Legal Operations and Contracts Lead
The Zebra
Location
Austin HQ
Employment Type
Full time
Location Type
Remote
Department
Legal
Legal Operations and Contracts Lead
What You'll Do:
Legal Operations & Process Management
Co-manage legal request intake, triage issues, and provide guidance on legal and compliance questions across the organization.
Develop and enforce legal processes and policies to improve efficiency, facilitate change, and control costs, including legal billing guidelines and budget optimization.
Co-manage legal technology solutions, including contract lifecycle management systems, e-signature platforms, AI tools, and vendor relationships.
Identify and implement process improvements and best practices to enhance operational efficiency and reduce legal risk.
Co-develop and maintain forms, playbooks, templates, and policies to support scalable legal operations.
Contracts & Vendor Management
Assist with end-to-end contract lifecycle management, from drafting and negotiation to execution and compliance monitoring.
Monitor contract and vendor timelines, including renewals and key milestones.
Collaborate with external vendors and legal service providers to optimize service delivery and cost-effectiveness.
Manage outside counsel usage and spend across all practice areas.
Intellectual Property
Maintain trademark and patent portfolios including renewals and deadlines.
Draft and send cease and desist letters for brand enforcement.
Assist with IP litigation support, including evidence gathering, document production, and serving as liaison with outside counsel.
Marketing & Advertising Compliance
Review and advise on marketing collateral (digital, print, web, email, video, paid media) for compliance with advertising and consumer protection laws, including insurance-specific regulatory requirements.
Work closely with marketing teams on advertising claims, ensuring consistency with FTC guidelines, insurance regulatory standards, and prohibition on misleading statements in insurance advertising.
Contribute to maintaining marketing claims bank, internal guidelines, and review checklists.
Privacy Operations
Assist with responding to data subject access and deletion requests, ensuring timely processing and compliance.
Work with SVP of Legal to ensure company stays current with evolving privacy laws (CCPA/CPRA and other U.S. state privacy laws).
Support security reviews as needed.
Cross-Functional Collaboration & Support
Provide legal support to cross-functional teams including marketing, sales, agency, customer support, IT/security, finance and other business units, contributing to the achievement of overall business objectives.
Liaise closely with litigation, IP, employment, corporate, and other outside counsel on case management, scheduling, and records maintenance.
Assist with M&A, financing, and legal diligence projects as needed.
Request and maintain corporate records.
Assist in developing training materials for legal and cross-functional teams on legal processes, corporate compliance, contract management and other relevant legal updates.
What We're Looking For:
As we evaluate candidates, we look for folks with a strong sense of ownership, excellent communication and collaboration skills, and a dedication to continuous improvement.
Required Experience & Expertise
Paralegal Foundation: Paralegal certificate, associate/bachelor's degree plus paralegal certification, or equivalent legal work experience.
Proven Track Record: 10+ years of paralegal or legal professional experience, ideally combining law firm and in-house environments.
Privacy Compliance: Familiarity with privacy frameworks (CCPA/CPRA and other U.S. state privacy laws) and experience managing privacy operations including DSAR processing and compliance workflows.
Contract & Vendor Management: Experience with procurement or vendor management a plus.
IP Portfolio Management: Hands-on experience maintaining trademark and patent portfolios, coordinating with outside counsel, and supporting brand enforcement actions including C&D letters and litigation support.
Marketing & Advertising Law: Demonstrable knowledge of U.S. advertising and marketing law and consumer protection principles. Experience reviewing marketing materials and working collaboratively with marketing teams.
Skills & Attributes
Organization & Time Management: Exceptional organizational skills with proven ability to simultaneously manage high-volume, competing priorities across multiple practice areas with meticulous attention to detail.
Legal Ops Mindset: Passion for improving workflows, implementing automation, and building scalable processes. Track record of driving efficiency improvements.
Team Player with Initiative: Proactive self-starter who takes ownership of projects and anticipates needs. Collaborative mindset with ability to work independently and contribute meaningfully to team success.
Tech Savviness: Proficient with legal technology platforms, contract management systems, and AI tools. Early adopter mentality and excitement about leveraging technology for efficiency.
Communication Excellence: Clear verbal and written communication skills with ability to explain legal concepts to non-lawyers. Customer-service mindset.
Sound Judgment: Ability to assess and mitigate legal risk, escalate appropriately, and make practical business-aligned recommendations.
Collaborative Influencer: Master at building trusted relationships across functional areas and influencing positive outcomes through empathetic, constructive communication.
Technical Proficiency: Functional knowledge of Google Workspace and Microsoft Office. Familiarity with JIRA and Confluence a plus.