Paralegal/Contract Manager

Company Profile:

At Verastem Oncology, we address urgent needs of patients living with cancers driven by RAS/MAPK pathway mutations, a key driver of tumor growth and treatment resistance. FDA approval of AVMAPKI FAKZYNJA CO-PACK delivered the first therapy for women living with recurrent KRAS-mutated low-grade serous ovarian cancer, a rare cancer with significant unmet need. We’ve launched this novel/novel combination therapy in the U.S. and are exploring pathways for Europe and Japan. We continue to advance our pipeline of drugs to help block cancer cell survival, inhibit tumor growth, and overcome treatment resistance. This is an exciting opportunity to shape the future of cancer care and make a meaningful impact in the lives of patients.

Summary:

We are looking for an experienced, in-house Paralegal/Contract Manager to join our Legal team as part of a fast-growing, fully integrated biotech company. The role includes substantive, independent paralegal work, along with responsibility to support, and coordinate with the owner of and cross-functional partners, the Agiloft contract management system that underpins the contracting work led by the Legal function. The position will be responsible for managing the contract lifecycle and owns system and vendor relationships that allow a lean department to operate at a highly efficient and productive scale. The role needs an experienced in-house paralegal with pharmaceutical/biotech company experience, an individual contributor looking for a high impact role with significant autonomy and cross-functional visibility.

Job Duties and Responsibilities:

Provide support for the administration of the Agiloft contract management system, including intake, triage, routing and version control, execution of finalized agreements through the electronic signature platform, and coordination with the internal business owners of the contract and counterparties, and post-execution maintenance of agreements.

• Draft agreements from approved templates, including confidentiality agreements, consulting agreements, master services agreements, statements of work
• Coordinate review across functional owners, including Legal, Finance, IT and Quality and other subject matter experts as necessary, and escalating non-standard terms and deviations as necessary.
• Ensure that all required approvals are obtained prior to processing an agreement for execution in accordance with Company policy and Sarbanes-Oxley requirements.
• Maintain the contract system to ensure appropriate signatures as well as notification of renewals and expirations, to give business owners advance notice of upcoming decisions
• Process and document contracts with healthcare professionals and healthcare organizations, and, in coordination with the Company’s Compliance function, conduct needs assessments, fair market value determinations, exclusion and debarment screening, conflict-of-interest disclosures, and verification of post-engagement deliverables
• Coordinate the onboarding and annual compliance training curriculum in the learning management system, and track completion and escalation
• Track department budget and spend related to the contract management system, including engagement of outside contract attorneys as necessary and approved by the Head of Legal, and prepare periodic reporting
• Evaluate, implement, and administer department technology, and build the process documentation, dashboards, and metrics to improve cycle time

Essential/Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and an ABA paralegal certificate or equivalent experience
• 5+ years of paralegal or legal operations, including at least three years supporting an in-house legal function, preferably at a pharmaceutical or biotech company
• Demonstrated experience in the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry
• Experience administering a contract lifecycle management system and an electronic signature platform
• Exceptional attention to detail and document discipline, with the ability to manage multiple concurrent deadlines without close supervision
• Sound judgment regarding privilege, confidentiality, and when a matter must be escalated
• Integrity and discretion, with the judgment to handle sensitive matters independently
• Plain-language communication that helps commercial, medical, and research colleagues understand what a requirement means for their work
• Demonstrated process improvement orientation, rather than a preference for maintaining what already exists
• Comfort with ambiguity and with the pace of a lean department at a company in fast growth mode