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About Ellucian

Ellucian is a global market leader in education technology. We power innovation for higher education, partnering with more than 2,800 customers across 50 countries and serving over 20 million students. Ellucian's AI-powered platform, trained on the richest dataset available in higher education, drives efficiency, personalized experiences, and strengthened engagement for all students, faculty and staff.

Fueled by decades of experience with a singular focus on the unique needs of learning institutions, the Ellucian platform features best-in-class SaaS capabilities and delivers insights needed now and into the future. These solutions and services span the entire student lifecycle, from student recruitment, enrollment, and retention to workforce analytics, fundraising, and alumni engagement.

Ellucian's innovative solutions, vast ecosystem of partners, and user community of more than 45,000 provide best practices leading to greater institutional success and achieving better student outcomes.

About The Opportunity

The Senior Counsel, Commercial & Legal Operations leads the operational strategy and infrastructure of Ellucian’s global Legal Department to ensure efficient, data-driven, and scalable legal service delivery aligned with business objectives. Reporting directly to the Chief Legal Officer, this role partners closely with Legal leadership, Finance, IT, and other cross-functional teams to modernize legal operations through technology, process optimization, vendor strategy, financial management, and analytics. In this role, you will oversee high-impact commercial transactions across our global SaaS business and drive the adoption of legal technology to increase scalability, transparency, and contracting velocity. You will serve as a trusted advisor to executive leadership and partner cross-functionally with Sales, Product, InfoSec, Engineering, Finance, and Operations to enable revenue growth while managing legal, regulatory, data protection, and governance risk.

This role requires strong operational judgment, change leadership, and the ability to balance near-term priorities with long-term transformation. The Director will apply technology, automation, and data to improve efficiency, enhance visibility, and free legal talent for high-value strategic work. This is a hybrid, in-person role based in Ellucian’s Reston, VA headquarters.

Where you will make an impact

• Legal Operations Strategy & Leadership

  • Define and execute the Legal Department’s operational strategy to support business growth, risk management, and scalability.
  • Serve as a strategic partner to the CLO and Legal leadership, providing operational insight and execution support.
  • Lead, mentor, and develop the Legal Operations team, fostering accountability and continuous improvement.
  • Support execution of the Legal Department’s operational strategy and annual priorities.
  • Manage day-to-day legal operations programs, timelines, and deliverables. Provide operational support to Legal leadership, including preparation for leadership meetings and reporting forums to support practical and compliant decision-making.

• Commercial Transactions & Contracting

• * Draft, structure, review, negotiate, and manage a broad range of complex commercial agreements, including:
  

  • SaaS subscription and cloud services agreements
  • Licensing, development, and strategic partnership agreements
  • Data Processing Addendums (DPAs) and AI addendums
  • NDAs, content licenses, and vendor/supplier agreements
  • Lead end-to-end negotiations for high-value, strategic transactions, balancing legal risk with business objectives to close impactful deals.
  • Create scalable contracting frameworks that accelerate deal cycles while maintaining appropriate risk controls.
  • Partner with M&A integration teams to streamline contracting processes, harmonize terms, and align legal frameworks post-acquisition.
  • Technology, Process & Transformation
    • Own the Legal technology strategy, including system selection, implementation, optimization, governance, and ROI measurement.
    • Drive continuous optimization of legal workflows (e.g., matter intake, contract lifecycle management, knowledge management).
    • Partner with internal stakeholders, including IT and Engineering to leverage existing platforms and develop solutions for legal analytics, reporting, and insights.
    • Lead change management for new tools, processes, and policies; maintain documentation, playbooks, and standard operating procedures.
    • Manage adoption of automation, AI tools, and analytics to improve efficiency and reduce cycle times.
    • Oversee effective use of AI, automation, vendors, and consultants to deliver measurable efficiency gains.

• Regulatory, Compliance & Governance

  • Advise on corporate, intellectual property, governance, and compliance matters.
  • Provide guidance on complex regulatory issues affecting global SaaS providers, including data privacy, AI governance, and information security.
  • Support compliance with GDPR, CCPA, EU AI Act, FERPA, and other applicable regulations.
  • Assist with business development transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships, including post-acquisition integration.
  • Uphold the company’s ethical standards and demonstrate sound professional judgment in all legal and business matters.
  • Financial & Vendor Management
    • Manage the Legal Department budget, including forecasting.
    • Oversee outside counsel and alternative legal service spend to ensure efficient engagement and value.
    • Manage vendor and technology ROI analysis.
    • Metrics, Reporting & Analytics
    • Establish and maintain KPIs, dashboards, and reporting to drive data-informed decision-making and demonstrate Legal’s value.
    • Provide workload visibility, performance analysis, and resource planning insights.
    • Identify operational risks and opportunities for improvement across legal service delivery.
    • Support annual planning and quarterly business reporting cycles, including budgets, OKRs, and MBOs.
    • Coordinate tracking of legal matters and support key Legal leadership forums and meetings.
  • Cross-Functional Collaboration
    • Collaborate with Finance, IT, Procurement, Compliance, and other stakeholders to align Legal operations with company priorities.Manage and drive major legal operations initiatives with clear ownership, timelines, and accountability.

Basic Qualifications

* Juris Doctor from an accredited law school and active membership in at least one U.S. state bar. * 8-10 years of legal experience, including in-house experience in commercial contracting, IP, M&A, and corporate governance matters. * Experience leading commercial legal initiatives as a strategic business partner, improving efficiency and supporting revenue growth. * Proven experience managing multiple complex projects and meeting deadlines in a fast-paced, global environment. * Experience working cross-functionally across Sales, Product, InfoSec Engineering, Finance, and Operations teams. * Experience modernizing contracting and Legal Operations functions.

What You Will Bring

* Significant experience in legal operations, legal management, or related operational leadership roles. * Experience implementing and working with legal workflow and automation tools (e.g., Ironclad CLM, ServiceNow, Salesforce CPQ). * Demonstrated success leading legal technology, automation, and data-driven transformation initiatives. * Experience managing budgets, vendors, and outside counsel spend. * Proven ability to design, implement, and scale legal processes, technology, and governance frameworks in a global environment. * Advanced data and analytics capability to measure performance and inform strategic decision-making. * Excellent leadership, communication, and executive-level stakeholder engagement skills. * Ability to translate strategy into actionable plans and drive cross-functional execution through complexity and change. * Experience supporting an in-house legal department strongly preferred. * Collaborative, proactive leadership style with a focus on results, accountability, and continuous improvement. * Leadership and high attention to detail and ability to produce clear, executive-ready work product.

What makes #Ellucianlife

• Comprehensive health coverage: medical, dental, and vision
• Flexible time off
• Thrive Flex Lifestyle Account (LSA) that allows you to contribute towards your health, financial or learning interests
• 401k w/ match & BrightPlan - to help you save for the future
• Parental Leave
• 5 charitable days to support the community that supports us
• Telemedicine
• Wellness
  • Headspace Care (mental health)
  • Wellbeats (virtual fitness classes)
• RethinkCare & Wellthy– caregiver supporq
• Diversity and inclusion programs which provide access to internal employee resource groups
• Employee referral bonuses to encourage the addition of great new people to the team
• We Foster a learning culture with:
  • Education Assistance Program
  • Professional development opportunities