Contracts Manager

Project

The Woodfibre LNG Project is located approximately 7 km west-southwest of Squamish, British Columbia. It involves the development of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) liquefaction and export facility on the previous Woodfibre pulp mill site, which would have a storage capacity of 250,000 m3 and would produce approximately 2.1 million tons per year of LNG.

Woodfibre Management Ltd. is a privately held Canadian company based in Vancouver and a subsidiary of Pacific Energy Corporation Limited.

Position

The Contracts Manager is an integral part of Woodfibre LNG’s dynamic project management team. This position will lead and be responsible for the administration, compliance, negotiation, and execution of contractual obligations of the parties as executed between Woodfibre LNG and its primary EPC Contractor (McDermott). The Contracts Manager will defend WLNG’s contractual rights, ensure timely and appropriate contracting contractual and legal compliance.  The role will interface with the EPC Contractor and directly manage several major subcontracts for civil, modules installation and hookup, marine construction and workers accommodation.  The successful candidate reports directly to the Manager of EPC Contracts and Claims, will interface directly with the Project Director and WLNG Project Management Team and will play an essential part in supporting the company’s engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning teams through the execution phase of the project.

Key Responsibilities:

The successful applicant will:

• Provide leadership in the development and implementation of contracting strategies, standards, processes, systems and plans for the LNG EPC project to be constructed in British Columbia, Canada.
• Be responsible for the management of the EPC Contractor, the associated correspondence and change logs under the EPC Contract and the small internal EPC Contracts Team.
• Take part in management and commercial meetings, both internally and externally, with senior management of WLNG, shareholders, the EPC Contractor, subcontractors/sub suppliers as required and as stipulated within the contracts.
• Maintain open and clear communications with the WLNG legal counsel and external legal counsel in the interpretation and administration of the EPC contracts and solicit their counsel and advice as necessary.
• Provide leadership, advice and management of any immediate and current commercial and contractual issues/concerns to company senior management and project management team members, ensuring Company’s contractual position is maintained and conveyed to EPC Contractor and associated subcontractors; interface with other Woodfibre LNG project team groups as necessary to gather information and deliverables necessary to carry out contract activities.
• Support any required guidance to the EPC contractor and subcontract bidders during market engagement by way of contributing to pre-qualifications, invitations to tender, tender engagement and management, evaluations, clarification queries and responses and negotiations leading to subcontract awards.
• Prepare correspondence as required to EPC contractor to defend Company’s contractual rights and entitlements when contractor and/or subcontractors.
• Prepare correspondence to EPC contractor as required to answer contractor and subcontractor queries, while defending Company’s contractual rights and entitlements.
• Prepare amendments, change order requests and change orders as directed by company management where alterations to the contracts are deemed necessary, ensuring that the appropriate management approvals are obtained before authorizing work to proceed.
• Interface with EPC contractor and with subcontractor contract administrators as required to ensure timely interpretation and implementation of the contracts, minimizing potential areas of misunderstanding, disagreement, or miscommunication.
• Maintain oversight of all contractual communications issued by the EPC contractor and associated subcontractors, including weekly and monthly status reports, ensuring the timeliness and accuracy of the information presented, raising written rebuttals as necessary where corrections are required.
• Maintain change order and correspondence logs to ensure the timeliness and accuracy of contractual communications, ensuring that all contractual queries are provided with a response.
• Provide contracts management over various direct Woodfibre contracts that may be awarded and executed during site construction activities.

Required Experience:

• Minimum 15 years’ experience working in a client EPC contract organization in the Oil and Gas industry, with LNG/refinery/petrochemical project experience in Canada preferred.
• Minimum 10 years’ experience in EPC lump sum, unit rates and reimbursable contracting and administration.
• Minimum 5 years’ experience in a client EPC organization in a team lead or supervisory position.
• Experience in contract negotiations as lead and support change and claims management.
• Team player with proven management and leadership skills.
• Strong interpersonal, written and oral communication skills.
• Capable of preparing correspondence, reports and presentations in a timely manner.
• Able to build relationships quickly in multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural environments.
• Project planning / execution / organization skills.

Additional Requirements:

• Communication/interpersonal skills – to be able to interact with front line workers through to management and all hierarchical levels.
• Accepts ownership, responsibility and demonstrates commitment to delivery of tasks and targets.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to be Innovative and vision-oriented with demonstrated ability to undertake both strategic planning and implementation.
• Ability to work well under pressure and handle multiple tasks and changing priorities within tight time frames.
• Demonstrates and seeks accountability within team. 
• Ability to work collaboratively within a multi-discipline team environment.
• Expertise with MS Office and document management computer software.
• Motivated and willing to take ownership of tasks.
• This position will be primarily based at the Project site, in Squamish, BC, with opportunities, and potential flexibility, to also work out of Pacific Energy’s other offices in Calgary, AB, Houston, TX and internationally.

Please note only qualified candidates with work authorization in Canada will be contacted.

Thank you in advance for your interest!

Woodfibre Management Ltd. is an equal opportunity employer.