Contracts Lawyer

Harbor is seeking a Contracts Lawyer to join our growing consulting delivery team.  By providing strategic, technology and operational services to clients in the legal, professional and financial services industries, our Contracts Lawyers are a highly talented group of legal professionals who offer a unique blend of consulting and legal experience across several industries and disciplines. Our employees are our greatest competitive advantage. The Business Operation Solutions (BOS) group assists clients in procuring goods and services, reducing costs across a variety of areas, optimizing business processes, and improving stakeholder value. 

This is a unique role that combines the legal acumen of an attorney with the project management skills of a consultant. This role operates within a matrix structure, reporting primarily to a Business Unit Client Lead, responsible for day-to-day work allocation, with additional support from the Contracts Team for legal oversight, coverage, and training. 

As a part of Harbor's BOS team, we will rely on you to work closely with project team members and client personnel, facilitating the review of vendor contracts, supporting negotiations with vendors to optimize terms and conditions, and adhering to both the client’s and Harbor’s contracts administration process.  We look to you both to mitigate risk and create value by developing contracts that meet or exceed the needs of our clients.  

This is a fully remote role that can sit anywhere across the United States with little to no travel involved.   The ideal candidate is located in Chicago and can work hybrid from our Chicago headquarters.

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Responsibilities: 

• Apply playbook standards to redline and edit contract language while incorporating client-defined standards and additionally suggest alternate terms based on the services and products related to the procurement engagement. 
• Identify terms and conditions options, and/or carve-out strategies, to BOS personnel and client stakeholders to resolve contract negotiation roadblocks while limiting risk. 
• Liaise with client’s in-house legal counsel in the review and final approval of initial contracts and renewals. 
• Engage with Harbor’s client leads and department leaders to discuss upcoming contract renewals. 
• Facilitate contract terms negotiation process and act as liaison between internal and external personnel throughout process including identifying points of escalation. 
• Communicate pertinent information in the terms and conditions of each contract to appropriate end users and stakeholders. 
• Effectively manage pipeline of work including tracking status of reviews, meeting established KPIs, providing proactive updates to external stakeholders and internal client leads, and timely follow up with both internal and external stakeholders. 
• Assist with the contracts administration process by updating any contract status and newly signed documents into our system. 
• Act as key point of contact for any questions / needs regarding contracts assigned to you. 
• Develop, update and administer standard agreement templates and related playbooks.  
• Support vendor governance processes including on/off boarding of vendors, risk management, and relationship management 
• Facilitate and attend proactive planning and contract management meetings with key stakeholders. 
• Perform any other contracts related duties as necessary. 

Education + Experience Requirements: 

• A Juris Doctorate (JD) and a license to practice law in any US State is required. 
• 4+ years of work experience in contract development, redlining, legal terms review, negotiations, contract management. Law Firm Procurement background preferable but not necessary. 
• Strong familiarity with Professional Services Agreements, Software as a Service Agreements, and software license agreements, along with related contract provisions, is required.  
• Working knowledge of emerging AI-related contract terms, including applicable data usage, model training, output ownership, risk allocation, audit rights, and regulatory compliance. 

Additional Qualifications: 

• Proven ability to interpret complex policies and legal language and assess business risk and help plan a risk mitigation approach. 
• Ability to build collaborative relationships and effectively communicate (orally and written) with managers, internal clients, vendors, colleagues and support staff 
• Demonstrates proactivity and takes ownership of daily responsibilities and projects, including contract administration 
• Effective time management, prioritization and organizational skills in a multitasked environment 
• Extremely responsive and customer-focused; appropriate follow-up and follow-through 
• Commitment to superior quality and accuracy 
• Willingness to learn and adapt to change 
• Working knowledge of data privacy and data security laws (such as GDPR), and experience with reviewing and negotiating related contractual language is preferable.