Associate Director, Legal Operations and Contracts Management

What You’ll Do:

Reporting to the Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, Kailera is seeking an exceptional and experienced leader to drive efficiency, scalability, and operational excellence within the Legal Department, overseeing processes, technology, budgeting, vendor management, and cross-functional initiatives to ensure the legal team can operate at peak performance.  A key responsibility of the role will be the management of our entire end-to-end contract lifecycle process.  The ideal candidate combines operational expertise with a strong understanding of legal workflows and business strategy, particularly within the biotechnology and/or pharmaceutical sectors.

Required location: Waltham, MA (hub-based, onsite 3-4 days per week).

Responsibilities:

• Manage the end-to-end contract life cycle process in Kailera’s contract management system and its integration with Kailera’s finance/procurement system, from intake, to review/negotiation, approval, execution, monitoring and archiving
  • Serve as primary point of contact for contract process related inquiries, assisting end users with entering requests, checking contract status and other queries
  • Coordinate review, redlines, and approvals among internal and external stakeholders and outside counsel efficiently
  • Draft, review, edit and negotiate a variety of routine agreements, such as CDAs, SOWs, amendments and change orders, ensuring that contracts align with company policies and industry best practices
  • Partner with Finance and IT to implement system integrations, changes and upgrades and to troubleshoot issues
  • Create key metrics, reports and analytics to assess health of contracts management function (volume, contract turn-around times, etc.)
  • Contribute to the development, maintenance, and optimization of contract templates, playbooks, workflows and standard operating procedures
  • Recommend strategies to enhance contract turnaround time and operational efficiency
• Develop, implement, and refine legal department processes, workflows and standard operating procedures
• Identify opportunities to streamline work through automation, technology and improved resource allocation
• Track KPIs, department metrics, and analytics to support continuous improvement
• Lead selection, implementation, and administration and optimization of legal technology tools (e.g., contract management, eBilling, document management, generative AI)
• Drive cross-functional understanding of legal processes through training on new systems, monthly new hire training, ad hoc training, office hours, and self-service tools
• Manage legal department budget, including vendor oversight, forecasting, variance tracking, and reporting

Required Qualifications:

• 10+ years of experience in legal operations and/or contracts management, preferably including in an in-house legal department
• Experience with end-to-end contracts management, preferably within the biotechnology and/or pharmaceutical sectors
• Proficiency with legal technology platforms such as contract management systems, eBilling and document management
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment
• Superb customer service orientation toward internal and external stakeholders
• Strong analytical, organizational and communication skills
• Solid understanding of contract language, negotiation principles and legal terminology

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, legal studies or related field, or equivalent experience
• Advanced certification in legal operations and/or contracts management a plus