Resume for Contract Specialist

Are you a master negotiator but need advice with writing your contract specialist resume? Check out a downloadable sample and three tips so you can write an impressive resume for contract specialists that showcases your skills and qualifications.

May 12, 2024

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A contract specialist resume sample with a blue background for the resume header and icons displayed beside the applicant's contact information

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Contract Specialist Resume Template

Personalize this template to ensure that your resume format is clear, concise, and compelling.

[Your Name]

[Your Address], [City, State]

[Your Email Address] | [Your Phone Number]

[LinkedIn Profile] (optional)

Professional Summary

Contract Specialist with 5+ years experience creating, scrutinizing, and monitoring contractual agreements between clients and organizations. Adept at utilizing effective interpersonal communication skills in building relationships with vendors and contractors. Seeking a position at [Company Name] to oversee contract processes from conception to completion, and ensure your company stays protected.

Skills

Government procurement
Proposal writing
Microsoft Excel
Organization
Project management
Grant administration
Tactical negotiation
Drafting and editing contracts
Attention to detail

Professional Experience

Contract Specialist

Reeves Construction Company, Garden City, GA | May 20XX – Present

Conduct research on regulations to ensure 26+ contracts are updated and in compliance with company and state laws
Liaise between vendors and coordinate affairs to ensure terms are fulfilled in compliance with the contract terms and regulations
Oversee the legal department and manage a team of 6 staff in implementing contract terms and resolving conflicts between contractors

Contract Specialist

Gulfstream Corporation, Savannah, GA | August 20XX – April 20XX

Determined the need for contract amendment or extension by monitoring contract performance and conducting regular evaluations
Developed, proofread, edited, and fact-checked 50+ legal documents weekly for accuracy and consistency
Worked closely with 200+ contractors by clearly explaining contract terms and ensuring all parties involved understood their contractual obligations
Quickly resolved problems as they arose and arbitrated claims or complaints that occurred in performance of contract terms

Education

Resume Genius University | Bachelor of Science in Business Management

Graduation Date: May 20XX

Average contract specialist salaries in the US

The following table includes information from O*NET Resource Center by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license, this data is pulled from the most recent US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment & Earnings report (as of 10/16/2024), featuring the top states by use.

Average contract specialist annual salaries by state

State	Salary / Year
Virginia	$81,540
California	$77,720
New York	$76,170
Texas	$67,600
Florida	$65,990
Pennsylvania	$67,040
Illinois	$73,920
Ohio	$66,100
Georgia	$66,300
North Carolina	$64,110
National Average	$69,918

How to write a contract specialist resume

Contract specialists help vendors and clients ensure all necessary contracts are executed fairly and legally. If you’re looking for a career involving customer contact and negotiation, a contract specialist role is a great way to gain experience in a new field or company, and can often lead to long-term opportunities.

While many contract specialists have a background in law or business, others come from a variety of backgrounds and industries. However, all contract specialists share one thing in common: they must prepare a well-written resume that presents their top qualifications in contract work. Here are three tips to help you write an impressive contract specialist resume:

1. Introduce yourself with a descriptive resume objective

Employers are often busy, which is why they hire contract specialists to help them sort out contracts and other legal documents. To capture their attention quickly and get them to consider you for an interview, try writing a resume objective that highlights your top skills and relevant experience in contract work.

A contract specialist resume objective is a short statement outlining your career goals and skills. Listed underneath your contact details, your resume objective should:

target the specific job you’re applying for
be between 2–4 sentences long
list your years of experience (if applicable), top skills, education, and career goals at a glance

Here’s an example of a contract specialist resume objective that successfully addresses the above points using only three sentences:

An example of a contract specialist resume objective highlighting the applicant — Outline your key skills and motivations for applying to a job using your resume objective.

2. Highlight your hard and soft skills as a contract specialist

A contract specialist resume should include a summary of your hard and soft skills in the field. Employers want to see that you have a solid understanding of contracting laws and regulations, so add hard skills to your contract specialist resume.

Hard skills (also known as technical skills) are learned from schooling, training, or practical experience. For example, your ability to understand the legal and financial nuances of a contract is an essential hard skill to have as a contract specialist.

On the other hand, soft skills show how you relate to others in a professional setting. For instance, you’ll need excellent communication skills to explain complex contract details in simpler terms to your clients. You should also list your negotiation skills to prove you can help your client renegotiate terms if one of the parties isn’t happy with the original agreement.

Here are some of the key skills for your resume as a contract specialist:

Ability to work with deadlines
Computer skills
Government procurement
Problem-solving skills
Prepare financial statements
Proposal writing
Organizational skills
Risk management
Interpersonal skills
Time management skills

3. Include hard numbers in your work experience bullet points

As you’re writing the work experience section of your resume, make sure you use hard numbers to show employers you’re a contract expert with accomplishments that set you apart from other candidates.

Try adding hard numbers such as the:

number of contracts you handled
amount of revenue you saved a company or client
size of the teams you worked with

Instead of a generic statement like “Generated money in savings for a client,” employers will be more impressed and understand the scope of your achievements if you add specific details and numbers, like in this example:

A contract specialist's work experience bullet point using hard numbers

“Negotiated a $1.2M contract between two automobile manufacturers, resulting in drawing up legal agreements within a 24-hour period”

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