What Does a Contract Analyst Do?

A contract analyst protects the interests of a particular entity during contractual negotiations with employees, business partners and other organizations. Some contractual disputes result in costly court battles and analysts are tasked with preventing these situations from occurring. Additionally, people employed in these roles may be responsible for finding ways to cut costs by amending verbiage in standard contractual agreements.

Typically, anyone employed as a contract analyst must have completed a college degree in business administration or a related topic. During these courses, students learn about different types of agreements including purchase, employment and financing contracts, and people employed in these roles may have to deal with all of these types of documents on a regular basis. Some firms prefer to hire people who have completed law degrees while other companies reserve contract analyst roles for people who are licensed attorneys, since these individuals not only have an understanding of these documents but can also represent the firm in court if a dispute results in legal action.

In many areas, businesses are impacted by local, national and even international contract laws. Analysts must have a broad knowledge of these laws and must update company procedures and policies whenever legislative changes cause these rules to be amended. Individuals who are not licensed to practice law may frequently liaise with attorneys who have expertise in real estate transactions, employment rights, liability cases and other types of legal matters. Typically, human resources personnel, procurement managers and other company employees must ask the contract analyst to review and approve documents before these contracts can be distributed for general use.

Aside from limiting a firm's liability during legal disputes, a contract analyst must also gather information about industry trends and the types of clauses that are being inserted into competitor's agreements. If other firms begin offering company cars to executives or including expense accounts in standard employment agreements then the contract analyst must weigh the pros and cons of adding such clauses to the firm's labor agreements. Likewise, if other firms eliminate clauses that provide employees with health insurance or other types of benefits then the analyst must assess the impact of making such a move. When these situations arise, this individual may draft a report that details the cost savings and the potential long-term impact if employees react in a negative way to such a move.

In addition to using certain verbiage and ensuring that legal documents are cost efficient, people employed in these roles have to ensure that contracts are formatted correctly. Laws in many areas specify the type of paper, the ink and the print font that should be used on legal documents. The analyst must ensure that company employees comply with the laws and that these documents can be mass produced in a cost effective manner.