Contract and Vendor Management SME

• WBL is seeking a Contract and Vendor Management Subject Matter Expert to own the operational framework for contracts, outside counsel, legal vendors, and other service providers supporting Corporate Legal. This role will establish consistent contracting, engagement, performance, billing, and renewal processes while balancing legal risk, cost, service quality, and business needs.

What Success Looks Like

• Creates a controlled, searchable contract and vendor-management process with clear ownership and deadlines.
• Improves vendor and outside counsel performance while supporting responsible legal spend.
• Identifies contractual, operational, and service-delivery risks before they affect the business.
• Produces accurate reporting on contracts, renewals, performance, invoices, and open issues.

Contract Lifecycle Management

• Own the intake, review, negotiation, approval, execution, storage, renewal, and termination workflow for Corporate Legal contracts and engagement letters.
• Maintain approved templates, playbooks, approval standards, and a complete contract repository.
• Track key terms, obligations, notice periods, renewals, pricing changes, service levels, and termination rights.
• Coordinate with Legal, Finance, Operations, Information Technology, and business owners to resolve contract issues and obtain required approvals.

Vendor and Outside Counsel Management

• Manage relationships with outside counsel, legal vendors, and service providers, including onboarding, engagement scope, performance expectations, and issue escalation.
• Establish vendor performance standards, service-level expectations, review cadences, and corrective-action processes.
• Support competitive sourcing, due diligence, conflicts checks, and evaluation of new vendors and law firms.
• Drive consistency and efficiency in law firm engagement and matter-assignment processes.

Billing, Spend, and Reporting

• Review outside counsel and vendor invoices for alignment with engagement terms, approved scope, rates, and billing requirements.
• Maintain legal spend, budget, accrual, and variance reporting in partnership with Finance.
• Identify opportunities to consolidate vendors, renegotiate terms, improve service, and control costs.
• Provide concise reporting on vendor performance, contract status, upcoming renewals, spend, and risk items.

Process and Risk Management

• Build and document scalable contracting and vendor-management policies, procedures, controls, and quality-assurance standards.
• Maintain appropriate records of approvals, executed agreements, amendments, insurance, and supporting due-diligence documentation.
• Escalate material contractual, performance, compliance, security, or financial risks to Corporate Legal leadership.
• Supervise and develop the Contract and Vendor Management Associate, including workload assignment and quality review.