What are the Different Contract Administrator Jobs?

A contract administrator is a specialty job used by companies to manage contracts and procurement activities. There are many types of contract administrator jobs. These include contract officers, managers, tasks managers, legal policy managers, and technical oversight managers. Each role in the contract field has a specific responsibility for ensuring that contracts are awarded and managed in an ethical manner.

A contract officer technical representative is one of many contract administrator jobs. This is the company's technical business sponsor who ensures the contract work meets specifications. The technical representative plays an administrator role for the contract officer and is considered the technical expert for the business. He typically works closely with the vendor managing the work being completed.

Most companies buy products and services through contracts. Buying products is a specialty position in the contracting field because it requires reviews and research of hardware, software, and products. A contracting officer must understand the difference between product- and service-based contracts. Each type of contract has specific policy and process requirements.

A contract is a formal agreement to complete specific tasks for a specific amount of money. Creating a contract is a long process that requires proposals, bids, evaluations, and awards. This contract process is managed by the contracting officer.

The contract officer is the final arbitrator of any contract discussion. This is one the most senior contract administrator jobs available. The contract officer typically has several years of experience managing hundreds of contracts.

When a contract is created, it is written by a team of contract specialists who understand contract formatting design and layout. These are contract administrator jobs and the people who do them help to define the detailed technical elements and evaluation criteria that will be used to review the contract before it is awarded. The contact specialist helps the business translate its needs into legal documents that can be sent to vendors for proposals.

When a contract is submitted by a vendor for consideration, it goes through a formal review process known as a technical evaluation. This process is managed by a technical review panel leader. These lead positions are considered contract administrator jobs. The people who do this work must understand the rules of contracting and the business requirements for a specific contract. The leader works as a moderator for the team to review the proposals for a specific contract and must decide which vendor to select for the work.