Contract & Claims manager

Contract & Claims Manager

At ABB, we are dedicated to addressing global challenges. Our core values: care, courage, curiosity, and collaboration - combined with a focus on diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunities - are key drivers in our aim to empower everyone to create sustainable solutions. That's our story. Make it your story.

This position reports to

Vice President - Marine Service & Digital Central Europe

Your role and responsibilities

In this role, you will have the opportunity to lead the provision of contract management services within the assigned area of responsibility, ensuring that all contract management activities are executed in accordance with the relevant corporate/division/business policies and procedures, as well as the Contract Management Policy and Contract Management Framework. Each day, you will ensure that the portfolio of contracts in the business follows contract and claim management methodologies in accordance with internal standard procedures. You will also showcase your expertise by reviewing and commenting on commercial and technical tender terms and conditions. The work model for the role is: hybrid.

This position plays a key role in supporting the Marine & Ports division in Rotterdam, while also providing support to other divisions within the Business Area Process Automation, including Measurement & Analytics and Process Industries. You will be mainly accountable for:

• Contract portfolio - governance - Ensures the portfolio of contracts in the business, follows contract and claim management methodologies in accordance with internal standard procedures.
• Tender preparation and negotiations
  • Reviews and comments on commercial and technical tender terms and conditions.
  • Develops contract strategy based on ABB’s policies, customer requirements, and the overall execution strategy taking into account risk, pricing, scope, and schedule.
• Contract execution (from project kick-off to project closure)
  • Identifies the contract baseline (including terms and conditions, specifications, drawings, estimate, proposal, schedule and other documents incorporated in the contract) and highlights areas of potential risk.
  • Ensures timely and accurate execution of commercial aspects in portfolio of contracts (i.e. payments, claims, variation orders, warranties, provisions, guarantees, etc.).
• Contract closure
  • Verifies that both parties to the contract have fulfilled their contractual obligations and there are no responsibilities outstanding.
  • Assesses success of the contract and determines if there are any lessons learned for future contracting.
  • Documents and communicates to all appropriate parties any deficiencies found as part of the closeout process.
• Contract and claims
  • Establishes and enforces standard change methodologies in portfolio of contracts to identify changes and quantify the additional time and compensation due to ABB per the contract, defines approval requirements and communicates changes to the customer.
  • Enforces and defends ABB's contractual interests against customers and suppliers during the whole of a project lifecycle, including monitoring and assessment of changes and deviations, as well as defending and enforcing claims.
  • In concert with Legal, develops the negotiation strategy and supports negotiations.
  • Supports Legal in handling formal dispute resolution, litigation, and arbitration.
  • Notifies and liaises with Legal to report major claims and keeps Legal updated of any critical development during project execution.
• Purchasing
  • Supports drafting of Purchase Orders, Contracts and Subcontracts and ensures that relevant (sub) contracts contain appropriate contract terms to protect ABB’s interest, including flow-down of main contract terms.
• Risk management
  • Analyzes contract terms to highlight areas of potential opportunity and risk, such as ambiguities, omissions and conflicts, as work proceeds.
  • Seeks advice from Legal to draft, negotiate and finalize agreements during the Sales and Project Execution phases.
  • Develops and implements risk mitigation and opportunity plan in concert with Global Project Operations Manager and/or Global Business Unit Manager or Global Product Group Manager.
• Insurance
  • Ensures contract insurance provisions are adhered to and coordinates with Insurance Risk Management regarding occurrences that may be covered by customer or ABB provided insurance.
• Export controls
  • Seeks advice from Legal and Export Control(Trade Compliance) to ensure accurate handling of all export control matters and ensures close review of all contracts and projects with regard to restrictions on exports, considering countries, customers or products involved and the respective laws and ABB regulations.

Our team dynamics: Join a rapidly growing department where you’ll be part of an ambitious and dynamic team. We combine a professional approach with a warm atmosphere, ensuring a workplace where flexibility, collaboration, and personal growth go hand in hand. In this role, you’ll be actively contributing to a more sustainable future in a thriving and innovative market. Your work will have a real impact, and you’ll be surrounded by passionate colleagues who share the drive to make a difference. If you're looking for a career with purpose, flexibility, and the opportunity to grow alongside evolving industries, this is the place for you!

Qualifications for the role

• A degree in Business Administration, Commercial Law, or a related field, with several years of experience in contract management or commercial project management.
• At least 7 years of hands-on experience in contract law, including contract drafting, review, and auditing.
• Possession of a law degree or a license to practice law is highly desirable and will be considered a valuable asset for this role.
• Proven ability to lead commercial contract negotiations (e.g. payment terms, general terms and conditions), with a strong understanding of business contracts.
• Fluent in Dutch and English, both spoken and written.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with business stakeholders.
• Strong negotiation and persuasion skills, with a high level of assertiveness and a hands-on mentality.
• Able to work independently, while being team-spirited and solution-oriented with a pragmatic approach.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and stress-resistant.

More about us

What Does ABB Offer You? A challenging full-time position (40 hours) within an international organization. ABB is committed to your personal and professional growth, offering training, education, and development opportunities. Additionally, you can expect:

• A competitive salary based on your knowledge and experience.
• A 13th-month salary.
• 40 days off (27 vacation days and 13 ADV days).
• An excellent pension plan.
• Flexible working hours.
• A company phone and laptop.
• An annual reimbursement of €250 for a gym membership.
• Daily fresh fruit at the office.
• Participation in ABB's share program.

ABB is a global technology leader in electrification and automation, enabling a more sustainable and resource-efficient future. By connecting its engineering and digitalization expertise, ABB helps industries run at high performance, while becoming more efficient, productive and sustainable so they outperform. At ABB, we call this ‘Engineered to Outrun’. The company has over 140 years of history and more than 105,000 employees worldwide. The Marine & Ports division leverages ABB’s electric, automated and digital technologies to enable safer, smarter and more sustainable marine and ports industries. ABB Marine & Ports provides solutions from grid to propeller, and ship to gate, including the pioneering Azipod® propulsion, electric and hybrid technologies, port automation and electrification systems and digital innovations. We value people from different backgrounds. Could this be your story?