Contracts & Grants Lead / Sr Manager

About the Role

We're looking for a hands-on Contracts & Grants Lead / Sr Manager to own and streamline our contracting function across customer, vendor, and research-related agreements. This role is essential to scaling the company's legal infrastructure while maintaining compliance across commercial, research, and intellectual property domains.

You will serve as a critical legal operations partner, managing day-to-day contract workflows and supporting active government-funded grants. You will also supervise a junior team member to support contract administration and compliance tracking. This is a great opportunity for an experienced legal or contracts professional excited to build structure in a high-growth SaaS and R&D environment while developing leadership skills.

Position in organization

Reports to: CFO

Location/Pay

• Hybrid: based at our offices in Parsippany (NJ) 3 days per week
• Full-time, salaried employee ($125K-135K + bonus)

Duties and key responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end contract lifecycle for SaaS MSAs, vendor agreements, and subcontracts, including drafting, redlining, and coordinating approvals.
• Maintain and evolve contract templates, clause libraries, and playbooks to increase velocity and consistency.
• Manage administrative aspects of active government-funded grants (e.g., SBIR, DOE), including reporting calendars, subcontract documentation, and audit preparedness.
• Coordinate with Finance, Sales, and Product teams on deal structures, compliance checkpoints, and approval processes.
• Use and optimize AI-enhanced contract tools and CLM systems to streamline operations (e.g., Ironclad, Spellbook).
• Interface with outside counsel and escalate complex legal issues as needed.

Essential qualifications and experience

• 5-8 years of experience in contracts management and legal operations, preferably in a SaaS or R&D setting.
• Strong knowledge of SaaS contracting terms (IP, data privacy, liability, indemnity, etc.).
• Exposure to U.S. government-funded research contracts (e.g., SBIRs), with confidence handling reporting and documentation.
• Operational mindset with a bias toward process improvement and automation.
• Familiarity with AI-enhanced contract tools (e.g., Spellbook, Ironclad AI, Luminance) and a mindset for automation and operational scale.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to distill legal risk clearly for non-legal audiences.
• JD preferred but not required. Paralegal training or certifications in government contract compliance a plus.
• Self-starter with excellent organizational skills and a strategic business mindset.

Other Skills

• Experience supporting international deals (e.g., UK, EU, APAC).
• Familiarity with SOC 2 and other compliance-related contract terms.
• Experience in negotiating terms for prime and subcontractor agreements under government sponsored research programs.
• Prior experience implementing or optimizing a CLM system.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills at all levels.
• Attention to detail, precision, and methodical approach.
• Organizational skills with the ability to operate effectively within a team.
• Proactive approach, able to work on own initiative.
• Resilience and ability to work under pressure.
• Interest in personal growth and learning more about the business.
• Desire to join and support a positive working culture.
• High level of integrity and dependability with a strong sense of urgency and results orientation.

Key competencies

• Leadership & Judgment: Strong decision-making and prioritization in high-risk or ambiguous scenarios.
• Contract Negotiation: Proven success in structuring and closing agreements with enterprise counterparties and research partners.
• Process Optimization: Bias toward systematizing repeatable tasks and reducing manual review cycles.
• AI & Legal Tech Fluency: Able to adopt, configure, and lead use of AI-powered legal review and CLM platforms.
• Strategic Thinking: Capable of aligning contract structures with broader business models and growth plans.