INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Contracts Manager positions are at a 9% growth rate, which is as fast as average. With that said, there are currently 161,700 jobs in the market right now. The total number of jobs is expected to increase by 14,800 to 176,500 in the period of 2020-30.
What’s more, the median annual wage for the Contracts Manager jobs was $121,220 in May 2020. The lowest 10% earned less than $71,180, and the highest 10% more than $208,000.
Our conclusion? The Contracts Manager job market is wide open for candidates.
Top contracts manager sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
how to write the perfect contracts manager resume experience section
Contracts manager experience section: checklist
- List your positions in chronological or reverse-chronological order;
- Go for 4-6 bullet points;
- Add only relevant work experience;
- Include information about the challenges you’ve faced, the actions you’ve taken, and the results you’ve achieved;
- Use action verbs instead of filler words.
We’ve selected some of the top Contracts Manager resumes made using the Enhancv platform to illustrate what a great experience section looks like. Use them as inspiration when building your own resume:
- Ended legal bottleneck by developing contract workflow that has halved the average deal closure time from opportunity to onboarding
- Integrated SalesForce w/ DocuSign for admin staff to seamlessly populate new templates for eSignature reducing admin cost by 30%
- Created collections / account deactivation process for non-payment
- Review of all client contracts including preparation of departure schedules if required prior to execution
- Ensure all QA documentation as required under the contract is submitted by the project manager prior to lodging the claim
- Ensure payment claims are lodged in accordance with Security of Payments legislation in the relevant state
- Ensure all scope changes under the contract are identified as variations to be included in payment claims
- Validate and approve subcontractor claims
- Pre-qualification and approval of subcontractors to meet HSE and QA requirements
- Responsible for safety statistics and recording workplace injuries. Applying corrective actions to close out
- Full functions of payroll including processing, HR, employee contracts, super remittance
- ISO accreditation and internal auditing for 9001, 14001 & 4801
- Tender submissions
- Manage and support three major contracts under the Raytheon F-15 AESA Radar product line, to include the first international APG82(V)1 Radar program, which paves the way for future FMS business for F-15
- Oversee various development and production contracts, to include proposal effort, negotiations, execution, and contract closure
- Supervised direct commercial sales contracts and efforts for Japan Legacy programs
- Review customer contract proposal terms and conditions to ensure favorable negotiations positions for Raytheon and program interests
- Engage in discussions with management regarding contractual issues to ensure the program is operating sufficiently in order to provide on-time work product to the customer
- Partner with internal functions, such as Finance, Operations, Engineering, and Software, to foster cohesive interdependency
- Spearheaded an initiative to collect terms and conditions from various F-15 AESA Radar programs to create a centralized workplace to identify overlapping and divergent positions to ensure overall product line cohesiveness
- Received RI&S President's Award, S3 recognition, & F-15 Challenge Coin for work on the APG82(V)1 Qatar Development Program
- 99% client retention with a turnover of £2 million in 2014.
- Daily management of 45 staff (data entry and imaging specialists) across 5 teams in London, including the prestigious Lloyd’s of London Market, and Essex.
- Managing client relationships and conducting regular client meetings for service continuity and business development.
- Liaising with external third party suppliers (Iron Mountain, Ricoh) and managing relationships.
- Recruiting and selecting for the teams across the facilities managed contracts.
- Designing and implementing appraisal process and training plans for the teams.
- Designing of client management information reporting (monthly): KPIs, productivity volumetrics, executive summary presentation.
- 10 Residential buildings in Meydan District 1, Dubai for Azizi Developments
- Akoya Oxygen Community Recreation and Leisure Facility Center, Dubai for Damac
- Residential building at Jabel Ali Downtown Zone 1, Dubai for Reportage Prime Properties
- 3 Residential Buildings in Dubai Healthcare City, Dubai for Azizi Developments
- Amtech certificate and Pro design software for Cable calculations for submission to consultant and engineer installation
- Risk and Method statement production specific to site installations
- Lux lighting calculations using Relux and specification of luminaries
- Fire alarm and Emergency lighting design
- Production of scaled layout drawings and design of electrical installations and control circuits using
- a prime contract delivering a central government SI/applications outsourcing programme
- a central government business change subcontract within a high-profile consortium programme
- a prime IT infrastructure outsourcing engagement with a major utility company
PRO TIP
Check the Contracts Manager job description for inspiration. Look for similarities between your employer’s values and your experience.
Action verbs for your contracts manager resume
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Contracts manager resume: How to write a strong skills section
The ultimate contracts manager skills section checklist:
- Balance between all kinds of hard skills – technical, analytical, etc.
- When it comes to technical skills, match them to the job description;
- Add keywords present in the job advert to pass ATS;
- Don’t forget to list transferable skills such as communication, teamwork, work ethic, and presentation skills.
Top skills for your contracts manager resume
Microsoft Office
Project Management
Jira
Slack
Taleo
Workday
Organisation
Communication
confidentiality
Time management
Team work
Adaptability
PRO TIP
Add a Talent Section to your resume, where you can pick your top 3 soft skills and describe how you used them to complete a project or balance departmental communication.
Contracts manager resume header: tips, red flags, and best practices
Checklist for your contracts manager resume header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Some companies, states, and countries have non-discrimination policies about what kind of information can be included on your Contracts Manager resume. This might include a photo (which is often included in a resume header and might be on personal web pages you link to). You can always email the company’s HR department to ask about their policies before you apply.
Contracts manager resume summary: things to include and things to avoid
Job-winning contracts manager resume summary checklist:
- Mention your total years of experience in the field;
- Highlight one or two of your top achievements;
- Avoid getting into too much detail – you’ll do that in the experience section;
- Focus on short sentences that are easy to read and add value to your application.
Resume summary formula:
PRO TIP
Your summary section should act as a brief but informative introduction to your experience section. In this section you should go into more depth about what you have done, and how you did it.
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Highlighting education, courses, and certifications in your contracts manager resume
Education section checklist:
- What? Where? What’s the result? Answer these questions when mentioning education and courses on your resume;
- Give preference to courses and degrees that are relevant to the job position;
- Be honest! Some recruiters love checking with colleges and universities to see if you’ve really been enrolled in them;
- Share more about certifications that have helped you turn into a professional, and mention the bodies that have issued them.
Top certifications for your contracts manager resume
Introduction to Contract Management
Understand what is involved in the contract management process and put this knowledge to work with confidence.
Contract Management for Project Managers
Crash course for Project Managers and Aspirants - to learn and apply Procurement Management practices
Football Manager: become a Master Manager
Being a good Football Manager isn't easy. Failing isn't fun... This course gives you all the tools the become a legend!
Microservices Contract Testing with Pact
This Course explains Why/How to write contract tests for Testing Microservices using Pact Testing tool on Live Projects
Complete Contract Management Bootcamp: Zero to Hero
Get certified & Learn about the key and most important concepts and download 31 free tools of contract management.
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PRO TIP
If you hold a certain major and a minor, your majors should be mentioned first.
Contracts manager resume format 101
If a couple of years ago Contracts Manager resumes could be text files with no graphic elements, today’s recruiters need a bit more to remember you.
And yet, you can still choose between three basic resume formats:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional skills-based resume format;
- Combination (or Hybrid) resume format.
But when it comes to choosing the right format for your Contracts Manager resume, there are two factors to keep in mind: your experience and whether you’re looking for an industry change.
The reverse-chronological format is the most common one. That being said, it gives recruiters exactly what they’re used to in terms of order and information. However, it’s not suitable for applicants with employment gaps or not enough experience.
We at Enhancv suggest the functional skills-based resume format for people with limited work experience who find reverse-chronological resumes irrelevant. This format showcases the applicant’s most significant accomplishments, skills, and strengths.
Don’t miss our resume format checklist:
- Go for a traditional easy-to-read resume font sized 10-12p;
- Don’t risk it: choose standard 1-inch resume margins;
- Make sure your Contracts Manager resume fits in one to two pages;
- Save your resume in PDF to avoid having it edited by someone else.
Looking for more tips? Check out our job-winning guide for crafting a resume that gets you remembered!
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PRO TIP
Test your draft Contracts Manager resume by sending it out to peers and mentors in your circles. Ask them to review it as if they are hiring you for a project and implement the feedback afterwards.
Other sections for your contracts manager resume
If the position you’re applying for allows for that, you can include some non-traditional sections in your resume. This will add a bit more depth to your application and will also give the hiring manager a better idea of who you are as a person.
Some ideas include:
A contracts manager resume recruiters would love
You’ve drafted an amazing Contracts Manager resume, but are still not sure whether it will make a strong first impression? After all, recruiters go over tens of resumes each day, right?
Right! And the recipe for getting their attention includes a dash of creativity.
What’s more, a creative resume is perfect for adding your personality to the mix. For example, you could mention your favorite books, quotes, movies, or even what your day usually looks like.
Regardless of what you choose, make sure your levels of creativity match the industry, the company, and the position. Otherwise, your resume might look silly and inapt.
What makes a great contracts manager resume: key takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.
