Strategic Sourcing Leader - Contracts

Overview Microsoft Cloud Operations and Innovation (CO+I) is the team behind the cloud. We are responsible for delivering over 200 Microsoft web portals, Live and Online Services around the world including infrastructure, security and compliance, operations, globalization, and manageability. Our focus is on smart growth, high efficiency, and delivering a trusted experience to customers and partners worldwide.

We are looking for a passionate, high energy individual to help build the network that powers the world’s largest online services.

Within CO+I, the Global Supply Chain team is responsible for establishing a supply chain that can meet the ever-growing growth of the Cloud and our customers. We support a portfolio of complex, multi-disciplinary, multi-billion, multi-year datacenter construction and lease projects. Furthermore, we support the Operations team that manages and runs the cloud assets.

We are seeking a Strategic Sourcing Leader for the development of Strategy and lead the Special Projects Strategic sourcing for the brownfield projects in the data center space.

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

In alignment with our Microsoft values, we are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment for all employees to positively impact our culture every day.

As a Strategic Sourcing Contract Lead for GC, Cx , AE and other service contracts for Special Projects you will play a critical role in ensuring the successful execution of contracts related to construction special projects in the region.

You will be an influential leader and collaborate with cross-functional teams, legal experts, and external stakeholders to execute and manage contractual agreements, mitigate risks, and drive for onboarding new contractors in the site. Your attention to detail, negotiation skills, and ability to understand complex contractual landscapes across the lifecycle of the project will be essential for this role.

Responsibilities

As a Strategic Sourcing Contract Lead for GC, Cx , AE and other service contracts you will play a critical role in ensuring the successful execution of contracts related to Special projects in the region.

You will be an influential leader and collaborate with cross-functional teams, legal experts, and external stakeholders to help in indentfying new contractors and manage contractual relationsship with exhisting conractors for Special Projects. Your attention to detail, negotiation skills, and ability to understand complex contractual landscapes across the lifecycle of the project will be essential for this role.

Contract Sourcing

Leads contract and price negotiation activities for multiple purchasing categories cross-functionally and ensures that price, capacity, and strategic business needs are met, while also reflecting Microsoft's cross-functional engagements with suppliers. Identifies systematic and long-term cost reduction opportunities and works across stakeholder teams to drive cost competitiveness.

Leads collaboration with Legal and Corporate Affairs or global procurement team to negotiate Master Contract terms and conditions, independently.

Creates, maintains, and executes on multi-year sourcing strategy for several complex, projects and/or purchasing opportunities, optimizing costs, ensuring continuity of supply and/or services, and driving benchmarking and alignment across Microsoft. Works cross functionally with senior stakeholders and consults with other industry experts to inform strategy with a global view.

Leverages end-to-end sourcing and procurement expertise and benchmark data to identify, revise, and influence the definition of business requirements, manage conflicting priorities and tradeoffs, and resolve escalations to execute on sourcing strategies and solutions.

Integrates business specifications and sourcing strategies for several complex purchasing areas into request for information (RFI) and/or request for proposal (RFP) processes, models operationally efficient supplier management practices, and is accountable for strategic oversight of multi-tier supplier selection.

Manages, and improves upon supplier evaluation frameworks, identifies gaps or trends across supplier strategic business and performance reviews, and drives corrective actions. Partners with suppliers to drive innovation and improvement, transform operational capabilities, and proactively identify and manage risk.

Evaluates procedural, operational, and/or environmental factors across categories, accounting for key stakeholder relationships and dependencies, analyzing root causes of risks or issues, linking insights into improvement strategies, and influencing the adoption of needed improvements.

Contract Management:

• Oversee and manage all aspects of execution of GC, Cx,AE and other service contracts, ensuring compliance with terms and conditions.
• Collaborate with legal, procurement, and project management teams to align contract execution with project objectives.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for contractual matters related to GC, Cx, and AE projects for the region
• Support in Negotiating and issue GC contracts in alignment with project requirements and timelines for the region

Risk Management:

• Identify and mitigate risks associated with contract formation, execution, ensuring project objectives are safeguarded.
• Develop and implement risk management strategies to address contractual and operational challenges.

Supplier/Contractor Coordination:

• Coordinate with suppliers and Contractors for understanding their capacity and development of new contractors for the region.
• Manage vendor relationships, addressing issues and ensuring high-quality outcomes.

Budget and Change order Management:

• Monitor and control budgets, ensuring expenditures remain within approved limits.
• Manage the Change order and ensure proper change order management
• Prepare and submit reports, including forecasts and variance analyses.

Compliance & Reporting:

• Ensure compliance with relevant regulations, standards, and corporate policies.
• Generate regular reports on contract performance, including progress updates and issue resolution.

Project Management:

• Coordinate with cross-functional teams to align all activities with contract requirements.

Contractor Compliance

• GC Contracts
• Ensuring that the contracts are issued in the region in accordance with the standard and RFP’s
• Commissioning (Cx) Execution
• Ensure that the contractors are Overseeing the startup and commissioning of systems per the Commissioning Plan of Record (CxPoR).
• Ensure safety compliance during commissioning activities in collaboration with the General Contractor (GC).
• Issuing AE Contracts:
• Collaborate with sponsor teams, contractors, and leadership to facilitate communication and ensure on-time delivery of AE services.

Documentation & Communication:

• Maintain accurate, up-to-date documentation of contracts, amendments, change orders, and correspondence.
• Provide regular updates to stakeholders, including senior management, on contract performance and project progress.
• Manager Sponsor team meetings with the contractors.

Stakeholder Collaboration

• Drives business engagement and partnership with cross-functional teams including Planning, Strategic Sourcing, Cost Management, Engineering, Quality, Construction and Project Managers.
• Drives commercial compliance and problem resolution with General Contractors, Subcontractors and Suppliers.
• Actively partners with suppliers to identify and drive continuous improvement and risk management opportunities by evaluating procedural, operational, and/or