Contracts Manager
Contract (Fractional) Contracts Manager – SaaS (Upshop)
- Location: Remote (U.S. preferred)
- Type: Contract / Fractional (20–40 hours/week, flexible)
- Duration: 3–6 months (with potential to extend)
About Upshop Upshop powers smarter store operations for retailers by combining data, AI, and execution workflows across fresh, center store, and inventory management. Our platform helps retailers reduce waste, optimize inventory, and improve profitability at scale. Role Overview We are looking for an experienced Contracts Manager (Contract/Fractional) to support our commercial team by managing and negotiating customer agreements. This role will focus on reviewing, redlining, and negotiating SaaS contracts, ensuring alignment with Upshop’s risk posture while enabling deal velocity. This is a high-impact, execution-oriented role ideal for someone who has operated in fast-paced SaaS environments and can work directly with Sales, Legal, and Finance stakeholders.
Key Responsibilities
Contract Review & Redlining
- Review, draft, and negotiate customer agreements (MSAs, Order Forms, DPAs, SOWs)
- Lead redline negotiations with customers and their legal teams
- Balance risk mitigation with commercial pragmatism to avoid deal friction
Deal Support
- Partner closely with Sales to accelerate deal cycles and remove contract bottlenecks
- Provide clear guidance on acceptable positions, fallback language, and trade-offs
- Join customer calls when needed to resolve contractual issues in real time
Standardization & Playbooks
- Help refine and maintain contract templates and fallback positions
- Build and document negotiation playbooks and clause libraries
- Identify recurring negotiation themes and recommend structural improvements
Risk Management
- Ensure contracts align with company policies on liability, indemnification, data privacy, and SLAs
- Escalate non-standard or high-risk terms appropriately
- Collaborate with outside counsel as needed for complex issues
Qualifications
- 5+ years of experience in contracts management, legal ops, or commercial legal roles
- Strong experience negotiating SaaS agreements (MSAs, DPAs, SLAs, enterprise deals)
- Deep familiarity with key legal concepts:
- Limitation of liability
- Indemnification
- Data privacy & security (GDPR/CCPA awareness)
- Service levels & uptime commitments
- Proven ability to negotiate directly with enterprise customers
- Comfortable operating in a high-growth, fast-paced SaaS environment
- Strong judgment with a pragmatic, business-oriented mindset
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Nice to Have
- Experience in retail, grocery, supply chain, or store operations software
- Background working with private equity-backed or growth-stage SaaS companies
- Familiarity with tools like Ironclad, DocuSign CLM, or similar contract lifecycle platforms
What Success Looks Like
- Reduced contract cycle times and faster deal closure
- Consistent, scalable approach to handling redlines
- Improved alignment between Sales and Legal on deal strategy
- Clear documentation of fallback positions and negotiation standards
Why This Role
- Immediate impact on revenue velocity and deal execution
- High visibility with leadership across Sales, Finance, and Legal
- Flexible structure with potential to evolve into a longer-term role