Senior Contracts Engineer

About the Role

OSUS is seeking a Senior Contracts Engineer to join their team in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This full-time role serves as the primary contractual reference on the owner/developer side, focusing on the preparation and control of contract documents. The position requires a deep understanding of FIDIC and Saudi law, with a strong emphasis on reviewing variations, claims, and contractors' entitlements against contractual terms and applicable legal frameworks. This role specifically excludes pricing or cost estimating responsibilities.

Key Responsibilities

• Maintain contract registers, document control, and backups for all contracts, both physical and digital.
• Coordinate effectively with project management, technical office, procurement, finance, and legal departments.
• Prepare periodic contracts status reports for the Contracts Manager.
• Contribute to the development of standard contract templates, policies, and procedures.
• Ensure strict compliance with Saudi regulations and the company's delegation of authority.
• Perform additional tasks as assigned by the line manager within the scope of work.

Pre-Contract Administration

• Prepare and review contract documents, including the form of agreement, general and particular conditions, scope of work, specifications, and appendices, ensuring consistency and a clear order of precedence.
• Draft Particular Conditions to amend FIDIC, protecting company interests by covering risk allocation, time bars, delay damages, payment terms, guarantees, insurance, termination, and dispute resolution.
• Prepare contractual sections of tender documents and respond to bidders' contractual queries.
• Conduct contractual evaluation of bids, assessing deviations, exceptions, qualifications, and compliance with contract terms.
• Negotiate contractual terms with bidders, identify contractual risks, and propose mitigation strategies.
• Draft and finalize contracts, letters of award, purchase orders, and NDAs; verify bonds, guarantees, insurances, authorized signatories, and counterparty registrations before signature.

Post-Contract Administration

• Administer awarded contracts and monitor all parties' obligations, notices, and time bars.
• Review contractors' entitlements in interim and final payment applications against the contract and applicable law, including retention, advance payment recovery, deductions, delay damages, and set-off. Quantities are verified by the project team.
• Review variations and change orders: determine validity, assess entitlement, and establish the contractual basis of valuation (FIDIC Clause 13); maintain the variations register.
• Assess contractor claims for time and cost under FIDIC Clause 20: evaluate notice compliance, contractual basis, and entitlement; draft responses and counter-claims.
• Support Engineer's determinations (FIDIC Clause * and dispute resolution through DAAB, arbitration, or courts.
• Prepare contractual correspondence, notices, warnings, and termination letters when required.
• Track bonds, guarantees, insurances, and retention, ensuring timely renewals before expiry.
• Manage contract close-out, including review of final account entitlements, release of retention and guarantees, final discharge, and lessons learned.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Civil or Architectural Engineering.
• 8–12 years of relevant experience, with at least 5 years specifically in contract administration or contracts management.
• Demonstrated experience with a real estate developer or owner organization.
• In-depth knowledge of FIDIC 1999 and 1987 (Red Book), particularly concerning variations, claims, determinations, payment, and termination.
• Advanced proficiency in Excel and MS Office Suite.

Application Process

Candidates meeting the above qualifications are encouraged to apply. Salary details will be discussed during the interview process.