Legal and Contracts Operations Manager

Striveworks • Austin, TX

3d • $115,000 - $155,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Striveworks is seeking a Legal and Contracts Operations Manager to own the execution life cycle for company legal operations, public sector contracts, and federal compliance. This critical individual contributor role involves systematic triage, review, evaluation, and management of various agreements, including customer contracts, subcontracts, teaming agreements, partnership agreements, software licenses, vendor agreements, and NDAs. The manager will translate complex contractual and regulatory requirements into practical instructions for operational teams, safeguarding intellectual property and managing risk. Key responsibilities include maintaining databases, optimizing tracking workflows, and developing a scalable internal legal function. The role requires close collaboration with business development, engineering, security, IT, and company leadership to ensure responsible and efficient operations and expansion.

Requirements

• A bachelor’s degree and 3–7 years of professional experience in a corporate legal department or with a technology company or defense contractor focusing on legal operations, paralegal duties, or contract management.
• Direct experience executing initial document triage and comprehensive review of commercial and public sector agreements.
• Experience handling basic agreement term negotiations directly with counterparties.
• Proficiency analyzing, logging, and tracking Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and DFARS clauses, with a clear understanding of how to translate clause requirements into concrete internal actions.
• Experience implementing or administering process improvements for contract life cycle management.
• Exceptional attention to detail, document drafting skills, professional maturity, and excellent communication capabilities.
• A process-oriented mindset and a highly diligent approach to managing sensitive information.
• Eligibility and willingness to obtain and maintain a Secret US security clearance.

Nice To Haves

• A formal Paralegal Certificate from an ABA-approved program or a Certified Legal Operations Professional (CLOP) designation.
• Tech sector fluency, specifically with reviewing software licensing frameworks, End User License Agreements (EULAs), and third-party AI tool usage terms.
• Experience with export control frameworks, such as tracking Export Administration Regulations (EAR), International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), or managing export compliance gates.
• Baseline administrative exposure to patent processing.
• Experience with employment law.
• Experience establishing and maturing a legal function within a growth-stage startup.
• Direct experience selecting and implementing a Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) platform.
• Exposure to verifying or cross-mapping company practices against advanced compliance frameworks like NIST SP 800-171 or CMMC 2.0.
• Familiarity with Department of Defense (DOD) contracts and defense industry regulatory frameworks, including the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM).

Responsibilities

• Systematic triage, review, evaluation, and management of a broad range of agreement types (customer contracts, subcontracts, teaming and partnership agreements, software license agreements, vendor agreements, and NDAs).
• Translating complex contractual and regulatory requirements into clear, practical instructions for operational teams.
• Maintaining databases, optimizing tracking workflows, and building out a scalable internal legal function.
• Collaborating across teams (business development, engineering, security, IT, company leadership) to ensure responsible and efficient operations and expansion.
• Analyzing, logging, and tracking Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and DFARS clauses, and translating clause requirements into concrete internal actions.
• Implementing or administering process improvements for contract life cycle management.

Benefits

• Medical/dental/vision insurance
• Voluntary life, long-term disability, accident, and hospital indemnity insurance
• HSA and FSA (including dependent care FSA) plans
• 401(k) plan
• Unlimited PTO
• Paid parental leave

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level