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About Xaira Therapeutics Xaira is an innovative biotech startup focused on leveraging AI to transform drug discovery and development. The company is leading the development of generative AI models to design protein and antibody therapeutics, enabling the creation of medicines against historically hard-to-drug molecular targets. It is also developing foundation models for biology and disease to enable better target elucidation and patient stratification. Collectively, these technologies aim to continually enable the identification of novel therapies and to improve success in drug development. Xaira is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and London. About the Role The Contracts Manager will work across functions and teams as a trusted partner to proactively manage the negotiation, execution, efficient tracking, and management of research and development contracts. This role requires the ability to independently draft, negotiate, and manage a variety of research and development contracts, as well as a broad understanding of life sciences and general business transactions and related legal issues. We are building a modern, AI-enabled contracts function, and this role sits at the center of that effort. Beyond managing agreements, this role will help define what an AI-native contracts operation looks like; applying AI across the contract lifecycle, from intelligent intake and first-pass drafting to review, obligation tracking, and analytics while enabling stakeholders across the company to move quickly while ensure proper risk is mitigated through executed agreements. The right candidate brings an entrepreneurial mindset: they see contracts operations not as back-office administration, but as a strategic capability in building a world-class drug company. Reporting to the Sr Director, Strategic Contracts and Procurement, the Contracts Manager will be responsible for efficiently leading a large volume and variety of contracts from platform capabilities, early drug discovery through to clinical enablement. This position will have high visibility across the organization and will require a proactive, positive, and professional approach. Key Responsibilities Independently prepare, negotiate, and manage a wide variety of contracts related to the company's general business and Research and Development needs, including Master Service Agreements and associated work orders, License Agreements (including software license agreements and terms & conditions), Consulting Agreements, CDAs, and research collaboration agreements. Maintain and optimize the Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) platform, including system administration, workflow enhancements, AI-assisted review and drafting capabilities, user support, and reporting to improve contract visibility, compliance, and operational efficiency. Identify, pilot, and scale AI and automation tools (e.g., AI-assisted contract review, generative drafting, clause libraries, intelligent intake and self-service workflows) that reduce cycle times and free the team to focus on higher-value negotiation and risk work - always with appropriate human-in-the-loop and sound judgment. Stay current on the rapidly evolving legal AI landscape and bring forward practical recommendations for how emerging capabilities can improve the contracting experience for stakeholders. Use contract data and AI-driven analytics to surface insights such as cycle times, bottlenecks, common negotiation friction points, and obligation trends informing playbooks, templates, and continuous process improvement. Define and prioritize risks and communicate those risks to appropriate internal stakeholders for discussion and resolution. Escalate and coordinate legal or other issues to the appropriate internal stakeholders (i.e., research, operations, legal counsel, finance, etc.) to facilitate and resolve contractual issues. Identify legal risks and business exposures and collaborate wit