Subcontracts Manager in Houston, Texas at Hays Electrical Services

Position SummaryThe Subcontracts Manager is responsible for the end-to-end administration and oversight of subcontractor relationships across Hays Electrical Services’ projects and operating entities. This role establishes a consistent, enterprise-wide approach connecting contractual requirements, project performance, customer funding, subcontractor invoicing, payment administration, compliance, relationship management, and final closeout.
Serving as the central point of coordination between Project Operations, Contracts, Accounting, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Supply Chain, and subcontractors, this position ensures subcontractors are properly prequalified and contracted, aligned with applicable customer requirements, accurately invoicing against approved work, and progressed for payment in accordance with contractual terms, project funding status, and applicable payment provisions.Subcontract Administration & Contractual Compliance

• Manage the subcontractor lifecycle from prequalification and contract execution through project performance, payment, and final closeout.
• Partner with Contracts and Project Operations to ensure subcontract agreements are properly executed before work begins.
• Review prime contract and customer requirements to identify provisions that must be incorporated or flowed down into applicable subcontract agreements.
• Coordinate with Contracts and Legal to ensure subcontract terms align with Hays contractual obligations and risk requirements.
• Maintain visibility into subcontract values, approved change orders, retainage, payment terms, insurance requirements, performance obligations, and closeout requirements.
• Ensure subcontractors remain compliant with contractual, insurance, licensing, safety, tax, and documentation requirements.
• Oversee administration of master and project-specific subcontract agreements, exhibits, amendments, change orders, and related documents.

Pay-When-Paid & Project Funding Administration

• Administer subcontract payment terms including pay-when-paid, paid-if-paid where applicable and legally approved, retainage, milestone billing, and other conditional payment provisions.
• Work with Accounts Receivable, Project Accounting, and Project Operations to determine customer or general contractor funding status for subcontracted work.
• Maintain visibility into funded-through dates, customer payment applications, subcontractor billing periods, and amounts eligible for payment.
• Confirm subcontractor payment readiness aligns with contractual requirements, approved work, project funding, and established payment schedules.
• Identify and escalate funding gaps, delayed customer payments, disputed billings, threatened work stoppages, lien activity, or other material payment risks.
• Communicate payment status and requirements to subcontractors accurately and professionally while protecting Hays contractual and financial position.

Subcontractor Invoice & Payment Readiness

• Oversee validation and processing of subcontractor invoices, progress billings, and payment applications.
• Confirm invoices align to the correct project, subcontract, phase, cost code, schedule of values, billing period, and approved contractual amount.
• Validate approved work, authorized change orders, retainage, prior payments, remaining balances, and required supporting documentation.
• Coordinate resolution of invoice discrepancies, missing approvals, duplicate billings, incorrect amounts, and system issues.
• Monitor subcontractor invoice aging, payment holds, approval delays, and unresolved exceptions.
• Establish and enforce payment-readiness criteria to prevent overbilling, duplicate payment, payment beyond subcontract value, or payment for unapproved work.

Waivers, Releases & Closeout

• Manage collection, review, tracking, and retention of conditional and unconditional lien waivers, payment releases, affidavits, and other required payment documentation.
• Ensure waivers correspond to the correct project, billing period, payment amount, and subcontractor entity.
• Coordinate waiver requirements with customer, general contractor, lender, bonding, and internal contractual obligations.
• Track lower-tier subcontractor and supplier waivers when required.
• Manage final payment and closeout requirements including final waivers, consent of surety where applicable, warranties, as-built documents, punch-list completion, and other closeout deliverables.
• Maintain an auditable record of subcontractor payment and closeout documentation.

Subcontractor Prequalification, Risk & Performance

• Coordinate subcontractor prequalification with Safety, Contracts, Operations, Finance, and other stakeholders.
• Evaluate qualifications, financial capacity, safety performance, insurance coverage, licensing, experience, geographic capability, and past performance.
• Maintain approved subcontractor status and monitor qualification, concentration, financial, performance, and business-continuity risks.
• Serve as a primary enterprise contact for subcontractor administrative, invoicing, compliance, and payment-related matters.
• Partner with Project Operations to monitor subcontractor performance related to schedule, quality, safety, manpower, responsiveness, documentation, and contractual compliance.
• Establish subcontractor performance scorecards and corrective-action plans where appropriate.
• Provide leadership visibility into critical subcontractor relationships, payment exposure, performance risks, and emerging concerns.

Cross-Functional Coordination, Systems & Governance

• Coordinate with Project Managers and Project Executives on subcontract scope, progress, approvals, performance, and payment readiness.
• Partner with Project Accounting and Cost Accounting to reconcile commitments, actual costs, accruals, retainage, approved changes, and project funding.
• Coordinate with Accounts Receivable on customer billing status, funded-through dates, payment applications, and cash receipts associated with subcontracted work.
• Coordinate with Accounts Payable to ensure approved subcontractor invoices are accurately entered, supported, scheduled, and paid.
• Partner with Contracts, Safety, Risk Management, Finance, Legal, Enterprise Systems, and other stakeholders to establish consistent subcontract management standards.
• Maintain accurate subcontractor records and reporting across project, procurement, accounting, contract-management, and document-management systems.
• Develop dashboards and reporting for commitments, balances, invoices, funding, retainage, waivers, change orders, aging, prequalification, performance, and closeout.
• Establish standardized subcontract workflows, approval requirements, documentation standards, internal controls, training, and escalation paths.
• Lead or supervise subcontract administration personnel as the function grows.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Percentage of subcontractors fully prequalified before award or mobilization
• Percentage of executed subcontracts completed before work begins
• Invoice completeness, accuracy, approval, and payment-readiness cycle time
• Accuracy of subcontract balances, retainage, change orders, and funded-through reporting
• Percentage of payments supported by required waivers and releases
• Reduction in subcontractor payment disputes, work stoppages, overbilling, duplicate billing, and payment exceptions
• Compliance-document currency and subcontract closeout timeliness
• Subcontractor performance, relationship outcomes, and adherence to established controls

Qualifications & Skills – Required

• Minimum of 7 years of progressively responsible experience in subcontract administration, construction accounting, project controls, contracts, commercial management, or subcontractor management.
• Strong working knowledge of construction subcontract agreements and subcontractor administration.
• Understanding of pay-when-paid and conditional payment provisions, retainage, progress billing, schedule-of-values billing, change orders, and project closeout.
• Ability to interpret contract terms and identify subcontract flow-down requirements.
• Strong understanding of lien waivers, payment releases, notices, subcontractor prequalification, insurance, licensing, safety, financial, and compliance requirements.
• Demonstrated experience administering subcontractor invoices, progress billings, retainage, waivers, change orders, and payment requirements.
• Strong financial reconciliation, analytical, problem-solving, organizational, communication, and conflict-resolution skills.
• Ability to manage multiple projects, subcontractors, deadlines, and competing priorities while escalating material risks appropriately.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Excel and project-based ERP, accounting, procurement, or contract-management systems.

Qualifications & Skills – Preferred

• Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management, Business Administration, Accounting, Finance, Supply Chain Management, Contract Management, or related field.
• 3+ years of leadership or supervisory experience.
• Experience within electrical construction, specialty contracting, commercial construction, industrial construction, EPC, or a related project-based environment.
• Experience working across Project Operations, Contracts, Accounting, Accounts Receivable, and Accounts Payable functions.
• Experience with Vista by Viewpoint, Kojo, TradeTapp, Cobblestone, or similar platforms.

Key Internal Relationships

• Project Managers and Project Executives
• Project Accountants and Cost Accountants
• Accounts Receivable
• Accounts Payable
• Contracts and Legal
• Supply Chain and Purchasing
• Safety and Risk Management
• Finance and Accounting Leadership
• Executive and Operational Leadership
• Enterprise Systems and Information Technology

Key External Relationships

• Subcontractors
• Lower-tier subcontractors and suppliers, as applicable
• General contractors and customers
• Insurance and bonding representatives
• Compliance and prequalification service providers
• External auditors, legal counsel, and consultants, as required

Work Environment & Physical RequirementsSedentary: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to remain in a stationary position over 75% of the time, constantly operates a computer and other office productivity machinery, frequently communicates with internal and external contacts, and must be able to exchange accurate information. The employee is occasionally required to move about inside the office and handle up to 20 pounds.
Management reserves the right to change this position description at any time according to business needs.