Job Details
Summary of Position with General Responsibilities:
The Contract Specialist position is a skilled and motivated legal position with commensurate experience needed to independently handle a variety of legal matters for JEAR Logistics, specifically contracts and legal forms. This is an exciting new position that will liaise directly with key management and executives as well as outside counsel as needed. The candidate will have at least three years of legal experience at a recognized law firm or in-house counsel with an organization of similar size. Preference will be given to candidates with strong commercial acumen and related legal experience specifically in the areas of drafting, reviewing, and negotiating contracts and other legal documents.
Essential Job Functions:
- Manages the review and negotiation process for customer and vendor contracts, adhering to business rules to maximize partnerships with prospective and existing customers while simultaneously mitigating risk to JEAR.
- Leads the revision and editing functions of standard contract forms and templates, developing new form templates based on legal compliance and business needs in an ever changing environment.
- Collaborates with external counsel as needed to ensure effective representation and efficient resolution of legal matters;
- Develops and maintains JEAR s organizational business rules and establishes a clearly defined delegation of authority for specific business processes and approvals;
- Manage the full cycle contract process by creating templates using standardized, approved language, developing a system for tracking amendments and changes, and providing a centralized point of expertise and accountability to ensure that contractual requirements are met.
- Completes a variety of customer and vendor information forms to assist with compliance, specific requests, and customer onboarding.
- Reviews and drafts commercial agreements, policies, and procedures to ensure legal compliance and to mitigate potential risks;
- Works to facilitate the documentation and paperwork process with outside counsel as it relates to litigation matters.
- Partners with the Operations department on variety of mediation and claims related matters;
- Stays abreast on updates and changes in laws, regulations, and industry trends related to transportation litigation, commercial and contract law, public relations, social media, and provides recommendations for necessary updates to JEAR s policies and procedures;
- Directs other legal matters and projects as needed, including contract review and negotiation, risk assessment, and dispute resolution
Requirements
Education:
- Bachelor s Degree
- Paralegal certificate or equivalent from an accredited program preferred, or a combination of education and/or experience.
- Excellent research, analytical, and problem-solving skills is expected for the role.
Experience:
- At least five (3) years of experience as a paralegal or equivalent role, with specific experience in drafting, reviewing, and negotiating contracts and legal documents.
- Experience managing medium and large-scale document drafting and production.
- Prior experience working with contract management software is preferred;
- Some experience with litigation matters is preferred but not required;
- Well experienced in legal writing as well as creating and maintaining SOPs for the department and promoting best practices to the JEAR organization as whole;
- Good commercial acumen with a sense of urgency is a must;
- Solid analytical and problem-solving skills is expected
- Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to effectively communicate complexities across a wide range of internal and external parties;
- Detail-oriented with exceptional organizational and time management skills;
- Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment;
- Proven ability to use professional sound judgment and maintain strict confidentiality
Additional Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:
- Ability to quickly learn and leverage systems and databases as needed;
- Capable of determining metrics and measurements for business processes;
- Comfortable operating in both a team environment and as an independent contributor;
- Ability to effectively communicate across a wide range of internal business partners in a remote environment
- Skillful in Microsoft Office Suite.