Who can sign a contract
Only certain people may sign contracts for Northwind. The rules are in POL-LEG-001 (current version v2, effective 2026-02-01). Never sign, or promise to sign, a contract that is above your authority.
Signing authority
| Total contract value | Who must sign |
|---|---|
| Under $50,000 | Head of Sales (Grace Liu) |
| $50,000 to $250,000 | VP Delivery (Frank Delgado) and General Counsel (Marcus Webb) |
| Over $250,000 | CEO (Elena Vasquez), CFO (Priya Raman) and General Counsel |
The limits are inclusive in the middle band: a contract of exactly $50,000 or exactly $250,000 falls in the middle band.
What changed from version 1
In version 1 (effective 2024-01-01, now superseded) the lowest band was under $25,000. Version 2 raised it to under $50,000. A $40,000 SOW therefore needed two signatures before 2026-02-01 and only needs the Head of Sales now.
Extra approvals
| Situation | Extra approval |
|---|---|
| The contract departs from standard terms | General Counsel |
| Payment terms longer than 45 days | CFO |
| A liability cap above 2x fees | CEO |
What counts as the contract value
Use the total value, not the next invoice. For amendments that raise a fee, use the new total. See Handling change requests and the SOW process.
How to request a signature
- Prepare the contract with the account owner and the project manager.
- Send it to Legal (Alice Moreno, Senior Counsel) for review.
- Legal checks the terms and routes it to the right signers.
- Keep the signed copy: see Records retention.
Related
Owner: Marcus Webb - Last updated: 2026-09-11