--- title: 'Contract Specialist at Red Cell Partners' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/contract-specialist-red-cell-partners-mclean-2yjmfwvkct9j' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-10-30' --- # Contract Specialist at Red Cell Partners - **Company:** Red Cell Partners - **Location:** Mclean, VA - **Posted:** 2026-10-26 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-30 - **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/redcellpartners/jobs/5197880007 ## Job description ## About Us Red Cell Partners is an incubation firm building and investing in rapidly scalable technology-led companies that are bringing revolutionary advancements to market in three distinct practice areas: healthcare, cyber, and national security. United by a shared sense of duty and deep belief in the power of innovation, Red Cell is developing powerful tools and solutions to address our Nation’s most pressing problems. ## What You'll Work On Contract Administration & Lifecycle Management - Serve as the primary point of contact for Contracting Officers, Contracting Officer's Representatives, and prime contractor counterparts across the portfolio. - Draft, review, and administer the full range of agreements: prime contracts, subcontracts, NDAs, teaming agreements, CRADAs, Other Transaction Agreements and OT follow-on production agreements, consulting agreements, and IP and data rights terms. - Manage contract vehicles and award types end to end — FFP, T&M, CPFF, CPIF, IDIQ and task order, BPA, GSA MAS, NASA SEWP, OTA consortium awards, SBIR/STTR Phase I–III, and Commercial Solutions Openings. - Lead negotiation of terms and conditions, flowdowns, and modifications; identify and mitigate risk in indemnification, limitation of liability, termination, warranty, and intellectual property clauses. - Protect company IP and data rights — assert and defend SBIR data rights, limited rights in technical data, and restricted rights in noncommercial software, and prevent inadvertent grants of unlimited rights. - Maintain the contracts repository, obligation and funding trackers, CDRL schedules, option exercise calendars, and the closeout pipeline so nothing lapses, overruns, or goes unbilled. Pricing & Cost Strategy - Develop and maintain the company's provisional and forward pricing rate structure — fringe, overhead, G&A, and where applicable material handling — in partnership with Finance. - Participate price-to-win analysis and competitive pricing strategy; model trade-offs between price, scope, risk posture, and margin, and give leadership a clear recommendation rather than a spreadsheet. - Review certified cost or pricing data submissions and support Truthful Cost or Pricing Data (TINA) compliance, commercial product and commercial service determinations, and price reasonableness justifications. Capture & Proposal Support - Own all contractual and administrative volumes — representations and certifications, past performance, small business subcontracting plans, OCI mitigation plans, and any exceptions taken to terms. - Support teaming strategy: evaluate prime versus subcontractor positioning, negotiate work share and exclusivity, and paper the relationships early enough to matter. - Participate in bid/no-bid point of view. You should be comfortable advising the team when a pursuit is not worth the capture dollars. Compliance & Government Accounting - Track FAR, DFARS, and agency supplement compliance across the portfolio, and translate regulatory requirements into workflows that engineers and program managers will actually follow. - Serve as the primary interface for DCAA and DCMA on incurred cost submissions, provisional billing rate proposals, floor checks, and business system reviews. - Advise on Cost Accounting Standards applicability and disclosure statement requirements, and on allowability, allocability, and reasonableness determinations under FAR Part 31. - Track compliance with CMMC and DFARS 252.204-7012 safeguarding requirements, export controls (ITAR and EAR), organizational conflict of interest rules, Procurement Integrity Act obligations, and small business and socioeconomic program requirements. ## What You Bring Required - 7+ years in government contracts, including at least 3 years at a management level owning a portfolio or a function. - Deep working command of the FAR and DFARS — not reference-level familiarity, but the ability to negotiate from them under time pressure. - Demonstrated experience across the full lifecycle: pre-award capture support, pricing and proposal development, negotiation, post-award administration, and closeout. - Experience with both traditional FAR-based procurement and non-traditional pathways such as OTAs, CSOs, SBIR Phase III, and consortium awards. - Active Secret clearance at minimum, with eligibility and willingness to upgrade to TS/SCI. - Based in, or willing to relocate to, the Washington, DC metro area, with hybrid on-site presence expected. We are looking for someone who can work in our Tysons Corneroffice at least 2 days per week. Strongly Preferred - Experience at a defense technology company, whether a prime or a startup. - Experience on an early-stage team, such as a new vertical within a company or at a startup. - Experience with DoD, Intelligence Community, DHS, or federal law enforcement customers, and familiarity with classified contracting and DD Form 254 requirements. - Software, AI/ML, autonomy, or hardware-intensive product contracting experience, including commercial product determinations and software data rights strategy. Location & Travel - Washington, DC metro area preferred with the ability to be in office 2x per week. - Minimal travel required for customer engagement, partner coordination, and cross-functional work. Salary Range: $110,000-$150,000. This represents the typical salary range for this position based on experience, skills, and other factors. Our Red Cell Partners Benefits (may differ for each incubation): For full-time roles - Career track opportunity with potential for rapid advancement with strong performance as the firm grows - 100% employer paid, comprehensive health care including medical, dental, and vision for you and your family. - Paid maternity and paternity for 14 weeks at employees' normal pay. - Unlimited PTO, with management approval. - Opportunities for professional development and continued learning. - Optional 401K, FSA, and equity incentives available. - Mental health benefits are available through [Tara Mind](https://www.taramind.com/). - Cost effective GLP-1 solutions available through [Crux](https://soon.getcrux.com/). We’re an Equal Opportunity Employer: You’ll receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, or on the basis of disability. Applicant Data Disclosure By submitting an application, you acknowledge that Red Cell Partners, LLC ("Red Cell") uses third-party service providers to facilitate its recruitment and hiring processes. These providers include applicant tracking systems, candidate verification platforms, and fraud detection tools (collectively, "Hiring Platforms"). Your application materials, including your résumé, cover letter, work samples, responses to application questions, and any other information you submit, may be transmitted to and processed by these Hiring Platforms for the following purposes: - Managing and administering your application throughout the hiring process; - Verifying the accuracy and authenticity of application materials, including by cross-referencing information you provide against publicly available sources and proprietary databases; - Identifying indicators of potentially fraudulent, fabricated, or materially misleading application content, including but not limited to discrepancies between submitted materials and publicly available professional profiles, geographic anomalies, and fabricated work histories. Applications that are flagged through this process as containing indicators of fraud or material misrepresentation may be declined from further consideration. If you have questions about the status of your application or the evaluation process, please contact talent@redcellpartners.com. Red Cell requires its Hiring Platform providers to process your information solely for the purposes described above and in accordance with applicable law. Your information will be retained only for as long as necessary to fulfill these purposes and any applicable legal obligations, after which it will be deleted in accordance with Red Cell's data retention policies. For more information about how your data is used, please refer to our Privacy Policy and [Applicant Privacy Notice](https://www.redcellpartners.com/applicant-privacy-policy/). ## About Red Cell Partners ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Red Cell Partners is an incubation firm that builds, launches, and scales technology-led companies in healthcare, cyber, and national security. - **Entity Type**: Private (incubation firm) – has raised $497M across the firm and its incubations - **Headquarters**: McLean, Virginia, United States - **Founded**: 2020 - **Founders**: Grant Verstandig ## Core Business - Primary industries: Venture building / incubation; practice areas are Healthcare, Cyber, and National Security. - Target customers: The firm sells to no single customer; it builds B2B companies that serve government agencies, defense organizations, healthcare providers, and enterprise security teams. - Mission: “To build a healthier, safer, and more secure future for the next generation.” [about page] ## Products & Services Red Cell does not sell a single product; it operates three practice areas that each incubate separate technology companies: - **Healthcare Practice**: Incubates companies focused on improving patient outcomes, care delivery, and healthcare operations (e.g., senior living technology, care coordination). - **Cyber Practice**: Incubates companies in cybersecurity, including AI-driven security operations centers and threat protection. - **National Security Practice**: Incubates companies in defense, resilience, and national security (e.g., power delivery, disruption response). ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not disclosed (private firm). - **Key Metric**: $497M raised across Red Cell Partners and its portfolio of incubations. [home page] - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not publicly named, but key executives include Grant Verstandig (Founder, Chairman & CEO), David Silverman (President), George Barnes (President, Cyber Practice), Honorable Veronica Daigle (President, National Security Practice), and Timothy Ferris (President, Healthcare Practice). The firm has acquired companies such as Andesite AI and TRADE SYSTEMS INC. [LinkedIn] - **Growth Signals**: - 75 full-time Red Cell employees (as of June 2026) [home page]. LinkedIn reports 69 employees with +3.4% monthly growth. - 9 companies publicly launched; average incubation period of 16 months. [home page] - 36 active job postings, up 125% year over year. [LinkedIn] ## Competitive Advantages - **CIA-Inspired Methodology**: The firm’s name and approach derive from the CIA’s post-9/11 “Red Cell” concept – assembling cross-functional experts to challenge conventional models and propose novel solutions. - **Vertically Focused Incubation**: Unlike generalist venture builders, Red Cell concentrates exclusively on three mission-critical sectors (healthcare, cyber, national security) where government and enterprise demand is high and regulatory barriers create moats. - **High Talent Density**: Leaders include former senior government officials and military operators (e.g., George Barnes, former NSA deputy director; Veronica Daigle, former federal judge; Marcus Capone, former Navy SEAL). ## Strategic Focus - Continue scaling its three practice areas and launching new companies from each. - Extend incubation capabilities into adjacent defense and healthcare sub-verticals. - Grow headcount aggressively (job postings up 125% YoY) to support a pipeline of 9+ launched companies and more in stealth. ## Why Work Here - **Remote-First Culture**: Most roles are fully remote, though some require occasional travel to the Washington, D.C. office or other locations. [careers page] - **Comprehensive Benefits**: 100% employer-paid medical, dental, and vision; 14 weeks of paid parental leave at full salary; unlimited PTO (with manager approval); 401K and FSA; professional development budget. - **Hiring Process**: 4–6 weeks; includes a written application, an initial screen, a skills assessment (live or take-home), peer interviews, and an executive interview. The firm emphasizes “we hire the best and the brightest at every level.” - **Culture**: Values include Dedicated, Thorough, Principled, Collaborative, Resilient, Bold, and Visionary. The firm describes itself as mission-first and “safe-to-fail” – action-oriented and focused on learning from mistakes. ## Sources 1. [redcellpartners.com - Home](https://www.redcellpartners.com/) 2. [redcellpartners.com - Careers](https://www.redcellpartners.com/careers/) 3. [redcellpartners.com - About](https://www.redcellpartners.com/about/) 4. [redcellpartners.com - Our People](https://www.redcellpartners.com/our-people/) 5. 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