Senior Contract Strategist

First American Payments Systems•Minneapolis, MN

19h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Contract Strategist leads end‑to‑end negotiation and drafting of complex, high‑value customer and partner agreements across multiple Deluxe business segments, including financial services and other regulated environments. In this role you will serve as a primary contracting expert for sophisticated financial, pricing, and risk allocation terms (e.g., revenue share, tiered pricing, fee schedules, credits, and limitations of liability). You will work cross functionally with Legal, Finance, Product Management, Marketing, Compliance, Operations, and Sales leadership to shape contracting strategy and deal structures aligned to Deluxe’s business objectives and risk appetite. You will provide executive level recommendations on non‑standard positions, precedent setting issues, and trade-offs between revenue, risk, and customer experience. You will own and continuously improve the contract strategy framework for assigned segments, including standard templates, playbooks, fallback positions, exception and escalation processes, and deal governance for their assigned segment. You will evaluate precedent and market trends to recommend changes that support long‑term strategic objectives and protect Deluxe’s contractual and financial position. You will enable the use and governance of AI enabled language tools and contract automation technologies to improve speed, quality, and consistency of complex contract drafting. You will design and refine prompts, clause libraries, and review frameworks to help identify risk in sophisticated financial clauses, regulatory commitments, and data/AI‑related provisions, and mentors others on best practices. You will serve as a focal for Product Commercialization and Merger & Acquisition activities in designated segments, including structuring and harmonizing customer and vendor contracts. You will assess contractual implications of new offerings, integrations, and acquisitions and recommend structures to efficiently scale within Deluxe’s risk and profitability targets. You will assist the RFP team with the contracting and risk components of the Request for Proposal (RFP/RFI) process for assigned segments. You will identify non‑standard terms, especially those impacting financial obligations, data/AI use, and regulatory requirements, and coordinates internal vetting and approvals with Legal, Compliance, Finance, InfoSec, and other key stakeholders. You will partner with Legal and Deluxe Vendor Management, as needed, to align customer and vendor contracting positions and ensure consistency with corporate policy. You will proactively recommend enhancements to Deluxe’s standard forms, clauses (including AI and financial clauses), and contract management processes to improve risk control, efficiency, and deal velocity. Position may include other duties as determined by the company.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in legal or Business Studies.
Minimum of at least 5 years’ experience in drafting, redlining, and negotiating contracts.
Must be 18 years of age or older

Nice To Haves

Bachelors Degree + Juris Doctorate in Law (JD) or MBA preferred
7-10 years’ experience in drafting, redlining, and negotiating contracts.
Financial Service industry experience a plus but not required.
Strong written communications
Strong attention to detail
Strong work ethic.

Responsibilities

Serve as a primary contracting expert for sophisticated financial, pricing, and risk allocation terms (e.g., revenue share, tiered pricing, fee schedules, credits, and limitations of liability).
Work cross functionally with Legal, Finance, Product Management, Marketing, Compliance, Operations, and Sales leadership to shape contracting strategy and deal structures aligned to Deluxe’s business objectives and risk appetite.
Provide executive level recommendations on non‑standard positions, precedent setting issues, and trade-offs between revenue, risk, and customer experience.
Own and continuously improve the contract strategy framework for assigned segments, including standard templates, playbooks, fallback positions, exception and escalation processes, and deal governance for their assigned segment.
Evaluate precedent and market trends to recommend changes that support long‑term strategic objectives and protect Deluxe’s contractual and financial position.
Enable the use and governance of AI enabled language tools and contract automation technologies to improve speed, quality, and consistency of complex contract drafting.
Design and refine prompts, clause libraries, and review frameworks to help identify risk in sophisticated financial clauses, regulatory commitments, and data/AI‑related provisions, and mentors others on best practices.
Serve as a focal for Product Commercialization and Merger & Acquisition activities in designated segments, including structuring and harmonizing customer and vendor contracts.
Assess contractual implications of new offerings, integrations, and acquisitions and recommend structures to efficiently scale within Deluxe’s risk and profitability targets.
Assist the RFP team with the contracting and risk components of the Request for Proposal (RFP/RFI) process for assigned segments.
Identify non‑standard terms, especially those impacting financial obligations, data/AI use, and regulatory requirements, and coordinates internal vetting and approvals with Legal, Compliance, Finance, InfoSec, and other key stakeholders.
Partner with Legal and Deluxe Vendor Management, as needed, to align customer and vendor contracting positions and ensure consistency with corporate policy.
Proactively recommend enhancements to Deluxe’s standard forms, clauses (including AI and financial clauses), and contract management processes to improve risk control, efficiency, and deal velocity.