Principal Contracts Specialist

Date Posted:

2026-04-21

Country:

United Kingdom

Location:

Harlow, Essex

Position Role Type:

Hybrid

Benefits:

• £: Competitive salary
• Contributory Pension Scheme (up to 10.5% company contribution)
• 6 times salary ‘Life Assurance’ with pension
• 25 days holiday (increasing with service) + statutory public holidays, plus opportunity to buy and sell up to 5 days (37hr)
• Company bonus scheme (discretionary)
• Flexible Benefits scheme with extensive salary sacrifice schemes, including Health Cashplan, Dental, and Cycle to Work amongst others
• Enhanced sick pay
• Enhanced family friendly policies including enhanced maternity, paternity & shared parental leave

Work Culture

• 37hr working week, although hours may vary depending on role, job requirement or site-specific arrangements.
•  Early 1.30pm finish Friday, start your weekend early!
• Remote, hybrid and site based working opportunities, dependant on your needs and the requirements of the role.
• Up to 5 paid days volunteering each year.
• Flexible working culture focused on output, with more formal flexible working arrangements on request (assessed subject to role) - please highlight any requests to the Talent Acquisition team.

About us

At Raytheon UK, we take immense pride in being a leader in defence and aerospace technology. As an employer, we are dedicated to fuelling innovation, nurturing talent, and fostering a culture of excellence.

Joining our team means being part of an organisation that shapes the future of national security whilst investing in your growth and personal development. We provide a collaborative environment, abundant opportunities for professional development, and a profound sense of purpose in what we do. Together, we are not just advancing technology; we're building a community committed to safeguarding a safer and more connected world.

Our Business

As a leading defence and aerospace company operating across the United Kingdom, Raytheon UK helps to solve our customers’ toughest challenges. We are a major supplier to the UK government and customers around the globe, providing defence solutions across all domains: land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace. We also provide digital and training transformation solutions to commercial and military customers.

With circa 2000 employees and major facilities operating throughout the UK including Broughton (Wales), Livingston and Glenrothes (Scotland), and Harlow, Gloucester, and Manchester (England); we are committed to investing in British careers and technology development.

TTS

Through advanced technology and our people’s expertise, our Training Transformation Services is modernising what’s possible in the training and preparation of our armed forces. With a real blended approach to learning and using the latest innovative systems and technology, we ensure our service men and women really are prepared for any situation.

About the role:

As a highly valued contracts and commercial specialist you are expected to be a business enabler, supporting both the winning and subsequent delivery of a profitable business.  Making our company one that our customers see as easy to contract with and work with through the delivery of their programmes.  You will provide contractual and commercial governance and advice to the bid and project teams as the subject matter expert in your contracting area, support multiple contracts and provide flexibility as the business requires.

Main Duties:

• Provide full contractual and commercial support through development, approval and issuance of bids and proposals, whether in response to RFP/ITN or as part of the company strategy.
• Identify any commercial risk, provide input to the overall risk plan and implement effective risk mitigation.
• Lead in the negotiation of contracts.
• Manage new and existing contracts effectively, including all contract change control and support to the other functions, including contract flow-downs. 
• Resolve all commercial issues promptly and effectively.
• Manage the financial aspects of the contract, including forecasting and milestone plans (including timely claim submission).
• Be the commercial face of the organisation to the customer, as the day to day contact and subject matter expert.
• Assure the successful completion, closedown and archive of contracts.
• Be the champion of change and improvement.

Candidate Requirements:

Essential:

• Eligible for SC Clearance
• Relevant degree or equivalent experience.
• Experience in reviewing and drafting contractual documents
• Strong commercial awareness, business principles and governing law.
• Experience of commercial risk management.
• An ability to respond to tasks with tenacity and flexibility, whilst working cross functionally in a multi-disciplinary team.
• Strong communicator and relationship builder with both internal and external customers.
• An ability to remain calm under pressure and collaborate with others.
• Positive, self-motivated and the ability to work independently.
• A willingness and ability to travel occasionally (outside of Hybrid working).

Desirable:

• Previous experience of contracting in the Defence sector.
• Accreditation in Commercial and Supply Chain management.
• Basic programme management skill set – Risk Management/Programme Gating/ Metrics.
• Strong record of problem solving and dispute resolution.
• Experience of working with international suppliers or customers.
• Experience of Financial Management.
• Awareness of Data Protection and other relevant commercial and contract legislation.
• Familiarity with business process management tools (IPDS, SAP or similar) and the competitive bidding process.

Please ensure the role type defined below is appropriate for your needs before applying to this role. This position is classified as:

Hybrid: Employees who are working in Hybrid roles will work regularly both onsite and offsite. Ratio of time working onsite will be determined in partnership with your leader.

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RTX adheres to the principles of equal employment. All qualified applications will be given careful consideration without regard to ethnicity, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.  

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