Description

We've made a lot of progress since opening the doors in 1942, but one thing has never changed - our commitment to serve, heal, lead, educate, and innovate. We believe that every award earned, every record broken and every patient helped is because of the dedicated employees who fill our hallways.

At Ochsner, whether you work with patients every day or support those who do, you are making a difference and that matters. Come make a difference at Ochsner Health and discover your future today!

The Contracts Manager - Oncology Clinical Trials provides strategic and operational leadership for the review, negotiation, execution, and management of research agreements supporting oncology clinical trials and related research activities.
This role is responsible for accelerating contract execution timelines, reducing legal bottlenecks, ensuring institutional protection, and supporting rapid activation of oncology studies across industry-sponsored, cooperative group, investigator-initiated, translational, and federally funded research.
The Contracts Manager serves as the dedicated oncology subject matter expert for clinical trial agreements and partners closely with legal counsel, research finance, investigators, sponsors, and operational leadership to ensure efficient and compliant agreement management.
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties.

This job description is a summary of the primary duties and responsibilities of the job and position. It is not intended to be a comprehensive or all-inclusive listing of duties and responsibilities. Contents are subject to change at the company's discretion.

Research Contract Review & Negotiation

• Review and negotiate complex research contracts including:
  
  • Clinical Trial Agreements (CTAs)
  • Confidential Disclosure Agreements (CDAs/NDAs)
  • Investigator-Initiated Trial agreements
  • Subaward agreements
  • Data Use Agreements
  • Material Transfer Agreements (when applicable)
  • Federal and foundation research contracts
• Negotiate terms to balance institutional protection with startup speed.

Activation Timeline Performance

• Manage oncology contract pipeline to support rapid study activation.
• Identify delays impacting execution and proactively resolve barriers.
• Prioritize agreements tied to enrollment windows, strategic studies, and high-value opportunities.
• Reduce time from receipt to signature.

Compliance / Risk Management

• Ensure contract language complies with applicable laws, health system rules, payer requirements, and institutional standards.
• Partner with legal counsel on indemnification, subject injury, intellectual property, publication rights, confidentiality, data ownership, and liability terms.
• Escalate unusual or high-risk provisions.

4Stakeholder Communication

• Track the research agreement process and communicate status proactively to investigators, sponsors, leadership, and startup teams.
• Provide timely guidance and responses to faculty and staff regarding research agreements and administrative issues.
• Serve as trusted operational advisor for contract expectations and timelines.

Process Improvement

• Maintain accurate records and reports of processed contracts and related metrics.
• Build dashboards for turnaround times, aging agreements, barriers, sponsor responsiveness, and workload volume.
• Standardize templates, fallback clauses, and workflows to improve efficiency.

Strategic Collaboration

• Collaborate with legal officers, finance leaders, regulatory teams, and oncology leadership to support growth goals and operational excellence.
• Support expansion of industry trials, early phase program, and external collaborations.

Independent Judgment

• Apply independent judgment and expertise to resolve complex contract-related matters.
• Balance urgency, risk tolerance, sponsor leverage, and operational realities.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required in Business, Healthcare Administration, Legal Studies, Finance, or related field.
• 4+ years experience in medical, academic, legal, or research contract environment.
• 2+ years reviewing, drafting, negotiating, or administering research-related contracts.
• Strong knowledge of contract terminology and negotiation principles.

Preferred Qualifications

• Oncology clinical research experience strongly preferred.
• Experience negotiating Clinical Trial Agreements preferred.
• Academic medical center / cancer center experience preferred.
• Knowledge of startup workflows, sponsor operations, and FDA-regulated research.

Success Metrics (First 12 Months)

• Reduced average contract turnaround time
• Decreased aging contract inventory
• Improved startup-to-signature velocity
• Increased sponsor satisfaction
• Fewer escalations requiring executive intervention
• Standardized oncology templates/playbooks
• Better transparency through contract dashboards

The above statements describe the general nature and level of work only. They are not an exhaustive list of all required responsibilities, duties, and skills. Other duties may be added, or this description amended at any time.

Remains knowledgeable on current federal, state and local laws, accreditation standards or regulatory agency requirements that apply to the assigned area of responsibility and ensures compliance with all such laws, regulations and standards.

This employer maintains and complies with its Compliance & Privacy Program and Standards of Conduct, including the immediate reporting of any known or suspected unethical or questionable behaviors or conduct; patient/employee safety, patient privacy, and/or other compliance-related concerns.

The employer is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, or disability status.

Physical and Environmental Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Sedentary Work - Exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally (Occasionally: activity or condition exists up to 1/3 of the time) and/or a negligible amount of force frequently (Frequently: activity or condition exists from 1/3 to 2/3 of the time) to lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects. Sedentary work involves sitting most of the time, but may involve walking or standing for brief periods of time. Jobs are sedentary if walking and standing are required only occasionally and all other sedentary criteria are met.

Normal routine involves no exposure to blood, body fluid or tissue, but exposure or potential for exposure may occur.

The incumbent works with patients who have known or suspected communicable diseases and may enter isolation rooms. The incumbent has an occupational risk for exposure to all communicable diseases.

Because the incumbent works within a healthcare setting, there may be occupational risk for exposure to hazardous medications or hazardous waste within the environment through receipt, transport, storage, preparation, dispensing, administration, cleaning and/or disposal of contaminated waste. The risk level of exposure may increase depending on the essential job duties of the role.

Are you ready to make a difference? Apply Today!

Ochsner Health does not consider an individual an applicant until they have formally applied to the open position on this careers website.

Please refer to the job description to determine whether the position you are interested in is remote or on-site. Individuals who reside in and will work from the following areas are not eligible for remote work position: Colorado, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Washington, and Washington D.C.

Ochsner Health endeavors to make our site accessible to all users. If you would like to contact us regarding the accessibility of our website, or if you need an accommodation to complete the application process, please contact our HR Employee Solution Center at 504-842-4748 (select option 1) or careers@ochsner.org. This contact information is for accommodation requests only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.

Ochsner is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any legally protected class, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.