Contracts Manager

Advanced Recruiting Partners; United States; On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Advanced Recruiting Partners seeks a Senior Contracts Manager/Counsel with direct pharmaceutical or biotechnology experience. The role focuses on drafting, negotiating, and managing a broad range of agreements from intake through execution in a fast-paced life sciences environment.

The ideal candidate has a JD, 7+ years of contract negotiation experience, and a strong grasp of regulatory and commercial considerations within pharma/biotech.

Qualifications

• JD strongly preferred; active bar membership is a plus.
• 7+ years drafting and negotiating contracts, preferably in biotech/pharma.
• Ability to independently negotiate a broad range of agreements in a fast-paced, high-volume environment.
• Strong business judgment with understanding of pharma/biotech clinical development and regulatory landscape.
• Experience with life sciences vendors and cross-functional stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Draft, negotiate, and execute a broad range of commercial and operational agreements.
• Lead negotiations for high-value, strategic contracts balancing risk and business priorities.
• Advise business leaders on legal, contractual, and regulatory considerations.
• Identify and resolve material contractual issues with internal/external partners.
• Manage contracting lifecycle, coordinate stakeholders, and drive process improvements.
• Serve as SME on templates, provisions, and negotiation playbooks.
• Support improvements to CLM workflows and automation initiatives.
• Monitor obligations, milestones, renewals, and termination rights.
• Mentor other contracts team members as the organization scales.

Skills

Contract drafting & review

Negotiation

Regulatory & compliance awareness

Cross-functional collaboration

Life sciences domain knowledge

Education

Juris Doctor (JD)

Tools

Microsoft Office

Google Workspace

Slack

Box

CLM systems

Job description

We are seeking an experienced Senior Contracts Manager/Counsel with direct pharmaceutical or biotechnology experience to join a growing, innovative organization focused on developing therapies that address significant unmet needs in brain health.

This is a high-impact role for a business-minded legal professional who understands the commercial, clinical, and regulatory environment of the life sciences industry. The ideal candidate is a pragmatic, risk-based negotiator who can manage a high volume of diverse agreements while independently handling complex and strategically important contracts from initial intake through execution.

You will bring strong drafting and negotiation skills, sound business judgment, and a proactive approach to improving contracting processes through technology, automation, and operational efficiencies.

Responsibilities

• Independently draft, negotiate, and execute a broad range of commercial and operational agreements, including confidentiality agreements, master services agreements, professional services agreements, licensing agreements, clinical and vendor agreements, amendments, statements of work, and work orders.
• Lead negotiations involving complex, high-value, and strategic agreements while balancing legal and regulatory risk with business priorities and organizational risk tolerance.
• Act as a trusted advisor to business leaders and cross-functional stakeholders, providing clear and practical guidance on legal, contractual, and regulatory considerations.
• Identify, evaluate, escalate, and resolve material contractual issues in collaboration with internal and external legal and business partners.
• Manage agreements through the full contracting lifecycle, coordinating stakeholders, facilitating working sessions, resolving issues, and proactively addressing bottlenecks to meet business deadlines.
• Serve as a subject matter expert on contract templates, standard provisions, fallback positions, negotiation strategies, and contracting playbooks.
• Help develop and implement improvements to contracting processes, including workflow enhancements, automation initiatives, and optimization of contract lifecycle management (CLM) systems.
• Monitor and manage key contractual obligations, including deliverables, milestones, deadlines, renewal dates, termination rights, and other critical commitments.
• Provide guidance and mentorship to other members of the contracts function as the organization continues to scale.

Qualifications

• Juris Doctor (JD) strongly preferred; active bar membership is a plus but not required.
• 7+ years of experience drafting and negotiating contracts, preferably with in-house experience at a biotechnology or pharmaceutical organization.
• Demonstrated ability to independently negotiate a broad range of agreements in a fast-paced, high-volume environment.
• Strong commercial judgment and a practical understanding of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology business, clinical development, and regulatory landscape.
• Ability to independently assess complex legal and business issues, exercise sound judgment, and appropriately determine when escalation is necessary.
• Working knowledge of legal and regulatory considerations relevant to life sciences organizations, including confidentiality, intellectual property, privacy, anti-kickback and anti-bribery requirements, FDA regulations, and GxP.
• Familiarity with common life sciences vendors and partners, including CROs, laboratories, CDMOs, and other service providers.
• Experience working with a broad range of internal stakeholders, including Regulatory, Commercial, Finance, Clinical Operations, Clinical Development, Pharmaceutical Development, Corporate Affairs, Human Resources, and R&D.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, organizational, negotiation, and stakeholder-management skills.
• Strong attention to detail and demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities while consistently meeting deadlines.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook, as well as Google Workspace, Slack, Box, and contract lifecycle management platforms.
• Demonstrated interest in innovation, automation, and continuous improvement within the contracting function.