Contract Innovation Manager Jobs in Ohio (NOW HIRING)

At Flynn Group, we believe in the power of collaboration and value in-person interactions. This is why our employees work from the office four days per week, leaving Fridays to work from home. This setup cultivates casual conversations, problem-solving, and trusted relationships. Our goal is to create an environment where innovation thrives, with office-based teams coming together four days a week to collaborate and thrive, together!

Our Vision for This Role

The Contract Lifecycle Manager owns and continuously improves the end-to-end lifecycle of supplier and commercial agreements, from intake and drafting through review, negotiation, execution, administration, renewal, and termination. This role partners with Procurement, Legal, Operations, Finance, Accounts Payable, and other key business functions to ensure agreements are accurately documented, commercially sound, operationally practical, and aligned with organizational requirements.

A central focus of the position is reading, interpreting, and editing contract terms. The Contract Lifecycle Manager will review supplier paper and company templates, identify non-standard or unfavorable language, prepare clear redlines and business recommendations, and coordinate appropriate escalation to Legal or functional leaders. This role does not replace legal counsel and is expected to recognize when specialized legal review is required.

ROLE IMPACT Build a disciplined contracting process that improves visibility, strengthens commercial outcomes, reduces avoidable risk, and helps the business act on key obligations before deadlines are missed.

What We Will Accomplish Together

Contract Review, Drafting & Negotiation Support

• Review, interpret, and edit commercial contract terms using company templates, playbooks, approved clauses, and established escalation protocols.
• Prepare and manage redlines, compare proposed language against preferred positions, and clearly summarize material changes, business impacts, open issues, and recommended next steps.
• Review key provisions including scope, pricing, payment, term and renewal, termination, service levels, warranties, confidentiality, data privacy and security, intellectual property, insurance, indemnification, limitation of liability, dispute resolution, assignment, audit rights, and compliance obligations.
• Identify non-standard, ambiguous, inconsistent, or commercially unfavorable language and coordinate resolution with suppliers and internal stakeholders.
• Draft and revise agreements, amendments, statements of work, exhibits, schedules, and related documents within approved authority and templates.
• Partner with Legal on complex, high-risk, regulated, or non-standard terms, ensuring legal guidance is incorporated accurately into the final agreement.
• Support supplier negotiations by developing issue lists, fallback positions, and practical alternatives that protect the organization while enabling business objectives.

End-to-End Contract Lifecycle Management

• Manage agreements from intake, drafting, review, negotiation, approval, and signature through implementation, administration, amendment, renewal, and termination.
• Load and maintain new and existing agreements in the Source to Pay platform, ensuring executed documents, versions, supporting records, and approvals are complete and accessible.
• Maintain accurate contract metadata to support spend visibility, reporting, searchability, ownership, and compliance.
• Track key provisions, obligations, renewal dates, notice periods, price adjustments, service levels, termination rights, and other milestones; notify accountable stakeholders with sufficient time to act.
• Coordinate contract execution and ensure required approvals and signatures are obtained before products or services begin, as appropriate.
• Support contract terminations, site closures, supplier disputes, due diligence, and acquisition integration activities.
• Assist management and business owners with contract adherence, obligation tracking, and resolution of identified gaps.

CLM Governance, Process & Systems

• Administer and improve contract-related functionality within Coupa and connected Source to Pay processes.
• Maintain contract templates, clause libraries, guidance, forms, workflows, and standard operating procedures in partnership with Legal and Procurement leadership.
• Develop reporting and dashboards for contract status, cycle time, renewals, expirations, obligations, exceptions, and data quality.
• Identify process bottlenecks and recommend scalable improvements that strengthen controls and improve the stakeholder experience.
• Promote consistent intake, review, approval, execution, and record-retention practices across the enterprise.
• Provide guidance and training to users on contract intake, business terms, redlining practices, CLM tools, and escalation requirements.

Sourcing & Supplier Enablement

• Prepare and facilitate sourcing events in the Source to Pay platform, with emphasis on ensuring sourcing outcomes translate into complete and enforceable contract terms.
• Partner with Procurement, Accounts Payable, Operations, Finance, and other decision-makers on supplier enablement and Source to Pay functionality.
• Assist with identifying sourcing opportunities and provide reporting or analysis to support supplier and vendor performance discussions.
• Ensure negotiated commercial commitments, incentives, rebates, pricing structures, and performance requirements are accurately reflected in final agreements.

Competencies

• Contract Analysis: Reads contract language carefully, recognizes commercial and operational implications, and converts complex terms into clear business guidance.
• Writing & Redlining: Produces accurate, concise, and internally consistent contract edits, summaries, and negotiation documentation.
• Risk Judgment: Distinguishes routine business issues from matters requiring Legal, Privacy, Information Security, Finance, or leadership review.
• Influence: Builds alignment across functions and advances decisions without relying on direct authority.
• Relationship Management: Develops credible, service-oriented relationships with business leaders, suppliers, and functional partners.
• Project Management: Manages multiple contracts and deadlines simultaneously while maintaining accuracy and follow-through.
• Business Acumen: Understands procurement, sourcing, financial drivers, supplier relationships, and the operational consequences of contract terms.
• Communication: Explains contract issues and options in a concise, practical manner for both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Continuous Improvement: Uses data, stakeholder feedback, and process analysis to improve contract workflows, controls, and adoption.
• Attention to Detail: Maintains disciplined version control, metadata, documentation, and quality standards throughout the lifecycle.

What You Have

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Finance, Legal Studies, or a related field is preferred.
• Five or more years of relevant experience in contract management, procurement, sourcing, contract administration, paralegal support, or an adjacent commercial role.
• Three to five years of hands-on sourcing and contracting experience, including demonstrated experience reading, interpreting, redlining, and editing commercial contract terms.
• Working knowledge of common commercial provisions and the ability to explain their business implications and escalate issues appropriately.
• Experience managing multiple agreements across different stages of the contract lifecycle.
• Proficiency in Microsoft 365, particularly Word and Excel; strong capability using tracked changes, comments, document comparison, and structured contract review practices.
• Experience with Coupa or another contract lifecycle management platform is strongly preferred.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, sound judgment, strong organization, and consistent follow-through.
• A collaborative, practical, and service-oriented approach, along with the confidence to challenge unclear terms and advocate for the organization.

Why Work for Flynn?

Flynn Group offers a variety of benefits and perks to encourage and empower our employees. We are committed to helping each employee work and live to his or her fullest potential. We offer a variety of benefits and perks while working for us:

• Medical/Dental/Vision
• Retirement and Savings Plan
• Short- and Long-Term Disability
• Basic Life Insurance
• Voluntary Life Insurance
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Paid Time Off
• Flexible/Hybrid Work Schedules (In Office Monday - Thursday, Work from Home Friday)
• Company Outings
• Dining Discounts
• On-Site Fitness Center
• On-Site Daycare
• On-Site Cafe
• FUN Work Environment!

The Flynn Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer