Director of Contracts

Job Description

Position: Director of Contracts

Position Number: H26-012

Status: Full-Time (Exempt)

Reports to: Chief Financial Officer / Executive Leadership

Location: Remote/Indiana Based

The Director of Contracts provides strategic leadership, executive oversight, and operational direction for the Applied Research Institute’s (ARI) end-to-end contracting and agreement functions. This role is responsible for shaping organizational acquisition strategy, managing complex federal, state, academic, and commercial portfolios, and driving systemic compliance.

The ideal candidate is an executive leader who combines deep expertise in federal acquisition regulations (FAR/DFARS) and non-traditional instruments with high-level negotiation capabilities and team management skills. They will establish robust contract infrastructure, mitigate enterprise-level risk, and ensure the contracts department scales effectively to support ARI’s rapid growth and innovation ecosystem.

Core Responsibilities

1. Departmental Leadership & Strategic Portfolio Management

• Department Oversight: Lead, mentor, and build a high-performing contracts team (including Contract Managers and Contract Specialists). Set performance metrics, workflows, and quality control standards across all agreement actions.
• Enterprise Acquisition Strategy: Establish governance frameworks, internal SOPs, and scalable contract management policies that align with ARI’s strategic goals across defense, state, and academic sectors.
• Executive Advisory: Serve as the principal advisor to ARI executive leadership and cross-functional teams (Finance, Legal, Technical) on complex contractual risks, deal structures, and regulatory changes.

2. Full-Lifecycle & Non-Traditional Agreement Oversight

* Instrument Architecture: Oversee the drafting, negotiation, and execution of high-value, complex FAR/DFARS-based contracts, Other Transaction Authority (OTAs)