Tupande Contract Management Specialist / Senior Specialist

About

One Acre Fund is seeking a commercial and governance professional to lead and build its Contract Management function within Procurement. The role provides senior procurement and commercial leadership across the procurement lifecycle, oversees portfolio risk and contract performance, and manages a contract management team. Applicants need 5–8+ years of experience and the specified contract, commercial, technical and stakeholder-management knowledge and skills. Duty station: Kakamega, Kenya (Flexible)

How to apply

Apply online through the official advert page on One Acre Fund Careers using the “Apply now” button.

Responsibilities

• Own the Contract Management function, ensuring consistent standards, effective portfolio governance and sound commercial risk management.
• Lead and develop the contract management team, setting priorities and improving capacity through standardisation and appropriate digital tools.
• Structure and lead medium-complexity procurement work across categories from early planning through delivery and procure-to-pay completion.
• Lead supplier selection and commercial negotiations, recommending the best option within approved policies and budgets.
• Provide early commercial leadership for capital investment and other complex procurement portfolios, improving commercial readiness and reducing delivery risk.
• Establish consistent controls for contract changes and claims, including warranties or performance security.
• Ensure contractual commitments remain aligned with supplier delivery and procure-to-pay execution.
• Hold suppliers accountable for agreed performance and lead the resolution of material commercial issues.
• Represent Procurement independently, align senior stakeholders and manage complex commercial escalations.
• Use procurement and contract data to improve portfolio performance and lead organisation-wide process improvements.
• Directly manage three colleagues with accountability for team performance and portfolio delivery.
• Set priorities and allocate workload based on business demand and commercial risk.
• Own performance management and support the professional development of each team member.
• Support workforce planning and recruitment, while providing senior guidance on complex negotiations or contract disputes.

Qualifications

• 5–8+ years of experience.
• Expert knowledge of contract law, commercial terms, FIDIC/construction/equipment contracts, CAPEX procurement, and procurement governance frameworks.
• Advanced commercial negotiation, contract drafting/redlining, contract portfolio risk analysis, project management, and AI contract tool utilization.
• Data analysis skills (i.e. Google Sheets, Statistical software like R), project and contract management.
• Executive communication, matrix team leadership, strategic decision-making, conflict resolution, and cross-functional stakeholder management.
• Procurement and Supply chain skills.
• This role is only open to citizens or permanent residents of Kenya.