Director, Legal Operations & Contracts

Climb Bio•Newton, MA

1d•$200,000 - $260,000•Onsite

About The Position

Climb Bio is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing therapeutics for patients with immune-mediated diseases. We are seeking a highly motivated Director, Legal Operations & Contracts. Reporting to the SVP and General Counsel, this is a hands-on, pivotal role as the go-to legal partner for clinical development contracting, and in building the contracting foundation that lets Climb Bio advance its programs and partnerships quickly, with the right protections in place.

Requirements

J.D. from an accredited law school and active membership in good standing with at least one U.S. state bar
8+ years of legal experience at a law firm and/or in-house legal department, with substantial experience drafting and negotiating complex commercial agreements
Hands-on experience personally drafting and negotiating clinical trial agreements, CRO agreements, and other clinical development contracts
Demonstrated experience building or improving contracting processes, such as templates, playbooks, approval workflows, or contract lifecycle management systems
Track record of leading through others, whether direct reports, matrix teams, or outside counsel, and advising senior leaders with practical, risk-calibrated judgment

Nice To Haves

In-house experience at a biotechnology, pharmaceutical, life sciences, or CRO company
Experience with privacy and cross-border data transfer requirements in clinical research
Public company experience, including SEC reporting, disclosure, and Board governance
Experience supporting licensing, collaboration, or other strategic transactions
Experience selecting or implementing a contract lifecycle management system

Responsibilities

Serve as Climb Bio's go-to attorney for clinical development contracts, personally drafting, reviewing, and negotiating clinical trial agreements with investigative sites, academic medical centers, hospitals, site management organizations, and investigators.
Partner day to day with CROs on site contracting: set the positions and fallbacks they negotiate within, review CRO-negotiated agreements, and step in directly to resolve escalated issues and keep study start-up on schedule.
Act as the primary legal partner to Research and Development, including Clinical Operations, Clinical Development, Regulatory Affairs, Medical Affairs, Pharmacovigilance, Quality, and Data Management. Advise in real time on subject injury, publication rights, confidentiality, IP ownership, data rights, and cross-border clinical research.
Draft, review, and negotiate Climb Bio's significant commercial agreements, including manufacturing and supply, licensing, research and collaboration, CRO and vendor master agreements, consulting, material transfer, and software and data processing agreements.
Lead the contracts and legal operations function as a working leader, setting its strategy, operating model, and priorities on a two-to-three-year horizon while carrying a substantial personal contract workload.
Build and maintain the company's contracting infrastructure: templates, negotiation playbooks, approval workflows, contract lifecycle management, and turnaround metrics. Train business stakeholders so routine agreements move without legal bottlenecks.
Manage outside counsel and the legal operations budget, deciding what is handled in-house versus externally and holding firms accountable for cost, quality, and responsiveness.
Support the SVP and General Counsel on privacy and compliance policies, Board and committee governance, SEC reporting and disclosure, and strategic transactions and collaborations.