Associate Manager - Contract Management

Alliance Data Systems; Atlanta (GA); On-site; USD 105,000 - 135,000; Full time

Job summary

Novo Nordisk in Atlanta seeks an Associate Manager, Contract Management within the Clinical, Medical and Regulatory (CMR) team. The role focuses on negotiating and executing research and partnership contracts to support business objectives, with emphasis on compliance and stakeholder alignment.

You will liaise with cross-functional teams, manage complex negotiations, and help streamline contracting workflows while ensuring timely, ethical, and value-driven outcomes. Travel 0–10%.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a scientific/medical or related field.
• Minimum of six years in a scientific/medical or academic research environment.
• Advanced experience in budget and contract negotiations with clear understanding of financial schedules and KPIs.
• Strong strategic thinking and ability to construct persuasive contractual arguments.

Responsibilities

• Manage complex contracting negotiations including service agreements, research partnerships, sponsorships, memberships, data sharing, non-disclosure, and master service agreements across a broad spectrum of external entities with a focus on budget, quality, compliance and alignment with business needs.
• Serve as a subject matter expert on key policies and processes related to contracting and vendor management, including key financial assumptions, KPIs and milestones.
• Support the strengthening and streamlining of the end-to-end internal contracting workflow, focusing on creating efficiencies, expediting timelines and driving contracting best practices.
• Serve as an effective liaison between Line of Business and key stakeholders in the contracting workstream, communicating pertinent contract scope details to ensure targeted and transparent contract review and processing.
• Proactively identify and explain potential contract engagement risks to LOB and external contracting entities and propose effective solutions for mitigation.
• Ensure compliance with government rules and regulations relating to contracting and budgetary aspects, including fair market value and transparency reporting for health-care systems and professionals.

Skills

Contract negotiations

Budgeting

Stakeholder mgmt

MS Excel

Cross-functional work

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Advanced degree preferred

Tools

MS Excel

MS PowerPoint

MS Word

Job description

About the Department

The Clinical, Medical and Regulatory (CMR) department at NovoNordisk is one of the most diverse and collaborative groups within the organization. From health‑care‑provider interactions and developing and implementing regulatory strategies with the FDA to providing medical education and collecting data to support efficacy and new product development, CMR is involved. The one thing that keeps us all marching to the same beat is our patient‑centered focus. At NovoNordisk, you will help patients around the world improve their quality of life.

The Position

This position supports CMR business development goals through the successful negotiation and execution of research and strategic partnership contracting agreements. In collaboration with the Associate Director, the Associate Manager will support CMR’s partnership and alliance contract management strategy with a focus on partnering with stakeholders across CMR to plan, negotiate and execute research and partnership projects that align with business objectives and expectations; ensuring negotiations are completed in accordance with business guidance and ethics; identifying opportunities for change management that enhance efficiencies across the contracting life cycle; and supporting strong and effective communication and relationship management across internal and external stakeholders.

Relationships

This position reports to an Associate Director overseeing the contract management function of the CMR organization. It will work cross‑functionally with stakeholders, including senior leadership, across all organizations within CMR as well as Procurement, Legal, Compliance, Privacy, and other key focus areas. The role is accountable for liaising with current and prospective CMR external contracting entities.

Essential Functions

• Manage complex contracting negotiations including service agreements, research partnerships, sponsorships, memberships, data sharing, non‑disclosure, and master service agreements across a broad spectrum of external entities with a focus on budget, quality, compliance and alignment with business needs.
• Serve as a subject matter expert on key policies and processes related to contracting and vendor management, including key financial assumptions, KPIs and milestones.
• Support the strengthening and streamlining of the end‑to‑end internal contracting workflow, focusing on creating efficiencies, expediting timelines and driving contracting best practices.
• Serve as an effective liaison between Line of Business (LOB) and key stakeholders in the contracting workstream, communicating pertinent contract scope details to ensure targeted and transparent contract review and processing.
• Proactively identify and explain potential contract engagement risks to LOB and external contracting entities and propose effective solutions for mitigation.
• Ensure compliance with government rules and regulations relating to contracting and budgetary aspects, including fair market value and transparency reporting for health‑care systems, health‑care professionals and organizations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred.
• Minimum of six years of progressively responsible experience in a scientific/medical or academic research environment (pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and/or CRO).
• Advanced experience in budget and contract negotiations with clear understanding of contract and financial schedules, cost‑benefit analysis, ROI, KPIs, financial milestones and payment schedules.
• Ability to think strategically and construct persuasive contractual arguments at all business levels, including senior leadership.
• Excellent negotiation skills with the ability to identify, explain, and mitigate contractual risk to diverse stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to identify areas of improvement and optimization, including change‑management initiatives.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently in a cross‑functional, fast‑paced environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, able to be clear and concise in a variety of communication settings.
• Advanced skill in MSExcel, MSPowerPoint and MSWord.

Physical Requirements

0–10% overnight travel required.

Legal

We commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equality of opportunity for all our job applicants.