Senior Manager, Legal Operations & Contracts

Olema Oncology•San Francisco, CA

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

Olema Oncology is seeking a Senior Manager, Legal Operations & Contracts to join their team. This role reports to the Vice-President, Legal Counsel and is responsible for legal operations expertise, including process management, execution, compliance, and process optimization, with a focus on building and scaling efficient workflows. The position also requires a deep background in drafting, reviewing, and negotiating a high volume of both routine and complex contracts. The Senior Manager will operate independently across functions as a trusted partner, proactively managing the end-to-end contract lifecycle for commercialization contracts while driving operational excellence and efficiency. This role will support the legal team through KPI tracking, metrics, and analysis, while identifying and driving workflow efficiencies as the function scales. The ideal candidate is detail-oriented, highly organized, and proficient with systems and tools, with a solid understanding of corporate contracts. Strong communication, collaboration, and time management skills are essential, along with a proactive, positive, and growth-oriented mindset. This role is based out of their San Francisco or Boston office and will require 10% travel.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree
Demonstrated experience leading legal operations, including contract lifecycle management, process optimization, and implementation of tools and systems to improve efficiency
Managing full contract lifecycle, including drafting, negotiating, editing, and execution, with a strong understanding of contract terms, structure, and end-to-end contract management processes (tracking, approval, and execution)
Working knowledge of the drug discovery and development process and ability to understand risks and requirements associated with pharmaceutical contracting preferred
Proficiency with contract management software
A minimum of seven years (7+) of relevant experience in legal operations and contract management
Demonstrated experience working with attorneys and senior leaders across various functions
Ability to work both independently and effectively across a variety of functional groups (such as Commercial, Research and Development, CMC, Human Resources, Finance, Facilities and IT) and all levels of management
Liaison and point of contact for business contract owners and vendor/agency inquiries related to contracting and payment in partnership with legal, finance, and procurement
Strong technical skills (e.g., Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, Contract Management Systems, Docusign)
Highly organized, detail-oriented, and process driven
Proactive and solutions-oriented
Strong collaborator with the ability to influence cross-functional teams
Comfortable operating in a growing, fast-paced biotech environment
High level of integrity and discretion
Flexible and willing to learn new procedures and skill sets

Nice To Haves

Paralegal certificate or legal studies background preferred
Knowledge or experience with paralegal support tasks, with a focus on compliance program matter, contract or corporate matters
In-house experience at a biotechnology, pharmaceutical or life science company with a focus on legal operations and agreement drafting and negotiation, strongly preferred

Responsibilities

Manage legal operations activities including contributing to the development of training materials, documentation, and process improvements to support efficient contracting practices
Lead and optimize legal operations processes such as contract management, document management, knowledge management, vendor relationships, and strategic processes
Drive operational efficiencies through technology and process improvements, managing legal department projects, and support day-to-day operations
Develop and implement policies and procedures to improve legal department effectiveness and efficiency
Negotiate, draft, review, and manage a wide range of contracts (including confidentiality agreements, SOWs, consulting and service agreements, materials transfer agreements, sponsored research agreements, clinical study agreements, and various vendor services agreements) with guidance from senior attorneys as needed
Communicate with internal stakeholders regarding contractual risks and support development of practical mitigation approaches
Ensure contractual terms and conditions are consistent with Olema policies, standards, and established guidance
Ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including data protection and privacy requirements (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA)
Serve as an escalation point of contact for internal and external contract process/status questions and escalate more complex issues as appropriate
Manage contract workflow and support adherence to contract turnaround timelines to ensure efficient execution
Support and partner in the development, enhancement, and maintenance of contract templates and SOPs
Be the contract management systems expert (i.e. Agiloft)
Coordinate with outside counsel and in-house legal team to obtain legal documents, e.g., patent declarations and assignments, and manage legal records