Contract Specialist

Committed to serving global societal needs. ASTM International positively impacts public health and safety, consumer confidence, and overall quality of life. We integrate consensus standards - developed with our international membership of volunteer technical experts - and innovative services to improve lives...Helping our world work better.

ASTM provides an excellent compensation and benefits package including:

* Undergraduate and Graduate Tuition Reimbursement

* Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance

* Paid holidays, vacation and sick leave

* 403(b) plan with company match

* 100% company-funded defined benefits pension plan

Position Purpose

A Contract Specialist in the Vendor Management Office (VMO) will be responsible for negotiating contracts (both commercials and legalese) from both a buy and sell side perspective. The scope includes a wide variety of products and services, including but not limited to: sales contracts (selling ASTM products), software licensing (both SaaS and on-premise), professional services, and staff augmentation. The Contract Specialist must interact with various stakeholders including digital services, legal, sales, finance, technical committee operations, and other various business units to understand the risks involved with a particular sale or purchase, in order to mitigate any such risks contractually. The Contract Specialist will also be critical to VMO projects, by helping with commercial sourcing exercises and streamlining of contract reporting.

Organization Role

• This position reports to the Director of Vendor Management (VMO Director).
• The position functions as a team contributor and work will be directed by the VMO Director.

Responsibilities

• Act as the point person for the collection of information, feedback, and approvals from deal stakeholders (e.g., finance, operations, security, product, legal, etc.) during the contracting process for both purchasing and sales agreements.
• Draft, review, and negotiate purchasing contracts with third-party vendors and sales contracts with customers, ensuring alignment with ASTM's business and legal requirements.
• Draft and negotiate amendments, change requests, and renewals for both vendor and customer contracts.
• Liaise with ASTM Legal to assess and address contractual risks such as limits of liability, indemnification, governing law, and dispute resolution across both purchasing and sales agreements.
• Develop and implement standardized contract policies and procedures to ensure compliance, mitigate risk, and support both procurement and sales functions.
• Manage contract approvals and eSignature workflows (e.g., DocuSign) for all contract types.
• Ensure final copies of agreements are properly stored in the Contract Management Solution (CMS).
• Provide regular reporting on contract status, including daily, weekly, and monthly updates for both purchasing and sales contracts.
• Provide contract interpretation to internal clients as needed.
• This position requires a proactive approach to problem-solving and a commitment to delivering contract support to ASTM.
• Independently draft, review, and negotiate a variety of standard agreements, including NDAs, MSAs, SOWs, and licensing agreements.
• Update existing contract templates for standard agreements in collaboration with team members for both purchasing and sales contracts.

Minimum Requirements

• ~5 years of experience in contract management and/or legal support, with a strong focus on negotiating both purchasing contracts (e.g., software, SaaS, professional services) and sales/customer agreements.
• Demonstrated ability to independently draft, redline, and negotiate contracts, including providing clear commentary and rationale for proposed changes using Microsoft Word with Tracked Changes.
• Proven contract lifecycle management experience.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to prioritize and manage multiple contracts simultaneously, often under tight deadlines.
• Experience working cross-functionally with legal, finance, sales, procurement, operations, and product teams to gather input and drive contract approvals.
• Ability to interpret complex contract language and provide guidance to internal stakeholders on contractual obligations and risks.
• Comfortable working independently and proactively engaging stakeholders to resolve issues and move contracts forward.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to clearly articulate contractual positions and business impacts.
• High attention to detail and accuracy in reviewing and managing contract data.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, Word for contract editing; experience with PDF editing tools.
• Familiarity with eSignature platforms (e.g., DocuSign) and Contract Management Systems (CMS) for document storage and workflow tracking.
• Effective time management and ability to meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• A collaborative, team-oriented mindset with a commitment to continuous improvement and process optimization in contract operations.

This job description is not intended to provide an all-inclusive listing of related job activities. Associates may be requested by management to perform other related activities in place of or in addition to those representative activities noted in this job description.

ASTM International is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer Minorities/Females/Disable/Veteran