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Contracts Specialist – Legal Services, Temporary

The Organization
We help society’s foundational institutions—healthcare and higher education—to achieve their full potential in service to others.

We are our clients’ trusted partners in ever-changing times. For more than 30 years, Kaufman Hall has provided independent, objective insights grounded in sound data and analysis to help clients fulfill their missions, achieve their goals, and tackle their toughest problems.

Kaufman Hall provides world-class management consulting in strategic financial planning (a concept we created); performance improvement; partnerships, mergers, and acquisitions; and treasury and capital markets. Kaufman Hall’s consulting is supported by a deep foundation of benchmarking and software tools.

At Kaufman Hall, we believe that sustained success is never an accident. It is the result of sound decision making, based on data-driven analysis and disciplined thinking, and guided by the fundamental principles of corporate finance.

The Position
The Contracts Specialist will play an important role in supporting Kaufman Hall’s day-to-day legal needs. Although the Contracts Specialist will initially work under very close supervision of the General Counsel, they will be expected to work independently over time. This is a temporary position for a maternity leave coverage. The approximate dates of this position are March 1st – August 30th.

Primary Responsibilities

• Work independently with a high degree of accuracy to review, draft, negotiate, and timely execute contracts to support client sales and internal operations
• Manage contract process from inception to completion, while collaborating with internal stakeholders and clients
• Regularly review and negotiate a variety of contracts including proposals to clients, responses to RFPs/RFQs, master services agreements, vendor agreements, subcontractor agreements, non-disclosure agreements, and Business Associate Agreements, all with varying complexity
• Ensure contract terms are consistent with Kaufman Hall’s policies and Legal Services’ accepted standards and practices
• Help docket and manage deadlines for the Legal Services team
• Provide practical, decisive guidance to internal stakeholders balancing business objectives and legal risk, taking into account Kaufman Hall’s policies and positions
• Ensure that the organization’s goals and objectives are achieved according to corporate compliance standards, rules, regulations, and laws
• Achieve strong understanding of the firm’s major business lines to effectively identify contract risk and provide relevant advice for risk management and acceptable contract terms
• Enforce firm policy and practice, and identify noncompliance
• Manage multiple demands and shifting priorities simultaneously in an organized manner and under minimal supervision
• Perform other duties as assigned or required

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree with 7+ years of experience directly related to the position, including mid-level proficiency in contract review, drafting, negotiation, and management
• Paralegal certificate or JD degree are pluses
• Comfortable negotiating privacy and data use agreements, and related privacy documents, including working knowledge of HIPAA/HITECH as it relates to commercial contracts
• Experience working with regulated industries (e.g., healthcare, federal/state government, etc.)
• Proficiency with Salesforce, SharePoint, Word, Excel, Outlook, and other legal tools
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills with the ability to effectively explain complex legal issues to non-lawyers
• A confident, effective, and positive negotiator who can lead the process, focus on important issues, and efficiently bring deals to a favorable close
• Can quickly develop a practical or innovative approach to legal issues in support of strategic business initiatives and objectives
• Must be self-motivated and a problem solver, but can use good judgment to escalate issues when needed
• Strong work ethic, with the flexibility to adapt and thrive in an environment that is constantly expanding and changing as our business grows
• Appetite for growth and development of skills in new areas of the law
• Willingness and ability to learn and use a contract management system and other new technology
• Display impeccable attention to detail with strong organizational skills and client-service approach
• Possess motivation and eagerness to learn while being open to constructive criticism
• Understand how your own work and execution of tasks impacts the "big picture”
• Applicants for employment must have work authorization that does not now or in the future require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the United States and with Kaufman Hall (i.e., H1-B visa, F-1 visa (OPT), TN visa or any other non-immigrant status)

Physical Requirements

• Must be able to perform essential duties satisfactorily with reasonable accommodations.
• Work is generally done sitting, talking, hearing and typing. Visual acuity to use a keyboard, prepare and analyze data and figures; transcribing, viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading

Work Environment

• Travel Required: None
• The role is Based in Chicago
• Work is regularly performed in a combination of in office and home office setting and routinely uses standard office equipment. You will need to work from 433 W Van Buren 2-3 days per week.

Kaufman Hall is committed to providing equal opportunity for all employees and applicants. We recruit, hire, train, promote, pay, and administer all employment actions without regard to actual and also perceived or assumed protected group status as defined by law of an individual or that individual’s associates or relatives. Our policies and the law prohibit employment discrimination against any employee or applicant on the basis of any legally protected status.