Senior Manager, Contracts Management

Korro Bio•Cambridge, MA

1d•$154,808 - $195,793•Onsite

About The Position

Korro is a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biopharmaceutical company developing genetic medicines using its proprietary RNA editing platform. The Senior Manager, Contracts Management will join the Legal team as a full-time employee and lead the drafting, negotiation, and management of clinical trial agreements and related research contracts for global clinical development programs, including work with study sites, institutions, and vendors in the United States, Europe, and Australia. The role also supports general and administrative contracting, vendor selection, and administration and optimization of the company’s contract lifecycle management (CLM) system and workflows. The position serves as a contracting partner to Clinical Operations, Clinical Development, Medical Affairs, Regulatory, Quality, Finance, and G&A teams. It balances timely study start-up with legal and regulatory risk management and helps scale contracting processes as Korro’s clinical portfolio grows. The role requires deep, hands-on global clinical trial agreement experience and a strong foundation in commercial contracting.

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 demonstrated experience with 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 a broad range of life sciences agreements, such as CRO, vendor, consulting, HCP, data processing, and material transfer agreements.
Experience negotiating CDAs and general commercial agreements, including software/SaaS and services agreements.
Experience supporting vendor selection processes, 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., or equivalent legal training or paralegal certification.
CLM implementation experience.

Responsibilities

Draft, review, negotiate, and manage clinical trial agreements and related clinical 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 including indemnification, insurance, subject injury, intellectual property, publication rights, confidentiality, and data protection.
Draft and negotiate ancillary clinical and R&D agreements, including confidentiality agreements, data processing agreements, laboratory and vendor services agreements, consulting and HCP agreements, and material transfer agreements.
Develop, maintain, and standardize 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; prepare and distribute contract metrics and status reports, and 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, 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, including IT, HR, and Facilities, identifying legal and regulatory risks.
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 using the CLM system, including designing, administering, and optimizing workflows, intake forms, approval routing, and signature authority controls.
Improve contracting workflows and evaluate and implement 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 training for business stakeholders on contracting processes, templates, and best practices.
Monitor renewals, expirations, and terminations of executed agreements, 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.