Senior Manager, Contracts Management

Korro Bio•Cambridge, MA

9d•$154,808 - $195,793•Onsite

About The Position

Korro is seeking a full-time Senior Manager, Contracts Management to join its Legal team and lead drafting, negotiation, and management of clinical trial agreements and related clinical research contracts for global clinical development programs. The role supports agreements with study sites, institutions, CROs, and vendors, including in the United States, Europe, and Australia. It also supports general and administrative contracting, vendor selection, and administration and optimization of the company’s contract lifecycle management (CLM) system and workflows. The Senior Manager will serve as a trusted contracting partner to Clinical Operations, Clinical Development, Medical Affairs, Regulatory, Quality, Finance, and G&A teams. The role requires balancing rapid study start-up with sound legal and regulatory risk management, and is suited to an experienced contracts professional with hands-on global clinical trial agreement experience and a strong commercial contracting foundation. The position is based in a fast-paced biotech environment and requires being onsite at least three days per week, with or without reasonable accommodation. Korro is a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biopharmaceutical company developing genetic medicines using its RNA editing platform. The company describes its culture as collaborative and mission-driven, guided by the values Rewrite the Future, On the Cutting Edge, Better Together, Dynamically Different, Kindness, and Integrity.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required.
At least eight years of contracts management experience in an in-house legal or clinical contracting function at a biotech, pharmaceutical, or CRO organization, or at a law firm with a life sciences practice.
Deep, hands-on experience drafting and negotiating global clinical trial agreements and site budgets, including studies in the United States, Europe, and Australia.
Experience negotiating with U.S. academic medical centers and research institutions.
Strong working knowledge of clinical research regulations and standards, including ICH-GCP, the EU Clinical Trials Regulation, GDPR, HIPAA, and Australian clinical trial and privacy requirements.
Experience with life sciences agreements, including CRO, vendor, consulting, HCP, data processing, and material transfer agreements.
Experience negotiating confidentiality agreements and general commercial agreements, including software/SaaS and services agreements.
Experience supporting vendor selection, including RFPs and vendor due diligence.
Experience configuring or administering CLM systems, including workflows and approval processes.
Experience using AI and legal technology tools to improve contracting workflows.
Ability to serve as a trusted business partner and independently manage a high-volume contract portfolio with competing priorities and study timelines.
Excellent negotiation, written, and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain legal risk clearly to non-legal stakeholders.
Strong project management skills and ability to work across time zones with internal teams, CROs, and study sites.
High level of discretion and ability to handle confidential information.
Analytical mindset with strong judgment and problem-solving capabilities.
Ability to work independently and as part of a collaborative team.
Ability to work onsite at least three days per week, with or without reasonable accommodation.

Nice To Haves

J.D., LL.B., equivalent legal training, or paralegal certification preferred.
CLM implementation experience is a plus.

Responsibilities

Draft, review, negotiate, and manage clinical trial agreements and related research contracts, including site and institution agreements, investigator-initiated study agreements, CRO master services agreements and work orders, and amendments for global clinical trials.
Negotiate study site budgets and payment terms with Clinical Operations and Finance, ensuring fair market value and alignment with protocol requirements.
Apply jurisdiction-specific clinical trial frameworks and templates, including the EU Clinical Trials Regulation, Medicines Australia standard form agreements, and U.S. institutional and academic medical center requirements.
Address clinical contracting issues involving indemnification, insurance, subject injury, intellectual property, publication rights, confidentiality, and data protection, including GDPR, HIPAA, and the Australian Privacy Act.
Draft and negotiate ancillary clinical and R&D agreements, including confidentiality, data processing, laboratory and vendor services, consulting and HCP, and material transfer agreements.
Develop and maintain CTA templates, budget templates, and negotiation playbooks with pre-approved fallback positions.
Oversee CRO-delegated site contracting, including CRO contract teams, escalation pathways, and adherence to approved templates and fallback positions.
Track contracting status and cycle times against study start-up milestones; create and distribute contract metrics and status reports; identify and resolve bottlenecks.
Coordinate contract execution and e-signature routing in accordance with the company’s signature authority policy.
Escalate material deviations and high-risk issues to the Senior Director, Contracts Counsel.
Maintain contract repositories and ensure proper filing, version control, and accessibility of executed agreements and amendments.
Serve as the primary contracting partner to Clinical Operations, Clinical Development, Medical Affairs, Regulatory, Quality, Finance, and G&A functions, identifying legal and regulatory risk.
Draft, review, and negotiate confidentiality agreements and routine G&A contracts, including software/SaaS, IT, facilities, professional services, and other vendor agreements.
Support vendor selection, including RFPs, vendor due diligence, and evaluation of contract terms and risk.
Lead contract intake, tracking, and lifecycle management in the CLM system, including designing, administering, and optimizing workflows, intake forms, approval routing, and signature authority controls.
Improve contracting workflows, including evaluating and implementing AI and legal technology tools to increase efficiency and consistency.
Partner with Compliance on HCP contracting, anti-bribery and anti-corruption requirements, including the FCPA and applicable local laws, and transparency reporting requirements.
Develop and deliver stakeholder training on contracting processes, templates, and best practices.
Monitor renewals, expirations, and terminations, and manage contract close-out at study completion.
Manage relationships with local counsel in ex-U.S. jurisdictions to resolve complex matters efficiently.
Perform other tasks and duties as assigned.