Contract and Vendor Management SME

World Business Lenders

13h•Remote

About The Position

World Business Lenders (WBL) is a privately held portfolio lender specializing in real estate-secured business loans for underserved businesses. WBL operates with a fully remote, multinational workforce and an experienced executive leadership team. Typically, the work schedule is from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, though additional hours may be required based on business needs. WBL is seeking a Contract and Vendor Management Subject Matter Expert to own the operational framework for contracts, outside counsel, legal vendors, and other service providers supporting Corporate Legal. This role will establish consistent contracting, engagement, performance, billing, and renewal processes while balancing legal risk, cost, service quality, and business needs.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in business, legal studies, finance, supply chain, or a related field; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.
5+ years of experience in contract management, vendor management, legal operations, procurement, or an in-house legal environment.
Demonstrated experience negotiating commercial terms and administering contracts through their full lifecycle.
Experience managing outside counsel or professional-service vendors and reviewing invoices, rates, budgets, or accruals.
Strong project-management skills, attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple deadlines and stakeholders.
Contract drafting, review, negotiation, and lifecycle administration.
Vendor due diligence, performance management, and service-level monitoring.
Legal billing, spend analysis, budget tracking, and invoice review.
Contract repositories, matter-management systems, reporting tools, and Microsoft Office.
Negotiation
Commercial judgment
Stakeholder management
Process improvement
Clear communication
Sound judgment
Stable, reliable internet connection.
Professional and dedicated remote working setup.
Ability to work effectively across a remote, multinational organization and maintain confidentiality.

Nice To Haves

JD, MBA, paralegal credential, procurement certification, or contract-management certification is preferred but not required.
Financial services, commercial lending, private lending, banking, fintech, specialty finance, mortgage lending, or another highly regulated industry.

Responsibilities

Own the intake, review, negotiation, approval, execution, storage, renewal, and termination workflow for Corporate Legal contracts and engagement letters.
Maintain approved templates, playbooks, approval standards, and a complete contract repository.
Track key terms, obligations, notice periods, renewals, pricing changes, service levels, and termination rights.
Coordinate with Legal, Finance, Operations, Information Technology, and business owners to resolve contract issues and obtain required approvals.
Manage relationships with outside counsel, legal vendors, and service providers, including onboarding, engagement scope, performance expectations, and issue escalation.
Establish vendor performance standards, service-level expectations, review cadences, and corrective-action processes.
Support competitive sourcing, due diligence, conflicts checks, and evaluation of new vendors and law firms.
Drive consistency and efficiency in law firm engagement and matter-assignment processes.
Review outside counsel and vendor invoices for alignment with engagement terms, approved scope, rates, and billing requirements.
Maintain legal spend, budget, accrual, and variance reporting in partnership with Finance.
Identify opportunities to consolidate vendors, renegotiate terms, improve service, and control costs.
Provide concise reporting on vendor performance, contract status, upcoming renewals, spend, and risk items.
Build and document scalable contracting and vendor-management policies, procedures, controls, and quality-assurance standards.
Maintain appropriate records of approvals, executed agreements, amendments, insurance, and supporting due-diligence documentation.
Escalate material contractual, performance, compliance, security, or financial risks to Corporate Legal leadership.
Supervise and develop the Contract and Vendor Management Associate, including workload assignment and quality review.