Associate Director, Contract Management

The Opportunity:

The Legal department is seeking an Associate Director, Contract Management to lead the day-to-day operational effectiveness of the Contract Management function and serve as a key partner to the Executive Director, Contracts in driving strategic initiatives and managing business impact.

This role will oversee a team of approximately five Contracts Managers and ensure consistent, appropriate use of the company’s Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) system by Contracts staff and internal business clients. The Associate Director will reinforce contracting processes, workflows, templates, approvals, and documentation standards; monitor team performance against established service levels; address gaps in compliance, responsiveness, and quality; and mentor junior staff to strengthen judgment and independence.

The ideal candidate combines strong people leadership with deep contract-management experience and a disciplined approach to process governance, technology adoption, service-level management, and staff development.

 Responsibilities:

• Lead the day-to-day activities of the Contract Management team, including workload prioritization, matter assignment, escalation management, coaching, and operational support.

• Mentor and develop junior Contracts staff on contract review, negotiation approach, issue spotting, escalation judgment, use of templates and playbooks, and effective business partnering.

• Establish, monitor, and manage service-level expectations, including responsiveness, turnaround time, contract aging, workload, quality, and other relevant performance measures.

• Drive consistent and proper use of the CLM system across Contracts staff and internal business clients, reinforcing required intake, workflows, approvals, documentation practices, and system standards.

• Partner with the Executive Director, Contracts to establish and maintain contracting standards, operating procedures, templates, playbooks, governance practices, and escalation protocols.

• Analyze service-level data and team metrics to identify trends, bottlenecks, resource constraints, and opportunities to improve contract velocity and client service; hold team members accountable while providing coaching and support.

• Serve as a resource on complex, non-standard, or sensitive matters; promote consistency in negotiation practices and escalate legal issues to the Executive Director, Contracts or other attorneys as appropriate.

• Develop and deliver training for Contracts staff and business clients on CLM processes, contracting procedures, system navigation, and best practices.

• Partner with Legal Operations to develop and maintain dashboards and reporting on service levels, workload, cycle times, aging, CLM adoption, and other key performance indicators; recommend process, system, training, or resource solutions based on trends.

• Foster a culture of accountability, responsiveness, consistency, professional development, and high-quality client service, while directly handling selected strategic or escalated matters as appropriate.

• Ensure contracting standards, templates, and workflows comply with applicable healthcare and life sciences requirements, including the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, False Claims Act, Sunshine Act/Open Payments transparency reporting, fair market value considerations, FCPA/anti-bribery, and data privacy laws (GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA).

• Maintain the integrity of the contract repository and records; support internal and external audits, records retention, and applicable internal controls (e.g., SOX) by ensuring accurate, complete, and retrievable contract documentation.

Required Skills, Experience and Education:

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree or relevant professional certification preferred.

• 10+ years of progressively responsible contract management, legal operations, or related experience, preferably in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, life sciences, or another highly regulated industry.

• Demonstrated experience leading, supervising, mentoring, or developing contracting professionals and managing team performance, workload, or service levels.

• Significant experience drafting, reviewing, negotiating, and managing a broad range of agreements, including confidentiality agreements, MSAs, SOWs/work orders, consulting, vendor/service, research, clinical, technology, and other commercial agreements.

• Strong understanding of contract principles, risk allocation, privacy, compliance, and legal/regulatory considerations relevant to the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry, including sound judgment regarding escalation to Legal counsel.

• Strong process discipline, project-management, and organizational skills, with demonstrated ability to lead process improvements and cross-functional initiatives.

• Ability to use data, metrics, and reporting to evaluate performance, identify trends, support resource decisions, and improve service delivery.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex contracting issues clearly and influence stakeholders at all levels.

• Strong interpersonal and leadership skills, including the ability to build trust, coach experienced team members, address performance or process-compliance issues constructively, and operate independently while maintaining alignment with Legal leadership.

Preferred Skills:

• Prior experience in managing or helping lead a contracts function within a biotechnology or pharmaceutical company, with exposure to both R&D/clinical and enterprise/vendor contracting.

• Experience with Ironclad, Agiloft, DocuSign, or comparable contract-management technologies, including CLM implementation, optimization, reporting, or workflow redesign.

• Experience developing or implementing contract templates, fallback language, playbooks, SOPs, or standardized negotiation guidance.

• Experience training internal stakeholders and contract professionals and partnering with Procurement and Finance on contracting and purchasing processes.

• Familiarity with privacy, GDPR, HIPAA, anti-kickback, anti-bribery/anti-corruption, GCP, and other regulatory considerations relevant to the life sciences industry.

• Experience partnering with Legal Operations, IT, and CLM vendors on system implementation, optimization, and integrations (e.g., with ERP, e-signature, or procurement platforms).

Additional Responsibilities and Role Evolution

As a growing organization, our legal, corporate governance, contracts, and intellectual property functions continue to evolve to meet changing business needs. The responsibilities outlined in this job description are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by the individual in this role and are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, or qualifications.

The Associate Director, Contract Management will be expected to take on additional assignments, projects, and responsibilities as needed to support the Legal team and broader business objectives. Responsibilities may change, expand, or shift over time based on organizational priorities, business growth, process improvements, technology implementations, and evolving legal or regulatory requirements.

The successful candidate will demonstrate flexibility, adaptability, and a willingness to contribute beyond the core responsibilities of the position, partnering collaboratively across functions to support the continued success and growth of the company.

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