The Certified Contracts Specialist will work towards meeting the strategic priorities of the Southern Andes Business Unit. This position is the point of contact in the drafting and administration workflow for all agreements. S/He provides oversight for the agreements process, ensuring compliance with internal policies and procedures and local laws. This role ensures effective tracking mechanisms to monitor the workflow process for agreements in order to help Project Managers manage their agreements, mitigate delays, and provide updates to other departments in a timely manner.

This professional will be working closely with managers and coordinators to provide advice related to agreements for the implementation of program activities (agreement type, payment schedules, deliverables, etc.) and working closely with Legal, Operations, and Grants Specialists to ensure that the terms and conditions of the agreements are appropriate for the given transaction or relationship. This position will prepare monthly reports regarding contractual due dates, payments, product delivery, expiration dates, amendments, and others to send to the Project Managers.

• Completes training to obtain certification as a Certified Contracts Specialist (CCS) within TNC and maintains active status by attending periodic trainings, working closely with the Legal Department, other CCSs, and the TNC Contracts Manager for Latin America;
• Receives agreement requests from Project Managers and uses this information to draft legal agreements using templates provided by the TNC Legal Department. Serves as the point of contact for agreement approvals from Legal, Grants, Operations, Finance, etc.
• Coordinates with Project Managers to understand programmatic needs and advise on how to meet programmatic demands in a timely manner through appropriate agreements;
• Identifies and provides training sessions to BU staff about drafting and managing agreements (especially for new or newly promoted staff).
• Acts independently within broad program goals to prioritize tasks in the absence of specific instructions and exercise independent judgment to identify and solve problems;
• Demonstrates sensitivity in handling confidential information and manages agreements in accordance with TNC standards;
• Maintains complete files for all agreements and provides accurate information to other departments (e.g., internal audit) or staff members upon request;
• Ensures compliance with TNC’s Code of Conduct, values, policies and procedures, and external (donor/legal/IRS) requirements;
• Provides input for the development and implementation of new initiatives or the improvement of existing systems related to agreements and tracking;
• Develops a strong understanding of TNC Purchasing, Grantee Due Diligence, and other procedures related to agreements and provides informal and formal training to other staff members as needed;
• Develops familiarity with TNC Risk Factors that require written agreements and helps Project Managers to identify and mitigate risks;
• Develops and maintains familiarity with TNC’s available agreement templates and liaises with Legal when new agreements are needed;
• Ensure that the proposed TNC signatory has appropriate Delegation of Authority, Power of Attorney, and/or Ministerial Delegation of Authority for each agreement;