Commercial Contracts Manager

Summary of the Role

The Commercial Contracts Manager is a full-time, permanent role accountable for reviewing and negotiating the commercial agreements that underpin the supply of Lhasa Limited scientific software to pharmaceutical, chemical and cosmetics companies around the world. Every sponsorship relationship rests on an agreement covering licence terms, liability, data protection and intellectual property, and pharmaceutical members bring exacting expectations: procurement-led negotiations, information security reviews and strict data protection standards. As the sponsorship base continues to grow, the successful candidate will negotiate directly with sponsor legal and procurement teams, protect the Lhasa position on key terms, and act as a trusted point of contact for contractual matters across the business.

Why Lhasa Limited?

We are a successful not-for-profit company and educational charity, with a great reputation for collaborative scientific development.

We develop meaningful science and software that supports the delivery of life-enhancing solutions including the development of safe chemicals to market including drugs and cosmetics as well as making a positive contribution to reducing animal testing.

Our charitable status enables us to make altruistic decisions for the public benefit and to work with some of the leading organisations in the world to really make a difference.

Our salaries are competitive dependent upon skills and experience. We also offer fantastic personal benefits including (but not limited to); 34 days holiday plus bank holidays, a generous pension scheme, healthcare cashback, PMI, free car parking at our office in Leeds City Centre and much more!

Main Responsibilities

• Lead negotiations with legal and procurement teams at prospective and renewing sponsor organisations on software licence (including SaaS software) and sponsorship terms.
• Review and redline software supply and licence agreements, including sponsors’ own contract templates, alongside drafting on Lhasa paper, with close attention to licensing, liability, indemnity, data protection and intellectual property.
• Act as the first point of contact for legal and commercial queries from colleagues across Lhasa, reducing reliance on ad hoc legal support.
• Build and maintain a library of template agreements, playbooks and fallback positions to speed up future negotiations.
• Manage the content of agreements with existing member organisations, ensuring terms remain current and implementing updated agreements where required (renewal date tracking sits with another function).
• Partner with external legal counsel on complex or higher-risk agreements.
• Respond to sponsor due-diligence and vendor assessment requests common in the pharmaceutical industry, covering data protection, information security and audit requirements.
• Explain contractual risk and options to non-legal stakeholders in plain English, supporting informed decision-making.
• Identify and implement improvements so agreements are turned around faster and more consistently.

About You

• Proven experience reviewing, negotiating and managing software or SaaS licensing agreements, ideally on the supplier side (essential)
• Strong working knowledge of common contract clauses: liability, indemnity, intellectual property, data protection and termination (essential)
• Confidence explaining contractual risk clearly to colleagues without a legal background (essential)
• A collaborative, evidence-led approach, comfortable working closely with scientific and operational teams (essential)
• Ability to work independently in a remote-first role (essential)
• A law degree or legal qualification, with equivalent commercial contracts experience considered equally (preferred)
• Experience contracting with pharmaceutical companies, including navigating their procurement and vendor qualification processes (preferred)

Please submit your CV and a short covering letter outlining your relevant experience.

Our Culture

At Lhasa Limited, are committed to creating a work environment that fosters collaboration, innovation, and trust. We believe in building strong relationships within our team and with our members, working together towards our shared purpose – to enable informed decision making on chemical safety.