The NAOU Customer Contract Legal Services Manager will manage the contract processes for the NAOU Foodservice & On-Premise and Retail Customer organizations. This is a key role to enable the Company to secure new business, renew existing customers, manage risk and enforce its contractual position. This role is an indispensable business partner to the Sales leaders and their teams, as well as cross-functional business partners such as Finance and the Customer Agreement Team. Each Customer Contract Legal Services Manager will also oversee the work and development of 1-2 other paralegals on the team.

What You'll Do for Us:

• Manage end-to-end customer contracting processes (drafting and negotiation through signature) for a high volume of multi-million-dollar customer deals, with attorney involvement in only the most complex situations
• Negotiate multi-million-dollar contracts directly with customers’ legal and business teams and other third parties, e.g., beverage consultants (this is a customer-facing role)
• Oversee the work of non-senior paralegals, including responsibility for their training and development, reviewing their work and coaching them on more complicated deal negotiations
• Resolve commercial and legal issues by drawing on prior commercial and legal experience and broad perspective of the Company’s customer relationships
• Work collaboratively with internal and external (customer) stakeholders to reach consensus on contractual language
• Advise and coach business clients (up to and including VP-level sales leaders) on negotiation strategy, contractual requirements, risks and solutions
• Develop and provide training to clients and legal colleagues on legal issues relevant to customer contracts
• Research and prepare communications in relation to contractual rights, obligations and issues related to breach of contract
• Develop future contracting strategies and processes, in collaboration with business and legal leaders (e.g., exploration of AI, contract generator)
• Create legal templates and processes for new lines of business and routes to market, based on an understanding of existing templates and business operations

Qualifications/Requirements:

• Minimum 5 years of experience required/10 years strongly preferred as a transactional paralegal or equivalent role
• Ability to work independently, with attorney guidance in only the most complex situations
• Clear and concise communication (written and verbal)
• Ability to effectively lead and coach others (paralegals and sales executives)
• Bachelor’s Degree or an Associate’s Degree with a Paralegal Studies Certificate from an ABA approved program