Associate Director of Legal Operations & Contracts, Olema Oncology
$170-190k
+ Equity and Bonus
Will require 10% travel
Therapy development for women's cancers
Job no longer available
Therapy development for women's cancers
101-200 employees
Job no longer available
$170-190k
+ Equity and Bonus
Will require 10% travel
101-200 employees
Company mission
To develop therapies that offer the potential to improve outcomes for women living with cancer.
Role
Who you are
- The ideal candidate combines deep expertise in legal operations, contract lifecycle management, and process improvement with strong leadership, communication, and relationship--building skills
- This individual is highly organized, technology-savvy, and comfortable operating in a fast-paced biotechnology environment
- Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree (JD, MBA, or related master's degree) preferred
- Legal operations, contract management, project management, or related professional certifications (e.g., CLOC, PMP are preferred)
- Minimum of 10 years of progressive experience in legal operations, contract management, or legal project management
- Minimum of 3 years of people leadership experience, including direct management, coaching, and development of team members
- Demonstrated success leading legal operations functions, including process optimization, technology implementation, contract lifecycle management, metrics development, and operational strategy
- Significant experience drafting, reviewing, negotiating, and managing a broad range of commercial, research, clinical, and vendor agreements
- In-house experience within biotechnology, pharmaceutical, life sciences, or another highly regulated industry is strongly preferred
- Experience implementing, administering, and optimizing contract lifecycle management systems (Agiloft preferred; open to candidates with experience across other CLM platforms) and other legal technology platforms (Prendio, Docusign)
- Proven ability to influence stakeholders, drive cross-functional initiatives, and partner effectively with senior leadership
- Working knowledge of drug discovery, clinical development, commercialization processes and associated contracting requirements preferred
- 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
What the job involves
- As the Associate Director, Legal Operations & Contracts, reporting to the Vice President, Legal Counsel, you will serve as a strategic leader responsible for overseeing and scaling Olema's legal operations and contract management functions in partnership with the legal department’s leadership and IT enterprise systems
- This role requires a balanced combination of operational leadership and hands-on contract management expertise, with responsibility for driving legal department effectiveness while supporting the company's contracting needs across a broad range of business activities
- You will lead the development and execution of the legal operations strategy, including process optimization, technology enablement, metrics and reporting, knowledge management, and vendor management
- You will also oversee the end-to-end contract lifecycle, including drafting, reviewing, negotiating, and managing a broad range of commercial, research, clinical, and corporate agreements
- As a trusted business partner, you will work independently and collaboratively across the organization to develop scalable processes, mitigate risk, improve efficiency, and support the company's continued growth
- Lead and oversee the legal operations function, including strategic planning, process optimization, technology enablement, contract lifecycle management, knowledge management, vendor management, and other initiatives that enhance legal department effectiveness and scalability
- Manage and develop at least one direct report, providing coaching, mentorship, performance management, and career development while fostering a culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence
- Own and continuously improve legal department processes, systems, workflows, policies, procedures, playbooks, training materials, and governance frameworks to support efficient and scalable operations
- Serve as the business owner and subject matter expert for legal technology solutions, including contract lifecycle management systems (e.g., Agiloft), driving adoption, optimization, reporting, and data integrity
- Establish, track, analyze, and report key performance indicators (KPIs), metrics, and dashboards to support decision-making, resource planning, and continuous improvement
- Lead cross-functional projects and change management initiatives that improve contracting efficiency, legal service delivery, and alignment with business objectives
- Draft, review, negotiate, and manage a broad range of agreements, including confidentiality agreements, consulting and service agreements, statements of work, materials transfer agreements, sponsored research agreements, clinical study agreements, vendor agreements, and other commercial contracts
- Serve as a primary escalation point for complex contract negotiations, contracting process issues, and stakeholder inquiries, partnering with internal legal counsel and external advisors as needed
- Partner with business stakeholders to identify contractual risks, develop practical mitigation strategies, and ensure contractual terms align with company policies, risk tolerances, and legal guidance
- Oversee the end-to-end contract lifecycle from intake through execution, ensuring timely review, compliance with applicable laws and regulations (including GDPR and HIPAA), and adherence to service-level expectations
- Lead the development and maintenance of contract templates, clause libraries, negotiation playbooks, and contracting standards to drive consistency, efficiency, and risk management
- Collaborate closely with Commercial, Research, Development, Clinical, Technical Operations, Finance, Human Resources, IT, and other functions to support business objectives while appropriately managing legal risk
Our take
With the global oncology drug market expected to exceed $390 billion by 2027, there is a massive commercial opportunity in cancer research. Olema Oncology is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of targeted therapies for women’s cancers.
Olema are leveraging the knowledge of the molecular action of estrogen receptors, designing compounds that should be superior to both current drugs and those in development. It has secured massive amounts of funding to support its monotherapy Phase 3 trial, and will continue to advance research and development across other projects.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
142% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (2 rounds)
Jul 2020
$54m
SERIES B
Aug 2018
$6.1m
SERIES A
Total funding: $60.1m
Company benefits
- Annual bonus, and stock equity package
- 401K Match and the option to participate in an Employee Stock Purchase Plan
- Robust health plan for both our employees’ and their dependents’ medical, dental, and vision coverage
- Flexible work model
- Allowances to help with both home office and commute
- Flexible Time Off Vacation package
Company HQ
South Park, San Francisco, CA
Leadership
Cyrus Harmon
(Member of the Board)CEO of computational biotechnology company Vilya. Earned a PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology from University of California, Berkeley. Previously VP of Computational Genomics at Affymetrix.
Peter Kushner
(Chief Scientific Officer)Earned a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Oregon. Has been a Professor Emeritus at the University of California since 1986.
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