Contract Specialist - Digital Media

Searchlight Inc; Dundee Township (IL); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Searchlight Inc. is seeking a Contracts and Legal Operations Specialist to join the legal team. You will work with templates to prepare SOWs for health advertising campaigns, manage NDAs, and oversee contracts through execution, renewal, and close-out.

You will maintain contract records, track key dates and obligations, and report status to GC and Finance. The role supports day-to-day operations and seeks process improvements with cross-functional teams.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of experience in contract administration, legal operations, paralegal work, digital media, advertising, or a related field.
• Working knowledge of common contract terms with drafting and redlining experience.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to compare contracts to invoices and program details.
• Strong critical thinking to align SOW, IO, and client addenda and identify gaps.

Responsibilities

• Use SOW templates to prepare client-facing SOWs for campaigns.
• Prepare, review, and manage NDAs.
• Process contract amendments, renewals, and extensions.
• Manage contract approval and signature process, including e-signatures.

Skills

Contract administration

Legal operations

Paralegal work

Attention to detail

Time management

Communication

Independent work

Teamwork

Process improvement

Tools

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Outlook

Contract management software

e-signature platforms

AI-assisted contract tools

Job description

Contracts and Legal Operations Specialist

Our client is an established healthcare marketing company helping pharmaceutical and consumer health brands reach patients and healthcare providers. Through targeted media, digital tools and analytics, the company connects brands with relevant audiences at key moments in treatment and purchasing decisions.

Our client is seeking a detail-oriented Contracts and Legal Operations Specialist to join their legal team. This role uses the company’s established templates to prepare client-facing Statements of Work (SOWs) for health advertising campaigns, manages Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs), and oversees the company’s contracts through execution, renewal, and close-out. The Contracts and Legal Operations Specialist will keep the company's contract records accurate and up to date, track key dates and obligations, and report contract status to the General Counsel and Finance. The role also supports the legal team's day-to-day operations and helps find better, faster ways to handle contracts. This role works closely with the General Counsel and sales, operations, digital media, and finance teams to make sure every agreement matches our client's standard terms and the program its pharmaceutical and life science clients have agreed to.

Key Responsibilities

• Use the company’s SOW templates to prepare client-facing SOWs for advertising campaigns, based on proposals submitted by the sales team.
• Prepare, review, and manage Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs).
• Prepare and process contract amendments, renewals, and extensions as needed.
• Manage the contract approval and signature process, including e-signature routing and internal sign-offs.
• Maintain the contract tracking system and legal records, including execution dates, terms, program details, and executed copies, and support document retention practices.
• Track key dates (start and end dates, renewals, notice deadlines) and alert the right team members before deadlines pass.
• Check contract terms against invoicing and program delivery, and help Finance resolve discrepancies.
• Help manage vendor, data use, and partnership agreements.
• Maintain and improve contract templates, checklists, playbooks, FAQs, and training materials that help internal teams follow contracting processes.
• Help innovate our client's contracting process, such as automating workflows, creating self-service tools for routine agreements, and evaluating contract management and AI tools.
• Manage the legal team's intake process, tracking and prioritizing requests from across the company and answering questions about contract status, terms, and process.
• Administer legal technology, including the contract management system, e-signature platform, and document storage.
• Track and report legal team metrics, such as contract turnaround times and request volume.
• Support compliance tasks, such as corporate filings, business licenses, insurance certificates, and policy updates.
• Create and maintain playbooks, FAQs, and training materials that help internal teams follow contracting processes.
• Assist with other contract administration, legal operations, and legal tasks as assigned by the General Counsel. Duties may change based on business needs.

Qualifications & Skills

• 3+ years of experience in contract administration, legal operations, paralegal work, digital media, advertising, or a related field.
• Working knowledge of common contract terms, plus experience with drafting, redlining, and word processing.
• Strong attention to detail and the ability to compare contract terms against invoices and program details.
• Strong critical thinking skills to analyze how the parts of a contract fit together, including the SOW, agency insertion order (IO), and client addendum, and to spot conflicts or gaps between them.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook).
• Interest in legal technology and process improvement, with a track record of making workflows more efficient.
• Excellent organizational, time-management, and prioritization skills to handle requests from multiple teams while meeting deadlines.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team in a fast-paced environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with advertising agencies, including insertion orders (IOs), and digital paid media advertising platforms, such as electronic health record (EHR), next-best-action, and programmatic platforms.
• Experience with contract management software, e-signature platforms, and AI-assisted contract tools.
• Prior in-house legal experience, ideally at a marketing, digital paid media, or healthcare company.

Why Join Our Client?

• Opportunity to work in a fast-paced, growing, and innovative company.
• Collaborative environment with exposure to sales, finance, and digital media operations teams.