VP, Enterprise Contracts & Governance (Hybrid)

DEPARTMENT: Legal REPORTS TO: Chief Legal Officer LOCATION: Dallas-Fort Worth / Hybrid At BrightPath, we believe every child deserves the best start in life. That starts with exceptional people.As one of North America's fastest-growing providers of early childhood education, we're expandingthrough new center openings and strategic acquisitions while investing in the people who make ourmission possible.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Vice President, Enterprise Contracts serves as the Company’s enterprise leader for contracting strategy, governance, and lifecycle operations. This role is responsible for overseeing the full lifecycle management of commercial, government, real estate, and strategic agreements while driving enterprise-wide contracting standards, process improvement initiatives, risk management, and operational excellence across a growing multi-site organization. The role will also provide significant acquisition/integration support and serve as the Legal team representative on key cross-functional projects. As a senior member of the Legal team, the Vice President will partner closely with Shared Services, Operations, Finance, Real Estate, Marketing, Growth, HR, IT, and field leadership to ensure efficient, compliant, and scalable contracting practices. The successful candidate will bring deep expertise in complex contract negotiation, government contracting, real estate and leasing matters, enterprise governance, and large-scale project execution. This individual will play a critical role in protecting the Company’s interests, supporting growth initiatives, and enhancing operational effectiveness across the enterprise.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Enterprise Contract Leadership & Governance

• Serve as the Company’s senior leader for enterprise contract governance, contracting strategy, and lifecycle operations.
• Advise executive leadership regarding contractual rights, obligations, business risks, compliance requirements, and risk mitigation strategies.
• Develop and implement enterprise-wide contracting standards, approval processes, policies, procedures, templates, playbooks, and governance frameworks.
• Perform complex contract analysis and provide practical, fact-based recommendations that appropriately balance legal, operational, financial, and business objectives.
• Analyze, interpret, and resolve complex contractual issues involving vendors, customers, landlords, government entities, acquisition targets, and strategic partners.
• Establish performance metrics, reporting frameworks, and key performance indicators to measure contracting effectiveness and support executive decision-making.
• Build a culture of accountability, compliance, and operational excellence across the contracting function.

Contract Review, Negotiation & Administration • Lead Legal’s role in the review, negotiation, drafting, administration, and interpretation of a broad range of agreements, including:

• Vendor and supplier agreements
• Technology and software agreements
• Professional services agreements
• Real estate leases and occupancy agreements
• Construction, facilities, and maintenance agreements
• Transportation and fleet agreements
• Government and public-sector contracts
• Strategic partnership agreements
• Data privacy and information security agreements

• Independently negotiate complex contractual arrangements while appropriately escalating legal, financial, operational, and compliance risks.
• Manage contract obligations, renewals, amendments, notices, assignments, and contract closeout activities.
• Ensure contractual commitments and business requirements are clearly documented, tracked, and fulfilled throughout the contract lifecycle.

Government Contracting & Regulatory Compliance

• Support the negotiation, administration, and compliance obligations associated with federal, state, and local government contracts, grants, subsidy programs, and public-sector partnerships.
• Advise business stakeholders on government procurement requirements, contractual risks, regulatory obligations, and compliance expectations.
• Support proposal review, contract administration, and ongoing contract performance activities associated with government-funded programs.
• Maintain familiarity with applicable government contracting frameworks, procurement regulations, and compliance requirements.
• Coordinate with Legal, Finance, Operations, and other business leaders to ensure compliance with contractual and regulatory obligations.

Real Estate & Multi-Site Operations Support

• Support the negotiation of certain leases, amendments, renewals, licenses, easements, access agreements, and related occupancy documents.
• Partner with Real Estate, Facilities, and Operations teams to support new site openings, relocations, expansions, closures, and portfolio optimization initiatives.
• Help identify contractual and operational risks associated with real estate transactions and facility-related initiatives.

Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM)

• Serve as project lead for the evaluation, selection, implementation, and optimization of the Company’s Contract Lifecycle Management platform.
• Lead business process redesign efforts associated with contract intake, approvals, negotiation workflows, repository management, reporting, and renewals.
• Drive enterprise adoption, training programs, change management activities, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Develop reporting dashboards and analytics to improve transparency, accountability, and business insights.
• Oversee the Company’s centralized contract repository and contract governance framework.
• Ensure the accuracy, integrity, accessibility, and audit readiness of contract records.
• Implement processes for contract retention, metadata management, obligations tracking, reporting, and document governance.
• Maintain accurate and auditable contract data to support operational, legal, regulatory, and acquisition-related needs.

Mergers, Acquisitions & Growth Initiatives

• Support contract-related due diligence efforts for acquisitions, divestitures, strategic investments, and other corporate transactions.
• Assess contractual risks, consent requirements, assignability issues, and change-of-control implications.
• Support integration planning and execution, including contract migration, harmonization, repository consolidation, and governance alignment.
• Partner with Legal, Operations, Finance, and executive stakeholders to support enterprise growth initiatives.

Strategic Projects & Enterprise Transformation

• Drive highly visible cross-functional strategic initiatives that improve scalability, efficiency, governance, and operational performance across the organization.
• Establish project governance structures, milestones, success metrics, executive reporting, and accountability mechanisms.
• Drive process optimization, automation, and digital transformation initiatives across contracting and adjacent business functions.
• Act as a trusted advisor and project leader for special initiatives assigned by the Chief Legal Officer and executive leadership team.
• Partner closely with Shared Services leadership on procurement, vendor management, governance, and contracting workflows.
• Foster strong relationships across the organization and serve as a strategic business partner to key stakeholders.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Minimum 15+ years of progressive experience in contract management, commercial contracting, legal operations, procurement, government contracting, contract administration, strategic project management, and/or related disciplines.
• Significant experience independently negotiating and administering complex commercial agreements.
• Demonstrated experience supporting federal, state, or local government contracting environments.
• Significant experience reviewing and negotiating commercial real estate leases and related occupancy agreements.
• Proven experience leading enterprise-wide strategic initiatives and complex cross-functional projects.
• Experience implementing enterprise technology platforms, process transformation initiatives, and CLM solutions.
• Experience supporting mergers, acquisitions, due diligence, and post-acquisition efforts.
• Strong business judgment and ability to balance legal, operational, financial, and strategic considerations.
• Exceptional communication, executive presentation, stakeholder management, and organizational skills.
• Ability to influence senior leaders and drive results in a highly collaborative environment.
• Experience working for a multinational enterprise.

Preferred

• Experience within childcare, education, healthcare, franchise, hospitality, retail, or other multi-site operating environments.
• Experience implementing and administering CLM platforms such as Ironclad, Icertis, Agiloft, ContractPodAi, Sirion, or DocuSign CLM.
• Experience supporting private equity-backed, acquisitive, or high-growth organizations.
• Familiarity with procurement, vendor governance, compliance, and enterprise risk management practices.
• Familiarity with a variety of AI tools.

Why Join BrightPath? At BrightPath, you'll have the opportunity to make a meaningful impact while helping build the workforce that supports thousands of children and families every day. We offer:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) with company match
• Paid time off and company holidays
• Professional development and leadership growth opportunities
• Collaborative, supportive leadership team
• Opportunity to influence recruiting strategy across a growing North American organization

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