Senior Legal Contracts Manager

About the role

The Senior Legal Contracts Manager position is responsible for coordinating and managing high-profile legal projects of considerable complexity for the Department of Legal Services, focusing on review, drafting, negotiation, and execution of Clinical Trial Agreement ("CTA"), as well as other types of agreements related to clinical research.

Responsibilities

• Takes the lead in assisting attorneys with contract review for CTA agreements for Houston Methodist Research Institute, as well as other projects initiated by the attorneys.
• Coordinates, manages, and completes contract review processes with minimal supervision.
• Communicates professionally and persuasively verbally and in writing to internal and external stakeholders.
• Manages a complex portfolio of contract documents and communicates status of CTAs and coordinates the resolution of issues related to CTA negotiations.
• Engages in independent direct and skilled negotiations of the contract language.
• Provides legal document review, drafting, negotiation, and analysis to the attorneys in the Department of Legal Services as well as internal clients.
• Identifies legal and regulatory issues for the attorneys and makes recommendations on how to proceed to enable clinical research and mitigate organizational risks.

Qualifications

• Juris Doctorate Degree
• Five years of experience in managing complex legal document review, creation and analysis OR 2+ years of experience with negotiating CTAs on behalf of life sciences manufacturers, contract research organizations or academic medical centers

Skills and Abilities

• Demonstrates the skills and competencies necessary to safely perform the assigned job, determined through ongoing skills, competency assessments, and performance evaluations
• Sufficient proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing the English language necessary to perform the essential functions of this job
• Strong communication skills, ability to communicate with senior leadership, and strong analytical and interpersonal skills
• Intermediate word-processing skills, strong project and time management skills, adaptable, flexible in handling change, and able to juggle multiple high priority demands
• Professional handling of exposure to confidential/sensitive information

Essential Functions

• Establishes and maintains clear and concise communication with internal clients, external third parties, co-workers, the attorneys, and Houston Methodist senior leadership.
• Facilitates communication, managing stakeholder(s) expectations.
• Executes contract management requests from senior leadership and Houston Methodist departments.
• Serves as an effective liaison between multiple client groups and stakeholders across various levels of management.
• Works creatively and analytically in a problem-solving environment fostering teamwork, innovation and excellence.
• Actively leads the legal contract review process for identified contracts and manages the life-cycle of each document.
• Develops and manages a portfolio of legal contracts, effectively tracking and communicating progress and delivering timely project outputs.
• Works in collaboration with the attorneys in the Department of Legal Services to drive CTA review to successful outcomes, including by identifying needs, making assessments, and problem solving.
• Coordinates discussions among Houston Methodist parties and manages CTAs to ensure they are compliant with Houston Methodist and Department of Legal Services policies and practices, and are complete and accurate, and meet the business needs of the parties.