Description:
Position Summary:As a member of Umoja Biopharma's Legal team, the Associate Director, Clinical Contracts Counsel will play a key role in supporting the company's clinical contracting activities. This hands-on, execution-focused position is responsible for drafting, reviewing, negotiating, and managing a wide range of clinical and operational agreements, including clinical trial agreements, confidentiality agreements, master services agreements, consulting agreements, and informed consent forms (ICFs).
The Associate Director, Clinical Contracts Counsel will provide practical legal guidance on contractual risk, intellectual property, indemnification, limitation of liability, confidentiality, compliance, and regulatory considerations. This individual will also support the development and maintenance of contract templates, negotiation playbooks, and contract workflows, while contributing to contract lifecycle management, audits, training initiatives, issue resolution, and continuous process improvement efforts across the organization.
The ideal candidate is highly organized, solutions-oriented, and collaborative, with a strong internal client-service mindset. Direct experience negotiating clinical trial agreements is required, as this individual will be expected to quickly become a trusted partner to the business. Reporting to the Chief Legal officer, this role will work closely with cross-functional teams to facilitate efficient, practical, and business-focused contracting processes while protecting Umoja's legal interests and supporting the advancement of its clinical programs.
Core Accountabilities:
Specific responsibilities include:
Contract Drafting and Authoring
- Draft, review, and negotiate a wide range of agreements in support of Umoja's clinical operations, including clinical trial agreements, confidentiality agreements, master services agreements and ancillary contracts, consulting agreements, and informed consent forms.
- Develop clear, practical, and risk-balanced contract terms that support Immunome's business objectives.
- Customize contract structures and terms to address evolving business needs while maintaining consistency with company standards.
- Review and analyze contracts to identify legal risks, compliance considerations, and business implications.
- Partner with internal stakeholders to understand operational objectives and provide clear guidance on contractual rights, obligations, and risk trade-offs.
- Ensure contracts align with company policies, legal requirements, and strategic priorities, escalating complex or high-risk issues as appropriate.
- Provide practical, business-focused legal advice to internal stakeholders on contract-related matters.
- Advise key contractual issues including intellectual property, indemnification, limitation of liability, confidentiality, and other legal considerations impacting contract negotiations.
- Develop and deliver training materials, guidance and presentations to educate internal teams on contract processes, policies, and best practices.
- Monitor contractual obligations to support compliance with agreed terms and conditions.
- Collaborate with cross-functional partners to implement processes that promote contract compliance and mitigate legal and operational risk.
- Assist with internal audits, issue resolution, and continuous improvement of contracting practices.
The Successful Candidate Will Have:
- J.D. from an accredited law school and active membership in at least one U.S. state bar; Washington State bar membership preferred.
- Minimum of 5 years of combined law firm and/or in-house legal experience within the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, or life sciences industry.
- Minimum of 2 years of direct experience serving as a contracts attorney with responsibility for drafting and negotiating clinical trial agreements.
- Experience supporting clinical operations contracting and negotiating a broad range of clinical and operational agreements, including clinical trial agreements, confidentiality agreements, master service agreements, consulting agreements, and informed consent forms (ICFs).
- Strong understanding of contract law, U.S. and ex-U.S. clinical study frameworks, and applicable regulatory requirements.
- Demonstrated ability to identify and assess legal and business risks, provide practical and solutions-oriented guidance, and apply sound legal judgment in a business-focused environment.
- Excellent analytical, communication, negotiation, stakeholder management, and relationship-building skills.
- Proven ability to manage multiple priorities, work independently, and thrive in a fast-paced, evolving biotechnology environment.
- A collaborative, client-service-oriented approach with the ability to build trusted partnerships across Clinical Operations, Regulatory Affairs, Procurement, Finance, and other cross-functional teams.
- Experience supporting contract lifecycle management (CLM) systems, developing contract templates, clause libraries, negotiation playbooks, and standardized contracting processes.
- Experience leading or supporting legal operations, contract process improvement, and workflow optimization initiatives.
- Experience within a clinical-stage or commercial-stage biotechnology, pharmaceutical, or life sciences organization.
- Experience at an AmLaw 100 law firm is a plus.
Physical Requirements:
- Ability to sit for extended periods of time.
- Ability to do typical desk work in an office environment.
