Manager, Contracts

Chan Zuckerberg Initiative; Redwood City (CA); Hybrid; USD 193,000 - 265,100; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) employer match

Paid time off for volunteering

Relocation support

Job summary

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in Redwood City, CA is seeking a legal counsel for its Contracts subteam. In this role, you will draft and negotiate contracts, manage risk, and collaborate with various teams to support Biohub and Learning Commons.

The ideal candidate has a JD, 7+ years of relevant experience, strong communication skills, and a passion for science and education. This hybrid position requires onsite presence for at least 60% of the work month.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 7 years of relevant in-house and/or law firm experience.
• Experience in science and technology fields preferred.
• Ability to manage risk and advise clients effectively.

Responsibilities

• Review, analyze, negotiate, draft, and finalize various contracts.
• Advise stakeholders on contractual matters and manage risks.
• Support clients in resolving contract disputes.

Skills

Legal expertise in transactions

Contract negotiation

Analytical skills

Strong communication

Team collaboration

Education

JD and active membership in U.S. state bar

Job description

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative was founded in 2015 by Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg to harness the power of technology to pursue some of society’s most ambitious goals — from curing or preventing all disease to transforming how students learn.

At CZI, you’ll join a deeply collaborative, mission-driven community where your work helps drive breakthroughs across our flagship nonprofit organizations, Biohub and Learning Commons. Whether enabling scientific breakthroughs via open science and AI-powered biology or strengthening the tools teachers and students rely on every day, your contributions help turn bold ideas into real-world impact.

Our teams operate at the intersection of innovation and scale, building the infrastructure, partnerships, and capabilities that allow scientists, educators, and innovators to tackle some of the most complex challenges of our time — and to do so with urgency, integrity, and optimism.

The Team

Our Legal and Grants team (“Team LeGiT”) is a key partner in enabling Biohub’ s pioneering work to combine frontier AI with frontier biology to prevent and cure disease and Learning Commons ’ mission to build AI infrastructure that aligns how students learn with the tools that shape their learning experiences.

Team LeGiT helps accelerate Biohub’s and Learning Commons’ missions by structuring, negotiating and executing on strategic partnerships, grants and contracts, as well as providing advice that spans IP, technology, exempt org and labor law. We work directly with scientists, engineers and educators in the development of frontier AI models, partnerships with universities, and a wide range of science and education tools and products. In addition to supporting our programmatic colleagues, we regularly collaborate across Executive, Operations, Central Tech and Investments teams to advance the organization’s philanthropic goals. Our team also manages Mark and Priscilla's Family Giving to provide funding for nonprofit organizations, including in the communities where they live and work.

At its core, this team exists to build trust — with our partners, our grantees, and the communities we serve — and to help our organizations operate with integrity as we take on some of the world’s most complex challenges.

The Opportunity

As legal counsel on Team LeGiT’s Contracts subteam, you will collaborate with teams across CZI, including Biohub and Learning Commons. You will help us manage, draft, negotiate, and execute contracts and lead legal projects critical to the success of our strategic mission and operational goals. In addition to working with scientists, engineers, educators and operators to help the organization achieve its ambitious missions, you will also assist in the development and maintenance of our org-wide contracts management systems, policies, and processes. You will manage Contract Management professionals and report to and work closely with the Senior Director, Contracts & Legal Operations.

What You’ll Do

• Review, analyze, negotiate, draft, and finalize inbound commercial and business contracts, including vendor, procurement, professional services, SaaS/software, data-related, and other contracts.
• Advise stakeholders regarding contractual matters and interpret contractual language and related legal concepts while maintaining a nimble and responsive approach to managing risk within a scaling organization.
• Support clients to resolve third-party contract disputes and amend, enforce, or terminate contracts.
• Coach and manage contracts management team members with professional development, contract review, and escalations.
• Draft and maintain contract templates, clause library, playbooks, and policies to increase efficiency and mitigate risk.
• Coordinate internal compliance measures relating to business and legal policies, including preparing and conducting regular training sessions for other Contracts Team members and internal clients throughout the organization.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of applicable laws, regulations, and standards to ensure CZI’s adaptation and compliance, including training others on the Contracts Team.
• Proactively contribute to general team and organizational operations, including taking on special projects and helping out with other functions, as necessary.

What You’ll Bring

• JD required and an active membership in at least one U.S. state bar, preferably California.
• Minimum of 7 years of relevant in-house and/or law firm experience with a focus on transactions, contracts management, and advising clients, preferably in fields relating to science and technology; management experience a plus.
• Strong verbal and written communication, analytical and social skills, and good judgment.
• Strong people management and collaboration skills, with a particular emphasis on working well in a team-oriented environment and servicing a broad range of constituencies.
• Ability to assess and manage risk in alignment with the organization’s unique needs and to concisely advise clients of varying expertise and experience.
• A mission-driven mentality, with an interest in science and/or education philanthropy.

Compensation

The Redwood City, CA base pay range for a new hire in this role is $193,000 - $265,100. New hires are typically hired into the lower portion of the range, enabling employee growth in the range over time. Actual placement in range is based on job-related skills and experience, as evaluated throughout the interview process.

Better Together

As we grow, we’re excited to strengthen in‑person connections and cultivate a collaborative, team‑oriented environment. This role is a hybrid position requiring you to be onsite for at least 60% of the working month, approximately 3 days a week, with specific in‑office days determined by the team’s manager. The exact schedule will be at the hiring manager's discretion and communicated during the interview process.

Benefits for the Whole You

We’re thankful to have an incredible team behind our work. To honor their commitment, we offer a wide range of benefits to support the people who make all we do possible.

• Provides a generous employer match on employee 401(k) contributions to support planning for the future.
• Paid time off to volunteer at an organization of your choice.
• Relocation support for employees who need assistance moving

Reasonable Accommodation Notice

The organization provides (and state and federal law requires) reasonable accommodations to be provided to qualified applicantswith disabilities. Your recruiter will work with you during the interview process should you require any such accommodations. Examples of reasonable accommodation include making a change to the application process or work procedures, providing documents in an alternate format, using a sign language interpreter, or using specialized equipment.

For reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self‑identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in the organization’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service‑connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three‑year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.