Lead Contract Operations Manager

Mars•Chicago, IL

1d•$108,160 - $148,720•Onsite

About The Position

The Contract Operations Manager leads the day‑to‑day execution, optimization, and continuous improvement of the contracting lifecycle for a large, complex corporate legal department. This role manages a team of Contract Analysts who perform contract intake, review support, drafting, negotiation support, execution, and post‑execution administration using a modern Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) platform. The successful candidate is both an experienced contracts practitioner and an operational leader—someone who understands commercial contracting deeply, is fluent in CLM technology (with strong preference for Ironclad), and can translate contracting activity into data‑driven insights that improve speed, quality, risk management, and business outcomes. This role partners closely with Legal, Procurement, Finance, Compliance, and other business stakeholders to ensure contracting operations are scalable, predictable, and aligned to business priorities.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required
8+ years of experience working with commercial contracts in a large corporate legal department or equivalent environment.
3+ years of experience leading or managing teams in a legal operations or contracting function.
Deep hands‑on experience with modern CLM technology; Ironclad experience strongly preferred.
Strong understanding of commercial contracting structures, negotiation dynamics, and risk management.
Demonstrated experience managing contract templates, clause libraries, and playbooks.
Proven ability to use data and analytics to measure performance and drive operational improvement.
Experience working cross‑functionally with Legal, Commercial (Procurement), Finance, and Compliance.

Nice To Haves

Ironclad experience strongly preferred

Responsibilities

Oversee contract intake, triage, and routing to ensure the right work is handled by the right resources.
Ensure consistent use of standard templates, clause libraries, and fallback positions.
Partner with Legal counsel on complex or high‑risk agreements, escalations, and exception handling.
Monitor contract cycle times, bottlenecks, and quality issues; implement process improvements to reduce friction.
Ensure accurate contract execution, storage, metadata capture, and post‑signature obligations tracking.
Serve as the primary liaison with the CLM implementation and owner (Commercial) for Mars Global Services (MGS) Legal.
Configure and optimize workflows, templates, clause libraries, approval rules, and integrations.
Partner with Legal Operations, IT, and vendors on CLM enhancements, releases, and roadmap planning.
Lead, coach, and develop a global team of Contract Analysts responsible for end‑to‑end contracting support.
Set clear performance expectations, workflows, service‑level targets, and quality standards.
Drive consistent training and enablement across the team, including contract playbooks, templates, and negotiation standards.
Allocate work effectively across the team to balance speed, complexity, and risk.
Foster a culture of continuous improvement, accountability, and collaboration.
Own and maintain the contract template ecosystem, including standard agreements, fallback language, and clause guidance.
Partner with Legal subject‑matter experts to refresh templates and playbooks based on risk tolerance and business needs.
Ensure templates and clause libraries are version‑controlled, easy to use, and aligned to negotiation strategy.
Develop and deliver regular reporting on contracting volume, cycle times, bottlenecks, risk trends, and outcomes.
Use CLM and related data to identify improvement opportunities and support legal and business decision‑making.
Create executive‑ready dashboards and insights that tell a clear story about contracting performance and value.