations to Veterans in the compensation and pension process.
- DOD, 7%
Develop computer-related input/output in accordance with current procurement and administrative policies and procedures, and DoD Standard Operating Procedures.
- Contract Administration, 6%
Prepared solicitation documents, reviewed proposals, conducted negotiations, made award recommendations and carried out post award contract administration actions.
- Contract Terms, 5%
Reviewed/Analyzed and certified the operational, efficiency of negotiated contract terms in relation to DaVita's contractual standards.
- Contract Management, 5%
Coordinated proposal audits, negotiated interim and final overhead rates, documented contractor performance, and managed all contract management activities.
- Market Research, 5%
Screened purchase requests against required sources of supply, determined funds availability, conducted market research and performed contract close-out documentation.
Most contracts specialists use their skills in "veterans," "dod," and "contract administration" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential contracts specialist responsibilities here:
Analytical skills. The most essential soft skill for a contracts specialist to carry out their responsibilities is analytical skills. This skill is important for the role because "when evaluating suppliers, purchasing managers and buyers and purchasing agents must analyze their options and choose a supplier with the best combination of price, quality, delivery, or service." Additionally, a contracts specialist resume shows how their duties depend on analytical skills: "ensured maintenance of data quality standards for data entry of provider transactions and maintain accuracy in documentation daily in database. "
Math skills. Many contracts specialist duties rely on math skills. "purchasing managers and buyers and purchasing agents must possess math skills," so a contracts specialist will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways contracts specialist responsibilities rely on math skills: "conducted qualitative and quantitative consultative research contract management. "
Negotiating skills. contracts specialists are also known for negotiating skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to contracts specialist responsibilities, because "purchasing managers and buyers and purchasing agents often must negotiate the terms of a contract with a supplier." A contracts specialist resume example shows how negotiating skills is used in the workplace: "conduct market research to determine economical costs to the government through negotiating price terms and conditions for proposals/bids. "
The three companies that hire the most contracts specialists are:
- WEConnect International257 contracts specialists jobs
- Intermountain Healthcare54 contracts specialists jobs
- 3M Company51 contracts specialists jobs
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Compare different contracts specialists
Contracts specialist vs. Senior contract administrator/contract administrator
A small business specialist develops new business programs to meet changing customer demands. They are responsible for ensuring integrity and consistency in the domain of business. They analyze causes of a business issue, obtain business data, and make enquiries. They are responsible for making purchase agreements, confidentiality arrangements, and joint venture arrangement.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a contracts specialist are more likely to require skills like "veterans," "market research," "customer service," and "business administration." On the other hand, a job as a senior contract administrator/contract administrator requires skills like "proposal preparation," "government regulations," "program management," and "contract issues." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Senior contract administrators/contract administrators earn the highest salaries when working in the finance industry, with an average yearly salary of $97,980. On the other hand, contracts specialists are paid more in the government industry with an average salary of $81,199.On average, senior contract administrators/contract administrators reach similar levels of education than contracts specialists. Senior contract administrators/contract administrators are 2.9% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Contracts specialist vs. Specialist-small business
In government agencies, a Contracting Officer plays a vital role in securing contracts for different projects. They are responsible for liaising with internal and external parties, conducting research and analyses, developing plans to attain project requirements, negotiating contracts, and procuring materials according to standards. They are also responsible for supervising the administrative processes related to the deals, from planning to execution, ensuring that everything runs smoothly and efficiently. Moreover, it is essential to function as a contracting officer while adhering to government policies and regulations.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real contracts specialist resumes. While contracts specialist responsibilities can utilize skills like "veterans," "dod," "contract administration," and "contract terms," specialist-small businesses use skills like "customer relationships," "business development," "business portfolio," and "business accounts."
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Specialist-small businesses tend to reach lower levels of education than contracts specialists. In fact, they're 5.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Contracts specialist vs. Contracting officer
As a subcontract administrator, you will be responsible for identifying the needs of a company and implement measures and initiatives to fulfill those needs. This role will require you to perform a few tasks, including responding to purchase requisitions, soliciting bids and proposals from new and existing sources, and evaluating terms and awarding the subcontract. You are then expected to monitor the subcontract terms, including plans, progress, and payments. You will also be responsible for negotiating additions, modifications, and deletions of subcontracts.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a contracts specialist is likely to be skilled in "veterans," "customer service," "edition," and "purchase orders," while a typical contracting officer is skilled in "contractor proposals," "r," "construction projects," and "government agencies."
Contracting officers make a very good living in the government industry with an average annual salary of $82,685. On the other hand, contracts specialists are paid the highest salary in the government industry, with average annual pay of $81,199.When it comes to education, contracting officers tend to earn higher degree levels compared to contracts specialists. In fact, they're 5.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Contracts specialist vs. Subcontract administrator
Even though a few skill sets overlap between contracts specialists and subcontract administrators, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a contracts specialist might have more use for skills like "veterans," "contract management," "customer service," and "acquisition strategy." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of subcontract administrators require skills like "program management," "bid packages," "project management," and "procurement policies. "
The technology industry tends to pay the highest salaries for subcontract administrators, with average annual pay of $84,146. Comparatively, the highest contracts specialist annual salary comes from the government industry.The average resume of subcontract administrators showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to contracts specialists. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 0.4% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 2.9%.Types of contracts specialist
Updated January 8, 2025
