Contract Manager

The Opportunity:

The Legal department is seeking an experienced Contracts Manager to serve as an enterprise-wide contracting partner and strategic legal-operations resource. Reporting to the Associate Director, Contract Management, this role will support contracts across the entire company, spanning the full spectrum of commercial activities—including marketing, sales, corporate and vendor matters, procurement, and IT—as well as clinical and research activities, including clinical trial-related, research collaboration, and other life-sciences agreements. The successful candidate will own key elements of the contract lifecycle, and partner with business stakeholders to manage a high volume of work, exercise sound judgment, negotiate within approved parameters, and escalate issues to counsel when appropriate.

What You’ll Do

• Work independently, with minimal supervision, to draft, review, redline, negotiate, and manage to signature routine agreements—including nondisclosure agreements (NDAs), vendor agreements, and statements of work (SOWs) using approved templates, playbooks, and fallback positions; escalate non-standard terms or higher-risk matters to counsel.

• Manage the end-to-end lifecycle for a high volume of agreements across the company’s commercial and clinical/research functions, including master services agreements, consulting and vendor agreements, amendments, change orders, clinical trial-related agreements, research collaborations, and other commercial, operational, or life-sciences contracts, in accordance with company policies and applicable regulatory, privacy, and compliance requirements.

• Partner with cross-functional business stakeholders in Commercial, Clinical Operations, R&D, Procurement, Finance, Compliance, IT, and other functions to clarify the commercial objective, advise on the contracting process and approved positions, coordinate internal reviews and approvals, and drive agreements through signature in a timely, business-focused manner.

• Maintain CLM data integrity and complete, accurate contract records, including key dates, renewals, notice periods, obligations, amendments, approval status, and execution status; help ensure completed agreements are accurately executed, stored, and retrievable and support reliable reporting and audit readiness.

• Leverage contracting playbooks, self-service resources, and approved AI-enabled guidance or prompts that improve consistency and speed while supporting compliance with company policies and applicable privacy, security, compliance, and life-sciences regulatory requirements, with appropriate attorney oversight.

• Lead or support cross-functional process-improvement initiatives with Legal, Commercial, Clinical Operations, R&D, Procurement, Finance, Compliance, IT, and other business teams.

• Stay current on contract-management practices and developments, including responsible uses of automation and AI, and recommend scalable improvements as the company grows toward and beyond commercialization.

Additional Responsibilities and Role Evolution:

As a growing organization, our legal department continues 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 Contract Manager 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.

Required Skills, Experience and Education:

• Bachelor’s degree required; paralegal certificate, advanced degree, or professional certification in contract management, legal operations, or a related discipline is a plus.

• 5+ years of progressively responsible experience in contract management, commercial contracting, legal operations, or a related in-house legal function, preferably within a pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical-device, or other regulated life-sciences company.

• Demonstrated ability to independently draft, review, redline, negotiate, and manage to signature NDAs, SOWs, and a broad range of commercial and clinical/research agreements, including related approvals, execution, and repository processes.

• Proficiency with contract-management platforms, including workflows, templates, reporting, data integrity, and electronic-signature tools; experience with Ironclad CLM or comparable platforms is preferred.

• Working knowledge of pharmaceutical and biotechnology regulatory, privacy, data-protection, compliance, intellectual-property, and other life-sciences considerations; ability to recognize non-standard or higher-risk terms and when attorney guidance is required.

• Excellent project-management, organizational, and prioritization skills, with the ability to manage multiple concurrent matters and deadlines independently in a fast-paced environment.

• Clear, concise written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain contracting processes and influence stakeholders at all levels.

• Strong analytical skills and comfort using metrics to identify trends, support recommendations, and communicate performance to legal leadership.

• Sound judgment, a client-service mindset, and a collaborative approach to solving problems while protecting company interests.

• High energy, a genuine commitment to exceptional contracts grounded in quality, accuracy, and excellence in contracting, and strong learning agility—the ability to quickly learn new subject areas, tools, and processes and adapt in a fast-paced, growing environment.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience supporting legal or business operations in a pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical-device, or other regulated life-sciences environment.

• Experience with clinical, research, manufacturing, supply, quality, technology, or data-processing agreements, or with the operational requirements of a growing clinical-stage company.

• Familiarity with CLM systems, electronic-signature tools, contract-data reporting, and responsible AI or automation practices in a legal environment.

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