Contracts Specialist

Contracts Specialist

Gibson Dunn is a leading global law firm, advising clients on significant transactions and disputes. Our exceptional teams craft and deploy creative legal strategies that are meticulously tailored to every matter, however complex or high-stakes. The firm's work is distinguished by a unique combination of precision and vision.

Based in either Los Angeles, Orange County, Century City, Palo Alto, San Francisco, the Contracts Specialist will support Gibson Dunn's global operations by reviewing, negotiating, drafting, redlining, and administering vendor and firm contracts across a wide range of service and technology categories.

This position works closely with other members of the Procurement team, as well as the Office of General Counsel (OGC), Information Security, Finance, and business owners across departments (including IT, Research & Information Management, Events, Marketing, and Finance) to ensure contracts are processed efficiently, accurately, and in accordance with firm policy.

The ideal candidate has strong attention to detail, sound commercial judgment, working knowledge of contract terms, and the ability to manage a high volume of agreements in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.

This role reports to the Vendor Contracts Manager.

Responsibilities Include:

Contract Review, Drafting & Negotiation:

• Review, negotiate, draft, and redline vendor and firm agreements including, but not limited to, technology platforms, professional services, consulting, subscriptions, and SaaS arrangements, using established playbooks.
• Perform in-depth review of routed contracts and identify deviations from standard terms, playbook positions, or firm policy for escalation to the Vendor Contracts Manager or OGC.
• Identify and resolve legal issues and commercial terms using established playbooks, escalating higher-risk or non-standard issues as appropriate.
• Negotiate directly with vendors as needed, particularly where specialized or technical contract terms are involved.
• Maintain and periodically update the firm's contract playbooks and templates to reflect evolving negotiating positions, legal requirements, and business needs.

Procurement & Stakeholder Coordination:

• Review contracts routed for intake to assess completeness, urgency, risk level, and agreement type, and direct each to the appropriate review workflow.
• Perform final quality control on negotiated agreements prior to execution, confirming that negotiated changes are accurately incorporated, exhibits and schedules are complete, and coordinate with Procurement, Finance, Information Security, IT, and business units to gather required approvals and ensure agreements meet operational and policy requirements before execution.
• Partner with Procurement team members, who generally remain the primary point of contact with the vendor, to keep the vendor and internal stakeholders aligned throughout the review and negotiation process.
• Track and follow up on outstanding approvals, signatures, and open action items to advance contracts moving through the review cycle without unnecessary delay.

Contract Lifecycle Management & Repository Administration:

• Maintain accurate, organized records of contracts, amendments, and approvals within the firm's contract lifecycle management (CLM) system and repository.
• Ensure executed agreements are stored correctly in the contract repository and that key terms, dates, obligations, and metadata are accurately captured in the CLM system.
• Monitor contract terms and key obligations, including renewal and expiration dates, termination and notice windows, price increases, deliverables, and insurance requirements, and proactively notify stakeholders of upcoming milestones.
• Support administration and data integrity of the CLM platform, including workflow routing, metadata accuracy, and document version control.
• Periodically audit CLM records to identify missing documents, inaccurate metadata, duplicate records, and incomplete fields, and coordinate corrections.
• Utilize contract lifecycle management, AI-assisted tools, and other technology solutions to improve contract efficiency, accuracy, and consistency.

Process Support, Knowledge Management & Reporting:

• Identify, support, and recommend continuous improvements to contracting workflows, templates, playbooks, intake procedures, CLM processes, and documentation standards. Maintain clause guidance, FAQs, precedent language, negotiation notes, and other contracting resources alongside the firm's playbooks and templates, and help refine clause libraries, workflows, and review rules.
• Prepare regular reports and status updates for the Vendor Contracts Manager and Procurement leadership on contract volume, turnaround times, renewal timelines, and identify recurring negotiation issues, process bottlenecks, and common escalations to support turnaround-time and process improvements.
• Assist with training junior team members on contract intake procedures, playbook application, and CLM system use as needed.
• Other duties as may be assigned by the Vendor Contracts Manager.

Qualifications:

• Strong attention to detail and sound, practical judgment in applying playbook standards to contract terms.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills, with the ability to manage a high volume of contracts and competing deadlines.
• Clear, professional written and verbal communication skills, with a client-service mindset.
• Ability to work effectively and collaboratively across departments and geographies.
• Discretion and professionalism in handling confidential and sensitive information.
• Comfortable with administration of contract lifecycle management (CLM) and related technology platforms.
• Ability to interpret and apply established contract playbooks while exercising appropriate judgment regarding escalation.

Experience:

• Bachelor's degree required; paralegal certificate, JD, or equivalent legal/contracts experience preferred.
• Minimum of 4-7 years of experience in contract administration, contract management, procurement, or vendor relations, ideally within a law firm, corporate legal department, or other professional services organization.
• Working knowledge of legal and standard commercial contract terms, with the ability to apply playbook positions independently.
• Experience using CLM systems required; familiarity with AI-based tools preferred.
• Prior experience redlining and negotiating vendor agreements against a playbook or template.

Gibson Dunn will consider for employment qualified Applicants with Criminal Histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of local law.

Compensation & Benefits:

The annual compensation range for this position is $80,000 to $120,000. The salary offered within this range will depend upon qualifications and other operational considerations.

Benefits offered for this position include health care; retirement benefits; paid days off, including sick time, and vacation time; parental leave; basic life insurance; Flexible Spending Accounts; as well as discretionary, performance-based bonuses.