Contract Manager

Connect Life Sciences; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Connect Life Sciences in San Francisco is seeking an experienced Contracts Manager II to support the Legal Department's R&D contracting team. You will draft, review, and negotiate a broad range of research and development agreements and serve as a trusted partner to Clinical Development, Clinical Operations, Medical Affairs, Regulatory Affairs and Research.

The role requires independent work, strong drafting skills, business judgment, and the ability to provide practical risk-based advice while

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent required.
• Advanced degree (JD, or other relevant graduate degree) preferred.
• 3–10 years of experience negotiating and managing life sciences agreements.
• Experience supporting clinical development, research, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, CRO, or healthcare organizations preferred.
• Demonstrated experience negotiating complex research and clinical trial-related agreements.
• Experience collaborating with R&D, clinical operations, procurement, and legal stakeholders.
• Strong understanding of CTAs, CDAs, vendor agreements, data rights, IP provisions, publication rights, indemnification, confidentiality, and regulatory compliance.

Responsibilities

• Draft, review, negotiate, and manage a broad range of R&D agreements, including CTAs, CDAs, consulting, MSAs, SOWs, IIS, MTAs, and DUAs.
• Provide practical legal and contracting guidance regarding obligations and risk mitigation.
• Identify contractual, legal, operational, and compliance risks and communicate solutions to decision-makers.
• Partner with Clinical Development, Clinical Operations, Medical Affairs, Regulatory Affairs, Research, Procurement, and Finance to facilitate contract execution.
• Develop and maintain contracting templates, negotiation playbooks, and SOPs.
• Advise and support other Contracts Managers on negotiation strategy and contract interpretation.
• Contribute to continuous improvement efforts to enhance contracting processes and systems.

Skills

Contract drafting

Negotiation

Risk assessment

Communication

Relationship management

Organizational skills

Attention to detail

Legal writing

Education

Bachelor's degree

JD or advanced degree

Tools

Contract management system

Agiloft

Job description

Seeking an experienced Contracts Manager II to join the Legal Department's R&D Contracting team. Reporting to the Associate Corporate Counsel, Contracts, this individual will be a key member of the Legal Department, providing strategic contracting support to Clinical Development, Clinical Operations, Medical Affairs, Regulatory Affairs, Research, and other R&D functions.

The successful candidate will operate independently in a fast-paced, collaborative environment and serve as a trusted business partner to internal stakeholders. This role requires strong drafting and negotiation skills, sound business judgment, and the ability to provide practical, risk-based advice while supporting research and development objectives.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Draft, review, negotiate, and manage a broad range of research and development agreements, including: Clinical Trial Agreements (CTAs), Confidential Disclosure Agreements (CDAs), Consulting Agreements, Vendor and Master Services Agreements (MSAs), Work Orders and Statements of Work (SOWs), Investigator-Initiated Study (IIS) Agreements, Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs), Data Use Agreements (DUAs), Collaborative Research Agreements and related amendments.

Provide practical legal and contracting guidance to business stakeholders regarding existing agreements, contractual obligations, and risk mitigation strategies.

Identify contractual, legal, operational, and compliance risks and communicate those risks, together with proposed solutions, to appropriate internal decision-makers.

Partner closely with internal stakeholders across Clinical Development, Clinical Operations, Medical Affairs, Regulatory Affairs, Research, Biometrics, Procurement, Finance, and other functions to facilitate efficient contract execution.

Support the development, maintenance, and implementation of contracting templates, negotiation playbooks, and standard operating procedures.

Advise and support other Contracts Managers on negotiation strategy and contract interpretation.

Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives aimed at increasing the quality, consistency, efficiency, and scalability of contracting processes and systems.

Assist with special projects and other responsibilities as assigned.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

None.

EDUCATION / EXPERIENCE / KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience required.

Advanced degree (JD, or other relevant graduate degree) preferred.

Experience

Minimum of 3-10 years of experience negotiating and managing research, clinical, or life sciences agreements.

Experience supporting clinical development, research, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, CRO, or healthcare organizations strongly preferred.

Demonstrated experience negotiating complex research and clinical trial-related agreements.

Experience collaborating directly with R&D, clinical operations, procurement, and legal stakeholders.

Knowledge and Skills

Strong understanding of clinical research and drug development contracting, including CTAs, CDAs, vendor agreements, consulting arrangements, data rights, intellectual property provisions, publication rights, indemnification, confidentiality, and regulatory compliance considerations.

Ability to independently assess contractual risk and provide practical, business-oriented recommendations.

Strong negotiation, drafting, communication, and relationship-management skills.

Proven ability to balance legal risk with business objectives while maintaining positive working relationships with internal and external partners.

Excellent organizational skills with the ability to manage numerous transactions simultaneously and effectively prioritize competing demands.

Demonstrated initiative, accountability, and ownership of assigned matters from intake through execution.

Strong judgment, integrity, professionalism, and attention to detail.

Effective written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain complex contractual concepts to non-legal stakeholders.

Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, contract lifecycle management systems, and related contracting technologies.

Positive attitude, strong client-service orientation, and a sense of humor.

Top Skills:

• Direct experience drafting, reviewing, redlining, and negotiating Clinical Trial Agreements (CTAs), and other clinical-study-related contracts. Candidate must have hands-on negotiation experience with counterparties, not just contract administration or coordination.
• Percentage of the workload
• CTA 60%
• CDA 30%
• Other types of R&D contracts 10%
• Bachelor's degree and 3+ years of recent hands on contracts experience supporting contract drafting and negotiation within biotechnology, pharmaceutical, clinical research, or similar environments. Biotechnology highly preferred
• Or, JD with 2+ years of related experience. JD highly preferred
• Broader experience supporting other areas of R&D contracting activities.

Strong Plus:

• Experience using a Contract Management system (Agiloft experience a plus; any CLM experience accepted).