Associate Director, Contracts

Position Overview:

Beam Therapeutics is seeking a talented, practical and highly motivated contracts professional to serve as Associate Director, Contracts. This individual will independently draft, review, and negotiate a broad range of agreements supporting Beam’s clinical, research, manufacturing, quality, commercial-readiness, procurement, technology, and corporate activities. The Associate Director will manage contracting matters throughout the contract lifecycle, provide clear and commercially informed guidance to business partners, and identify and appropriately escalate legal, compliance, privacy, intellectual-property, financial, and operational risks. This individual will collaborate closely with cross-functional stakeholders to facilitate timely execution, support business objectives, and promote consistent contracting practices. The role will also contribute to the continued development of Beam’s contracting templates, systems, processes, and training resources.

Responsibilities:

• Manage assigned matters throughout the contract lifecycle, including intake, assessment, drafting, negotiation, stakeholder alignment, approvals, execution, administration, and record retention.
• Advise stakeholders on appropriate contracting structures and ensure alignment among agreements, statements of work, budgets, requisitions, purchase orders, and governing agreements.
• Identify, assess, and appropriately escalate contractual, legal, compliance, privacy, financial, and operational risks while developing practical solutions that support business objectives.
• Coordinate contract approvals, execution, and recordkeeping through Agiloft, and other applicable systems.
• Develop and enhance contract templates, clause libraries, negotiation guidance, fallback positions, checklists, and contracting procedures.
• Provide business partners with clear guidance regarding contracting requirements, intake processes, approval pathways, signature authority, and use of approved templates.
• Serve as an experienced resource to the Contracts team by sharing institutional knowledge, supporting onboarding and development, and promoting consistent contracting practices.
• Manage a high-volume portfolio of contracting matters from intake through execution and record retention, independently establishing priorities, communicating status and timing, and promptly addressing urgent or business-critical requests.
• Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives, including process and workflow enhancements, contracting-system improvements, template updates, training materials, and other Legal priorities.
• Stay informed of relevant legal, regulatory, and industry developments affecting contracting practices within the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree, with a JD preferred.
• Typically 10+ years including 5 years of progressively relevant experience negotiating biotechnology contracts, including experience independently managing complex negotiations with limited supervision.
• Excellent document drafting skills, with high attention to detail.
• Experience with global clinical trial agreements and processes, including informed consent documents.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate with team members across a diverse range of projects.
• Sound judgment and ability to quickly analyze different sources of information.
• Demonstrated ability to identify, assess, and respond to urgent matters with timely, practical, and clear solutions.
• Ability to manage and prioritize multiple matters.
• Practical and business-minded with a demonstrated ability to present business partners with clear and practical commercial advice.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
• This role requires onsite work in Cambridge at least two days per week.