Location: This position may be performed remotely, but requires the flexibility and willingness to travel as needed.
The OpportunityYou will serve as the principal advisor on contracting for the company and will set the strategy, standards, and operating model for the contracting function-getting important work done today while helping us build smarter, more scalable ways of working for what comes next.
You'll join a team that moves quickly and expects Legal to help the business move with confidence. You'll bring both a legal and business lens to your work: understanding what teams are trying to accomplish, asking the right questions, focusing on the risks that truly matter, and providing clear, practical guidance. You'll be trusted to use good judgment, make decisions when the path isn't perfectly defined, and help teams move forward. You will operate with wide latitude to set your own objectives and priorities, resolve novel questions where precedent and information are limited, and make binding decisions on negotiated positions within delegated authority.
You'll thrive in this role if you like to build, not just advise. You'll have the opportunity to shape how Praxis approaches contracting by creating practical tools, simplifying processes, challenging unnecessary complexity, and continually looking for better ways to work. Success will mean becoming a recognized internal authority on contracting and a trusted partner across every function-someone who takes ownership, speaks candidly, follows through, and helps us move with both speed and quality while protecting Praxis, our programs, and ultimately the patients we serve. The standards you set and the positions you take will carry well beyond Legal, shaping how Clinical, Technical Operations, Commercial, Finance, and Procurement contract with third parties over a multi-year horizon.
Primary Responsibilities- Serve as lead negotiator on the company's most complex, highest-value, and most strategically significant agreements. Lead the drafting, review, negotiation, and execution of contracts across clinical, development, manufacturing, commercial, and corporate activities, including clinical trial agreements, CRO agreements, investigator and site agreements, vendor contracts, partnership arrangements, strategic collaboration and license agreements, master service agreements, statements of work, commercial manufacturing agreements, and agreements with payors and pharmacies.
- Define, own, and continuously improve the end-to-end contract lifecycle, including intake, prioritization, negotiation, approvals, execution, organization, and ongoing management, with a focus on increasing speed, consistency, and scalability. Establish the multi-year contracting roadmap, including the standards, thresholds, and target operating model the company will carry through commercial launch and beyond.
- Apply strong business judgment to contracting decisions by understanding the underlying business objective, distinguishing meaningful risk from theoretical risk, providing clear recommendations, and helping stakeholders make informed tradeoffs and move forward. Resolve significant and unprecedented questions where guidance is limited and outcomes must be weighed against intangible factors such as program timelines, partner relationships, and reputational exposure.
- Provide practical legal guidance to Clinical Operations and related teams in support of clinical trial start-up and execution, including matters involving clinical sites, investigators, informed consent, data privacy, study vendors, and clinical study agreements.
- Partner with Compliance and other stakeholders to ensure contract templates, standard terms, playbooks, fallback positions, and negotiated agreements appropriately reflect applicable legal and regulatory requirements; identify material risk early and escalate when appropriate.
- Serve as a key Legal partner in vendor selection and pre-contract risk assessment, collaborating with Procurement, Finance, Compliance, IT, and business owners to evaluate legal, compliance, privacy, and operational risks associated with third parties.
- Leverage AI and other legal technology to improve the speed, quality, and consistency of contracting and Legal operations, including identifying opportunities to automate lower-value work, strengthen knowledge management, and enable better decision-making.
Qualifications and Key Success Factors- JD from an ABA-accredited law school and active membership in good standing in at least one U.S. state bar.
- 5+ years of relevant legal experience gained in-house, at a law firm, or through a combination of both. Experience in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, or another regulated life sciences environment is strongly preferred.
- Expert-level experience drafting and negotiating a broad range of commercial agreements. Experience with clinical-development contracting is highly valued.
- Demonstrated ability to assess legal risk in the context of business objectives and provide practical, decisive recommendations rather than defaulting to the most conservative answer.
- Demonstrated proficiency with AI tools and a strong interest in using emerging technology responsibly to improve legal work, decision-making, and operational efficiency.
- Demonstrated track record of building and/or maintaining a contracting function or operating model, including the design of templates, playbooks, policy, and governance adopted across an organization.
- The physical and mental requirements of our roles include but are not limited to regular use of a computer, devices or other office equipment, clear communication, and occasional movement. You'll need comfort with screen work, basic hand coordination, and focus. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these functions.
Annualized Base Salary
$200,000-$225,000 USD
Compensation & BenefitsAt Praxis, we believe that taking care of our people (and their people) is important, so we provide a world class benefits package to help you thrive. This includes 99% of the premium paid for medical, dental and vision plans. We also provide company-paid life insurance, AD&D, disability benefits, and voluntary plans to personalize your coverage. Thinking about the future? We match dollar-for-dollar up to 6% on eligible 401(k) contributions and sweeten the deal with long-term stock incentives and ESPP. We provide a discretionary quarterly bonus, an extremely flexible wellness benefit, generous PTO, paid holidays and company-wide shutdowns. Not to mention, you'll also be joining a phenomenal crew of colleagues who are smart, engaged and inspiring. We aim high, collaborate hard, and produce results. Let's achieve the impossible together!
