Contract Manager

Artiva Biotherapeutics•San Diego, CA

20d•Onsite

About The Position

Artiva is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing natural killer (NK) cell-based therapies for autoimmune diseases. The Contract Manager will be responsible for managing all aspects of Artiva’s contract activities, with a strong background in commercial contracts and clinical trial agreements. This role involves leading contract preparation, review, negotiation, and execution, serving as a point of contact for business users, managing contract workflows, collaborating on clinical trial agreements, identifying risks, coordinating execution, and co-leading the implementation of a contract lifecycle management (CLM) tool. The position also supports data privacy compliance and other legal operations as needed.

Requirements

Paralegal certification or J.D. degree.
Minimum of 5 years of recent experience in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, or life sciences industry.
Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to manage multiple priorities effectively.
Excellent written and verbal communication and collaboration skills to work effectively with cross-functional teams and third parties.
Experience managing high-volume contract workflows, with the ability to prioritize, track, and drive contracts to execution in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
Proficiency with Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) tools including contract intake, workflow management, and reporting.
Strong understanding of GxP/GMP environments and the role of contracts in supporting clinical, manufacturing, quality, and regulatory compliance.
Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment, adapt to changing priorities, and reach practical, business-aligned outcomes.

Nice To Haves

Experience or interest in other areas of legal operations.

Responsibilities

Lead the preparation, review, negotiation, and execution of a range of contracts (including but not limited to master services agreements, statements of work, consulting agreements, and amendments), ensuring key terms are clearly defined, accurately tracked, and aligned with playbooks, Company policies, regulatory requirements, and business objectives.
Serve as a primary point of contact and a partner for business users to provide guidance on the contract process and support the timely intake, negotiation, execution, and administration of contracts, ensuring appropriate communication throughout and coordination with Finance and Procurement.
Independently manage contract workflows, ensuring contracts progress efficiently through intake, review, negotiation, execution, and tracking of obligations.
Collaborate with representatives from contract research organizations (CROs) on clinical trial agreements (CTAs) and amendments with clinical trial sites, including development of CTA templates and playbooks, review and negotiation of CTAs, and identification and escalation of issues.
Identify contractual, operational, or compliance risks and escalate appropriately, providing clear issue framing and recommended paths forward.
Coordinate execution of agreements, including routing for signature, maintaining accurate records, and facilitating distribution of fully executed documents.
Co-lead the selection and implementation of a contract lifecycle management (CLM) tool, including collaborating with internal stakeholders across functions to identify and address requirements; manage the CLM tool once implemented and train business partners on use of the CLM tool.
Support the Company’s data privacy compliance program.
Assist with other aspects of legal and compliance operations, depending on the Company’s needs and the candidate’s areas of experience and interest.