Manager, Contracts

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative was founded in 2015 by Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg to harness the power of technology to pursue some of society’s most ambitious goals — from curing or preventing all disease to transforming how students learn.

At CZI, you’ll join a deeply collaborative, mission-driven community where your work helps drive breakthroughs across our flagship nonprofit organizations, Biohub and Learning Commons. Whether enabling scientific breakthroughs via open science and AI-powered biology or strengthening the tools teachers and students rely on every day, your contributions help turn bold ideas into real-world impact.

Our teams operate at the intersection of innovation and scale, building the infrastructure, partnerships, and capabilities that allow scientists, educators, and innovators to tackle some of the most complex challenges of our time — and to do so with urgency, integrity, and optimism.

The Team

Our Legal and Grants team (“Team LeGiT”) is a key partner in enabling Biohub’s pioneering work to combine frontier AI with frontier biology to prevent and cure disease and Learning Commons’ mission to build AI infrastructure that aligns how students learn with the tools that shape their learning experiences.

Team LeGiT helps accelerate Biohub’s and Learning Commons’ missions by structuring, negotiating and executing on strategic partnerships, grants and contracts, as well as providing advice that spans IP, technology, exempt org and labor law. We work directly with scientists, engineers and educators in the development of frontier AI models, partnerships with universities, and a wide range of science and education tools and products. In addition to supporting our programmatic colleagues, we regularly collaborate across Executive, Operations, Central Tech and Investments teams to advance the organization’s philanthropic goals. Our team also manages Mark and Priscilla's Family Giving to provide funding for nonprofit organizations, including in the communities where they live and work.

At its core, this team exists to build trust — with our partners, our grantees, and the communities we serve — and to help our organizations operate with integrity as we take on some of the world’s most complex challenges.

The Opportunity

As legal counsel on Team LeGiT’s Contracts subteam, you will collaborate with teams across CZI, including Biohub and Learning Commons. You will help us manage, draft, negotiate, and execute contracts and lead legal projects critical to the success of our strategic mission and operational goals. In addition to working with scientists, engineers, educators and operators to help the organization achieve its ambitious missions, you will also assist in the development and maintenance of our org-wide contracts management systems, policies, and processes. You will manage Contract Management professionals and report to and work closely with the Senior Director, Contracts & Legal Operations.

What You'll Do

• Review, analyze, negotiate, draft, and finalize inbound commercial and business contracts, including vendor, procurement, professional services, SaaS/software, data-related, and other contracts. 
• Advise stakeholders regarding contractual matters and interpret contractual language and related legal concepts while maintaining a nimble and responsive approach to managing risk within a scaling organization. 
• Support clients to resolve third-party contract disputes and amend, enforce, or terminate contracts. 
• Coach and manage contracts management team members with professional development, contract review, and escalations. 
• Draft and maintain contract templates, clause library, playbooks, and policies to increase efficiency and mitigate risk. 
• Coordinate internal compliance measures relating to business and legal policies, including preparing and conducting regular training sessions for other Contracts Team members and internal clients throughout the organization.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of applicable laws, regulations, and standards to ensure CZI’s adaptation and compliance, including training others on the Contracts Team.
• Proactively contribute to general team and organizational operations, including taking on special projects and helping out with other functions, as necessary.

What You'll Bring

• JD required and an active membership in at least one U.S. state bar, preferably California.
• Minimum of 7 years of relevant in-house and/or law firm experience with a focus on transactions, contracts management, and advising clients, preferably in fields relating to science and technology; management experience a plus.
• Strong verbal and written communication, analytical and social skills, and good judgment.
• Strong people management and collaboration skills, with a particular emphasis on working well in a team-oriented environment and servicing a broad range of constituencies.
• Ability to assess and manage risk in alignment with the organization’s unique needs and to concisely advise clients of varying expertise and experience.
• A mission-driven mentality, with an interest in science and/or education philanthropy.

Compensation

The Redwood City, CA base pay range for a new hire in this role is $193,000 - $265,100. New hires are typically hired into the lower portion of the range, enabling employee growth in the range over time. Actual placement in range is based on job-related skills and experience, as evaluated throughout the interview process. 

Better Together

As we grow, we’re excited to strengthen in-person connections and cultivate a collaborative, team-oriented environment. This role is a hybrid position requiring you to be onsite for at least 60% of the working month, approximately 3 days a week, with specific in-office days determined by the team’s manager. The exact schedule will be at the hiring manager's discretion and communicated during the interview process.

Benefits for the Whole You 

We’re thankful to have an incredible team behind our work. To honor their commitment, we offer a wide range of benefits to support the people who make all we do possible. 

• Provides a generous employer match on employee 401(k) contributions to support planning for the future.
• Paid time off to volunteer at an organization of your choice. 
• Funding for select family-forming benefits. 
• Relocation support for employees who need assistance moving

If you’re interested in a role but your previous experience doesn’t perfectly align with each qualification in the job description, we still encourage you to apply as you may be the perfect fit for this or another role.

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