SAIC has an opening for a Contracts Senior Principal. For the right candidate,
this position may be remote anywhere in the United States.
About SAIC's Business Management Organization
SAIC's Business Management function encompasses the full acquisition value chain
— from customer engagement and strategy development on the sell side, to program
execution, strategic alliances, supply chain management, and subcontractor
development on the buy side, to internal finance. Our team of dynamic
acquisition professionals provides critical support across key business areas,
including Mission IT, Integration, Engineering Services, SETA, and Professional
Services, serving both external and internal customers.
Role Overview
SAIC's Business Management organization is seeking an experienced and highly
adaptable Contracts Senior Principal to manage contracts and proposals within
the Air Force, Space and Intelligence Business Group, specifically supporting
the Defense and Civil Space Market. The successful candidate will serve as a
strategic partner to key stakeholders throughout the capture, proposal, and
contract execution phases, bringing a high level of federal government
contracting expertise and a proactive, solutions-oriented mindset.
The ideal candidate demonstrates exceptional autonomy. They will proactively
identifying challenges and opportunities without prompting. They are confident,
organized, detail-oriented, and skilled at building collaborative relationships
while managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
Key Responsibilities
At the Senior Principal level, certain professional standards are assumed,
including exceptional written and oral communication, the ability to engage and
influence senior stakeholders, cross-organizational coordination, independent
problem solving, and a continuous commitment to industry awareness and
professional development. What follows reflects the depth, complexity, and
strategic impact we expect from the right individual that are in supplement to
base level skills.
Serve as the primary strategic interface with customer contacts, including
Contracting Officers and acquisition specialists; cultivate and maintain
strong, trust-based relationships at all levels of the customer organization,
including fostering the kind of accessible, responsive engagement that senior
customer leadership values and expects; demonstrate interpersonal agility
across a wide range of customer personalities and communication styles; lead
negotiations with a flexible, solutions-oriented mindset — recognizing that
some positions must be held firmly while others present opportunities to
create mutually beneficial outcomes; consistently pursue resolutions that
protect SAIC's interests while leaving the customer assured they have been
heard, are respected, and are being well-served.
Demonstrate sophisticated, hands-on proficiency with innovative and
alternative acquisition mechanisms, including Other Transaction Authorities
(OTAs), Commercial Solutions Openings (CSOs), Broad Agency Announcements
(BAAs), and prototype project proposals; serve as a trusted advisor to
business and program leadership, providing clear, experience-based counsel on
the real-world trade-offs of each vehicle across intellectual property
rights, data rights, competitive positioning, cost and pricing
considerations, organizational conflict of interest implications, and
long-term program implications.
Possess a sophisticated understanding of the non-traditional defense
contractor (NTDC) landscape, including the ability to structure and negotiate
effective teaming and partnership arrangements with NTDCs while strategically
positioning SAIC's scale, past performance, and enterprise capabilities to
compete and win in OTA and other innovation-focused acquisition environments.
Demonstrate experience with consortium-based OTA models, including
familiarity with leading consortium managers such as NSTXL, SOSSEC, and
similar organizations; understand how to effectively navigate consortium
membership, project call responses, and agreement structures to position SAIC
competitively within these vehicles.
Apply a sophisticated and hands-on understanding of Organizational Conflict
of Interest (OCI) identification, assessment, and mitigation; serve as the
primary author of OCI mitigation plans, including proactively drafting
initial plans, developing mitigation strategies, and authoring updates in
response to emergent concerns or evolving program circumstances. Demonstrate
the initiative and expertise to drive OCI mitigation strategy forward, taking
clear ownership of plan authorship as a core contracts function
responsibility, consistently delivering complete, well-reasoned, and
actionable mitigation strategies to program leadership for review and
approval, ensuring plans remain current, accurate, and defensible throughout
the program lifecycle.
Demonstrate the ability to review, analyze, and interpret contractual
documents with a depth of understanding that goes beyond procedural
compliance; assess adherence to company policy, government specifications,
and master agreement requirements while recognizing the practical, real-world
legal implications of contractual language and obligations; advise business
and program leadership on contractual rights, obligations, and terms and
conditions with confidence and clarity, while exercising the professional
judgment to recognize when an issue warrants escalation to SAIC's in-house
legal counsel.
Educate internal and external partners on contracting strategies, marketplace
dynamics, and competitive approaches; share insights that elevate team
thinking and clearly communicate trade-off considerations.
Apply a strategic mindset focused on driving innovation and adapting to an
evolving business and regulatory landscape.
QUALIFICATIONS
Required Education and Experience
Bachelor's degree in Business Administration or a related discipline with 15
years of relevant experience; or a Master's degree in Business Administration
or a related discipline with 13 years of relevant experience. An additional
4+ years of experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
U.S. Citizenship required.
Required Skills and Qualifications
Extensive cost proposal experience.
Thorough understanding and broad application of contract administration
principles, concepts, practices, and standards.
In-depth knowledge of relevant laws, regulations, and policies governing
assigned contracts, including the FAR as well as the RFO, Truthful Cost or
Pricing Data, and GAAP.
Strong knowledge of industry practices in federal government contracting.
Proven experience in contract risk management and negotiation.
Demonstrated experience with Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements,
including prototype OTAs, follow-on production transactions, and
consortium-based OTA models; working knowledge of the statutory and
regulatory framework governing OTA use and limitations.
Strong proposal writing skills, including the ability to develop, structure,
and review technically and contractually compliant proposals across a variety
of contract types and acquisition vehicles, including OTA white papers,
prototype project proposals, and other short-form submissions where concise,
high-impact writing is essential; demonstrated ability to communicate complex
technical and contractual concepts with precision and economy within strict
page limitations; experience with both FAR-based and non-FAR-based proposal
environments preferred.
Ability to synthesize complex legal and contractual topics and communicate
them clearly to collaborators across diverse backgrounds and disciplines.
Effective critical thinking skills with the ability to quickly assimilate and
act on new information.
Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage a fluctuating
workload and competing priorities.
Reliable, structured, risk-aware, agile, and creative — consistently
delivering on commitments.
SAIC® [http://www.saic.com/] is a premier mission integrator focused on
advancing the power of technology and innovation to serve and protect our world.
Our robust portfolio of offerings across the defense, space, intelligence, and
civilian markets includes secure high-end solutions in mission IT, enterprise
IT, engineering services, and professional services. We integrate emerging
technology, rapidly and securely, into mission critical operations that
modernize and enable critical national imperatives.
We are approximately 23,000 strong; driven by mission, united by purpose, and
inspired by opportunities. SAIC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Headquartered
in Reston, Virginia, SAIC has annual revenues of approximately $7.3 billion. For
more information, visit saic.com [http://www.saic.com/]. For ongoing news,
please visit our newsroom [http://www.saic.com/who-we-are/newsroom/].