Description Director, Research Legal Operations & Agreements.
This Regular Full-time role will report to the Associate General Counsel (Research), and will shape and lead the operational strategy for a sophisticated, high-volume research contracting portfolio at a time of significant growth and expanding international reach. The role offers a distinctive opportunity to lead skilled contract specialists and administrative professionals, strengthen risk-based intake and workflow practices, and advance service delivery through knowledge management, technology enablement, automation and continuous improvement. Working at the intersection of legal operations, complex contracting and research innovation, the Director will have the mandate and visibility to build scalable practices, strengthen team capability and influence how Research Legal supports the University's strategic ambitions. This is a senior research contracting and legal operations position; a law degree is not required.
The successful candidate will be a collaborative and pragmatic leader who combines sound judgment with strong negotiation, mediation and relationship-building skills. Comfortable navigating complexity and competing priorities, the Director will build trusted relationships with a broad range of internal and external partners and serve as a key strategic and operational resource for Legal Services, Deans, Department Heads and the Office of the Vice-President (Research).
This opportunity will appeal to an experienced legal operations leader who is energized by organizational growth and wants to build modern, scalable services while gaining broad exposure to complex legal and business issues at the forefront of research, innovation, and technology.
Summary of Key Responsibilities (job functions include but are not limited to):
- Lead the intake, risk-based triage and assignment of research agreements and related requests.
- Advise client groups on appropriate agreement structures and identify complex or non-standard legal and commercial issues.
- Determine the appropriate review pathway, assign or reassign files, and escalate matters requiring legal counsel or specialized expertise.
- Serve as the senior non-lawyer subject-matter expert for research contracting, guiding staff on institutional positions, precedents, playbooks and escalation requirements.
- Guide negotiation strategy and the consistent application of risk-based contracting standards, balancing institutional interests, research objectives and timely service.
- Oversee complex or sensitive agreements and work with counsel to address significant departures, recurring issues and needed updates to institutional guidance.
- Lead, coach and develop contract specialists and administrative staff, with clear roles, expectations and decision-making authority.
- Design and continuously improve operating practices, workflows and controls to support consistent, efficient service.
- Set performance measures, report on service delivery and support longer-term planning, priorities and resource needs.
- Lead the effective use of contract, workflow, document and knowledge-management systems, including appropriate automation and AI-enabled tools.
- Build trusted relationships with researchers, administrators, internal service partners, sponsors and other external parties.
- Partner with Research Services and other University units to align processes, resolve bottlenecks and improve the client experience.
Qualifications / Requirements:- An undergraduate degree is required. Relevant disciplines may include business, commerce, law, public administration, science, engineering, health sciences, information management or a related field.
- At least eight years of progressively responsible experience in complex contracting, research agreements, commercial transactions, legal operations or a comparable environment.
- Demonstrated experience leading, developing and supporting skilled professional and administrative staff.
- Proven ability to manage high-volume workflows, competing priorities and complex matters using sound, risk-based judgment.
- Strong interpersonal and relationship-management skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with senior leaders, researchers, colleagues and external partners.
- Exceptional attention to detail and the ability to review complex documents accurately and efficiently.
- Excellent written communication skills, including the ability to translate complex contractual and operational issues into clear, practical guidance.
- Proficiency with Microsoft 365 and experience using legal technology, contract-management platforms, automation or AI-assisted tools to improve processes and service delivery.
- Experience negotiating specialized research agreements, such as sponsored or clinical research, multi-party collaborations, data-sharing, material transfer, licensing, commercialization or government funding agreements preferred.
- A law degree, graduate degree or relevant professional designation in areas such as law, business, project management, procurement or legal operations preferred.
- Experience supporting international, cross-border or otherwise complex research collaborations involving multiple institutions, funders or private-sector partners preferred.
- Experience designing intake, triage and risk-based contracting models, including performance metrics, service reporting and resource-planning approaches preferred.
- Experience leading process improvement or service transformation initiatives, including the implementation of contract lifecycle management, workflow, knowledge-management, automation or AI-enabled solutions preferred.
- Demonstrated success leading change, building team capability and embedding new operating practices in a complex environment involving multiple clients and partners preferred.
Application Deadline: October 29, 2026
We would like to thank all applicants in advance for submitting their resumes. Please note, only those candidates chosen to continue on through the selection process will be contacted.
This position is classified in the
Management Career Band, Level 3 of the Management and Professional Staff Career Framework.
For a listing of all management and staff opportunities at the University of Calgary, view our
Management and Staff Careers website .
