Senior Contract Manager
ABOUT SLATE
At Slate , we’re building safe, reliable vehicles that people can afford, personalize and love—and doing it here in the USA as part of our commitment to reindustrialization. The spirit of DIY and customization runs throughout every element of a Slate , because people should have control over how their trucks look, feel, and represent them.
WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR
As a Senior Contract Manager, you will play a critical role reporting to Slate ’s Associate General Counsel, Commercial, by managing end-to-end pre-signature contracting process across a diverse portfolio of commercial agreements. This role supports both buy-side and sell-side contracting in a fast-paced automotive startup environment.
The Contract Manager operates at the intersection of Legal, Sales, Procurement, Engineering, Supply Chain, Service, and Accessories team, helping stakeholders navigate contracting requirements, apply approved templates and playbooks, and move agreements efficiently through contract workflows.
The role emphasizes process discipline, risk consistency, and excellent decision-making judgment. You will identify and mitigate business and legal risks, escalate issues for legal review when necessary, and deliver solutions-oriented support that represents Slate ’s interests professionally to internal teams and external partners.
WHAT YOU GET TO DO
Contract Intake, Workflow & Stakeholder Enablement
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Manage pre-signature workflow from intake originating across multiple organizational functions
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Participate in evaluation, implementation, change management, and use of CLM tools, ensuring clear visibility into status, approvals, and next actions
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Coordinate effectively with Legal counsel and business stakeholders, balancing responsiveness with legal risk standards
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Maintain organized contract records, version control, and audit-ready documentation throughout the review and negotiation process
Contract Review & Negotiation Support (pre-signature)
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Draft, review, and redline contracts using approved templates, clause libraries, and standard fallback positions
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Coordinate negotiation input across Legal, Finance, Tax, Compliance, IT, Engineering, and Service stakeholders
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Identify deviations from standard terms and escalate per defined playbooks and approval matrices
Templates, Playbooks & Knowledge Management
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Maintain and continuously improve contract templates and clause libraries to support consistent risk management
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Develop, update, and operationalize contracting and negotiation playbooks reflecting standard positions and escalation rules
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Ensure playbooks are written for practical use by non-lawyers in Slate , Procurement, and Service teams
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Maintain the Legal contracting SharePoint site or knowledge hub as a self-service resource for templates, guidance, FAQs, and intake instructions
Process Improvement & Operational Excellence
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Identify, design, and implement process improvements across contracting workflows, including intake, triage, review, negotiation, execution, and repository management
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Drive standardization of intake, review, and execution process
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Support change management initiative to improve adoption of contracting processes, templates, and tools across Legal and business teams
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Partner cross-functionally to eliminate contracting inefficiencies
WHAT YOU BRING TO THE TEAM
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Bachelor’s degree in Business, Legal Studies, Supply Chain, Engineering, Finance, or a related field (or equivalent experience)
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3-6 years of contract management, contract administration, legal operations, or commercial contracting
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Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple complex agreements concurrently
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Clear written and verbal communication and relationship-building skills
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Familiarity with automotive or manufacturing industry a plus
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Adept proficiency in MS365 suite, SmartSheets, and CLM tools
Core Competencies
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Contract process discipline and attenti