Senior Director, Corporate Counsel – Contracts & Legal Operations

Beeline Medicines•Boston, MA

5h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Director, Corporate Counsel –Contracts & Legal Operations serves as a senior legal leader responsible for owning and managing the company’s end-to-end contracting function, while building and refining the processes, systems and infrastructure that enable the legal function to operate efficiently and scale effectively. This role acts as the primary legal partner for contract-related matters across the organization, leading the drafting, review, negotiation, and prioritization of a wide range of agreements in a fast-paced, pre-commercial biotechnology environment. In parallel, this individual will design and implement streamlined workflows, templates, and tools that enhance visibility, consistency, and speed in contracting. The ideal candidate brings deep experience in biotech or life sciences contracting, sound legal judgment, and a practical, business-oriented approach. This individual will function both as a hands-on contracts leader and as an operational partner who improves how legal services are delivered across the company. In addition to leading the contracting function, this role will flex into broader corporate and legal initiatives, including governance, entity management, alliance advisory, capital markets activity, and potential future public-company-related initiatives, as the company continues to scale.

Requirements

Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an accredited law school; active bar admission in at least one U.S. jurisdiction required.
Minimum of 12 years of relevant legal experience including significant in-house experience within a biotechnology, pharmaceutical, or life sciences organization.
Demonstrated expertise in drafting, negotiating, and managing a high volume of complex commercial and clinical-related agreements.
Experience developing and maintaining contract templates, playbooks, and scalable legal processes.
Experience working cross-functionally with business stakeholders in a fast-paced, growth-oriented environment.
Practical understanding of legal workflows, contract lifecycle management, and process optimization.
Strong working knowledge of biotech or pharmaceutical regulatory and compliance frameworks relevant to life sciences legal work.
Ability to take ownership of a core legal function and drive execution with minimal oversight.
Sound judgment in prioritizing competing demands and managing a high-volume workload.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate legal concepts into practical business guidance.

Nice To Haves

Startup experience preferred.
Familiarity with legal operations tools and systems (e.g., CLM platforms, document management solutions) preferred

Responsibilities

Lead the drafting, review, and negotiation of a broad range of company agreements, including NDAs, vendor and service agreements, clinical trial-related contracts, and other commercial agreements.
Serve as the primary point of contact for contract intake, triage, prioritization, and status tracking, ensuring clear visibility and responsiveness to internal stakeholders.
Design, implement, and continuously improve contracting workflows, intake processes, and approval frameworks to drive efficiency, consistency, and scalability.
Develop, maintain and refine standardized contract templates, playbooks, and guidance materials to support business teams and streamline negotiations.
Partner closely with cross-functional stakeholders, including Procurement/Outsourcing, Finance, and R&D to align contracting processes with business needs and reduce friction in legal engagement.
Evaluate and implement tools and systems (e.g., contract lifecycle management system, contract repository and protocols) that support efficient contract management and organization.
Triage and allocate contract-related work across internal resources and outside counsel, managing external support as appropriate.
Support broader legal department priorities as needed, including corporate governance, entity management, intercompany arrangements, alliance advisory, capital markets activities, and potential future public company–related initiatives (e.g., equity-related legal support), with responsibilities evolving as the company scales.
Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned