Senior Contract Manager
About The Position
Korsana is seeking a Senior Contract Manager to lead day-to-day contract intake, drafting, negotiation support, execution and contract operations across the company. This role is for a business-focused contracts professional, not a practicing attorney. The Senior Contract Manager will partner closely with cross-functional leads and drive a high-volume portfolio of research, clinical, and corporate agreements with a focus on speed, precision, and business-oriented risk management. The right candidate is highly organized, practical, responsive, and comfortable managing a high volume of agreements in a fast-moving biotechnology environment. This person should be able to spot issues, drive process, keep stakeholders aligned, and escalate legal or business risks appropriately.
Requirements
- 7+ years of professional experience in contract management, specifically within the life sciences or biotech sectors.
- Bachelor’s degree is required.
- Demonstrated experience managing a high volume of agreements across multiple business functions with strong attention to detail, organization, and follow-through.
- Strong drafting and redlining skills.
- Ability to identify legal and business risk issues and escalate appropriately.
- Experience in a fast paced, high-growth startup environment.
- High proficiency with modern legal technology, including CLM platforms (Korsana uses Agiloft), DocuSign, AI-assisted contract review and drafting tools, and the Microsoft Office Suite.
- Familiarity with IP-related contract provisions, including intellectual property, licensing terms, and publication rights.
Responsibilities
- Drive the full contract lifecycle by drafting and reviewing a high volume of core biotech agreements, including CDAs, Master Service Agreements (MSAs), complex Statements of Work (SOWs), Consulting Agreements, vendor and supply agreements, and clinical and research-related service agreements.
- Manage routine and mid-level negotiations directly with counterparties and escalate material legal, regulatory, IP, privacy, insurance, compliance and liability issues when needed.
- Provide strategic contractual guidance to cross-functional teams, acting as a first line of defense to identify and mitigate potential operational, regulatory, and business risks within agreements.
- Maintain and improve contract templates, clause libraries, negotiation guidelines, and internal playbooks.
- Optimize contract infrastructure by leading management of a Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) system to track contract status, key terms, renewal dates, termination rights, notice deadlines, payment obligations, and other critical milestones.
- Support contract governance, including signature authority, version control, records management and repository hygiene.
- Support audit, diligence, financing, and business development requests by organizing and summarizing agreement data.
- Identify bottlenecks and recommend process improvements that reduce cycle time without weakening controls.
- Partner with key internal stakeholders to ensure contract execution is aligned with Korsana’s strategic goals, project timelines, and budgetary requirements.
- Manage external legal resources by coordinating with outside counsel as needed for highly specialized contract reviews or complex regulatory support.
- Uphold rigorous compliance standards by ensuring all contracts meet applicable laws, industry regulations, and clinical standards, including FDA, GCP, and GDPR.
Benefits
- This role may also be eligible for a target annual bonus and equity-based compensation, as well as participation in the company’s benefit programs.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
