Manager, Customer Contracts, Legal Services

The Manager, Customer Contracts & Legal Services is a strategic, customer-facing legal professional responsible for end-to-end customer contracting across the NAOU Foodservice On-Premise, and Retail organizations. This role is critical to enabling business growth, accelerating deal velocity and managing commercial and legal risk. This position serves as a trusted business partner to Sales leadership and cross-functional stakeholders, with a strong mandate to modernize and continuously improve contracting processes through technology, data and scalable solutions.

This role is to replace an existing vacancy

What You'll Do for Us

Contracting & Commercial Leadership

• Own and manage the full lifecycle of customer contracts, from drafting and negotiation through execution, for a high volume of complex, multimillion dollar agreements

• Serve as the primary negotiator for customer contracts, working directly with customers' legal and business teams

• Resolve commercial and legal issues by applying sound judgment, strong business acumen and a deep understanding of customer relationships

• Partner closely with Sales leaders to shape negotiation strategy, balance risk and reward and drive practical, business-oriented solutions

• Escalate matters to attorneys only in the most complex or high-risk situations

• Act as a key advisor to Sales and Finance teams on contract structure, risk mitigation and compliance with company standards

• Collaborate cross-functionally to align contract terms with pricing, financial models and operational realities

• Research, analyze and prepare communications related to contractual rights, obligations, disputes and potential breaches

• Lead the evolution of customer contracting processes, leveraging technology to improve efficiency, consistency and transparency

• Own and optimize legal templates, playbooks and standard terms to support scalable contracting

• Use data and metrics to identify improvement opportunities and drive continuous optimization

• Champion change management and adoption of new tools and processes across Sales and Legal stakeholders

• Develop and deliver training for Sales teams and legal colleagues on contracting best practices, key legal concepts and negotiation strategies

• Create practical guidance materials (playbooks, FAQs, decision trees) to enable self-service where appropriate and accelerate deal execution

• 5+ years of experience required (10+ years strongly preferred) in a transactional paralegal, contracts manager or equivalent commercial contracting role

• Demonstrated experience independently managing complex, high-value customer contracts with limited attorney oversight

• Prior experience within the Coca-Cola System strongly preferred

• Strong commercial judgment and negotiation skills, with the ability to balance legal risk and business objectives

• Proven ability to influence and advise senior stakeholders in a fast-paced, customer-driven environment

• Clear, concise communicator with strong written and verbal skills

• Innovative, process-oriented mindset with a passion for leveraging technology to improve how legal services are delivered

• Comfortable driving change, standardization and adoption across stakeholder groups

• Bachelor's degree or associate degree with a Paralegal Studies Certificate from an ABA approved program

• Our portfolio represents over 250 products with some of the most iconic and innovative brands in the world, including Coca-Cola, Simply, Fairlife and Topo Chico.

• We work with an expansive and diverse group of customers, including retail & grocery stores, theme parks, movie theatres, restaurants, and many more each day.

• A collaborative, inclusive environment where your ideas are valued, innovation is encouraged, and continuous improvement is part of the culture.