Legal Operations Specialist

$74,000 - $89,000/Yr

Dynavax Technologies - Emeryville, CA

Full-time - Entry Level

Remote - Emeryville, CA

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

About the position

As a Legal Operations Specialist at Dynavax, you will be an integral part of our Legal and Corporate Governance team, focusing on the efficient tracking and administration of contracts. Your role will involve safeguarding data integrity within our contract management system and driving process improvements to enhance overall legal operations. You will work closely with legal professionals, business stakeholders, and cross-functional teams to support our mission of excellence and continuous improvement at Dynavax. Your responsibilities will include managing the lifecycle of contracts, monitoring expiration dates, and proactively handling renewals and terminations. You will follow up with business owners to facilitate decision-making and ensure actions are taken in accordance with those decisions. Additionally, you will be responsible for maintaining accurate and up-to-date records in our contract management system, including term dates, extensions, and contract owners. Regular audits will be conducted to identify and rectify any data discrepancies, ensuring compliance with regulatory changes and industry best practices. In this role, you will also assist with process enhancements, identifying opportunities to streamline workflows and optimize resource allocation. You will generate reports and metrics to track contract performance and legal operations efficiency, contributing to our corporate social responsibility and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics for external reporting. Your work will support the legal team in various operational matters, including billing, intellectual property administration, and general corporate upkeep. Dynavax offers a highly flexible work environment, allowing for remote work while gathering for in-person meetings when necessary. We are committed to maintaining a culture where each employee is valued and where our organization is valued by each employee.

Responsibilities

• Track contract lifecycles, monitor expiration dates, and proactively manage renewals and terminations.
• Follow up with business owners to drive decisions and take actions consistent with such decisions.
• Track return of or ensure destruction of confidential information following terminations; help keep metadata in contract management systems up to date.
• Maintain and update the contract management system to ensure accurate and up-to-date contract records and related metadata including term dates, extensions, contract owners.
• Process extensions and terminations.
• Verify data accuracy, completeness, and consistency in contract documentation.
• Implement playbooks and data quality controls and establish best practices for data entry and management.
• Conduct regular audits to identify and rectify data discrepancies.
• Assist with integrations to other business systems used in Sales, Finance, HR and elsewhere.
• Assist with process enhancements as needed; proactively identify opportunities.
• Propose and implement process enhancements to streamline workflows, reduce inefficiencies, and optimize resource allocation.
• Develop and maintain documentation for improved process transparency; update as needed.
• Monitor regulatory changes and industry best practices related to contract management and legal operations, assist with implementation from time to time.
• Help ensure adherence to compliance standards and reporting requirements.
• Generate reports and metrics to track contract performance and legal operations efficiency.
• Assist with gathering data and generating corporate social responsibility and environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics for external reporting.
• Use and administration of legal operations tools including contract management systems, board portal, entity administration portal, ESG carbon measurement software, legal education portal and others as identified.
• Assist with general corporate upkeep and administrative tasks.
• Generally assist the legal team with operational matters including billing/collections, intellectual property administration, meeting coordination and other process matters as needed day to day.
• Support special workstreams and/or events as needed, including team meetings, CLE programming, and social events.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Legal Studies, or a related field preferred.
• 1-2 years' experience in contract management and systems.
• Exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Proactive self-starter who can work independently with minimal supervision and direction.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills to work effectively with legal professionals and cross-functional teams.
• Ability to adapt to changing priorities and manage multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Attention to detail and a commitment to data accuracy, integrity, and ongoing improvement.
• Ability to sit; stand; walk; reach with arms and hands; lift and move small objects; and use hands to keyboard and perform other office related tasks including repetitive movement of the wrists, hands and/or fingers.

Nice-to-haves

• Proficiency in using contract management software and data management tools is a plus.
• Experience using Ironclad software highly desirable.
• A paralegal certification or legal operations certification is a plus.
• Notary public is a plus or willingness to become one.
• Experience in a biotech or pharmaceutical company highly preferred.

Benefits

• Full range of health and welfare insurance benefits
• 401(k) company match
• Paid time off benefits, including 17 paid holidays in 2024
• Stock equity awards
• Participation in the Company's discretionary annual bonus program