Director, Contracts Management

 This role is considered Hybrid.

Overview 

Alnylam is seeking an experienced, innovative, and tactically minded attorney to serve as its Director, Contracts Management, a newly created leadership role. As a member of the Alnylam Legal Team, the Director, Contracts Management will be responsible globally for (i) leading, defining and driving Alnylam’s  overall  contracting strategy, ensuring alignment with Alnylam’s business objectives and risk management priorities, establishing and promoting best-in-class contracting standards, templates, and guidance, and serving  as the subject matter expert for contract management across the Alnylam organization; (ii) coordinating the development of an organizational design to implement Alnylam’s contracting strategy, (iii) following the implementation of an organizational design,  furnishing support, and as the organizational design may require managing, lawyers, contractors and alternative legal services providers engaged in contracting, (iv) providing assistance,  guidance, and support to the Alnylam functions involved in the contracting process, including finance, compliance, procurement and IT to enable effective, business-aligned contract management across the Alnylam organization, (v) partnering with Legal Operations to optimize Ironclad, Alnylam’s newly implemented contract lifecycle management system, and (iv) integrating emerging technology tools, including artificial intelligence (AI), and process improvements to maximize automation and efficiency.

This position is hybrid and will be primarily located in Cambridge, MA.

Key Responsibilities

• Organizational Design and Contracting strategy: Lead the effort to develop an organizational design and strategy for global contracting, and and to implement the organizational design and contracting strateg  aligned with Alnylam’s overall business objectives and resources.
• Contracting Standards and Oversight: Establish,  implement and maintain  consistent contracting standards, templates, and best practices, and  advance best practices, efficiency, quality and  compliance across Alnylam by providing  supervision and oversight for the processing of a high volume and wide range of agreements.
• Subject Matter Expertise and Mentorship: Serve as the primary subject matter expert for contracting, offering expert advice, training, and mentorship to lawyers, contract managers and business partners involved in the contracting process  while fostering a culture of continuous learning.
• Contracting improvement: Review and improve  existing contract templates with a focus on simplification, regulatory/policy compliance, patients and customers centricity, and collaborateacross Alnylam  to develop  “playbooks” that define for key contract clauses preferred positions, acceptable fallback positions, and unacceptable walkaway positions.
• Life Cycle Management platform: Partner with Legal Operations and other members of the Legal  Team to enhance and create new contracting workflows in Ironclad, seeking to increase the ease of the overall contracting process, as well as the ability to provide self-service opportunities where appropriate.
• Contract management reporting: Create tracking processes and benchmarking standards, and provide periodic reporting of contract performance results relative to the standards.
• Technology innovation and process improvement: Identify and implement technology improvements, including the potential for AI, to continually improve contracting efficiency and productivity.

Qualifications

• JD with admission in good standing to the bar of at least one state.
• 5-10 years of broad contract management experience, preferably with at least 2-3 years working at a life sciences company and managing the contracting function.
• Experience utilizing a CLM for managing contracting activity, with experience using Ironclad preferred.
• Experience creating, reviewing and negotiating contracts, establishing standard terms and conditions, and addressing variations in contract forms and practices to accommodate country specific requirements.
• Strong communication skills and an ability to interact with multiple stakeholders, including senior executives, as a single point of contact for enterprise contract management and step-in as a senior advisor on specific contractual matters
• Knowledge of drug discovery, development, commercialization and regulatory frameworks within the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. 

Interpersonal Competencies & Success Factors

• Exceptional written and oral communication skills and the ability to synthesize and present clearly complex issues at all levels within and external to the Company.
• The ability to build relationships that foster a cohesive, committed team environment and to effectively collaborate with cross-functional teams.
• Excellent leadership skills, with a track record of building and managing a high-performing team and fostering growth and development of team members.
• Demonstrated success working in a fast-paced, dynamic, and proactive culture with complexity and ambiguity and ability to maintain professionalism under pressure.
• Self-starter mindset with ability to handle multiple matters simultaneously; adept at adjusting priorities when required.
• Demonstrated ability to achieve results with a broad perspective and strong business acumen.

About Alnylam: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ALNY) has led the translation of RNA interference (RNAi) into a whole new class of innovative medicines with the potential to transform the lives of people afflicted with rare and more prevalent diseases. Based on Nobel Prize-winning science, RNAi therapeutics represent a powerful, clinically validated approach to treating diseases at their genetic source by “interfering” with mRNA that cause or contribute to disease. Since our founding in 2002, Alnylam has led the RNAi Revolution and continues to turn scientific possibility into reality.

Our culture: Our people-first culture is guided by our core values: fiercely innovative, open culture, purposeful urgency, passion for excellence, and commitment to people, and these values influence how we work and the business decisions we make. Thanks to feedback from our employees over the years, we’ve been fortunate to be named a top employer around the world. Alnylam is extremely proud to have been recognized as the #1 Large Employer by Boston Globe Top Places to Work in 2023 for the third consecutive year, one of Science Magazine’s Top Biopharma Employers, one of America's Most Responsible Companies for 2024 by Newsweek, a Fast Company Best Workplace for Innovators, and a Great Place to Work in Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and UK – among others.

At Alnylam, we commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equal employment opportunity. We are dedicated to building an environment where employees can feel that they belong, can bring their authentic selves to work, and achieve to their full potential. By empowering employees to embrace their unique differences at work, our business grows stronger with advanced and original thinking, allowing us to bring groundbreaking medicines to patients. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ethnicity, marital status, protected veteran status, disability, or any other characteristics prohibited by law.