Legal Operations and Contracts Manager

Fanatics Commerce is the global leader in licensed sports merchandise, operating a vertically integrated platform that designs, manufactures, and delivers officially licensed apparel, jerseys, headwear, and collectibles for major leagues, teams, and events worldwide. With more than 900 e-commerce sites and a global omnichannel presence across digital, in-venue, and retail, Fanatics Commerce reaches fans in over 180 countries and powers official fan experiences for many of the world's most iconic sports properties.

Fanatics is seeking a Legal Operations and Contracts Manager to serve as a strategic partner to attorneys and business stakeholders by owning critical legal operations processes, optimizing legal technologies, and implementing AI-enabled solutions across the Legal department. This individual will have primary responsibility for contract lifecycle management, legal matter operations, reporting and analytics, and legal technology administration, independently assessing process challenges and leading cross-functional initiatives that improve efficiency and reduce risk.

HOW WILL YOU DRIVE IMPACT

Team & Leadership Impact

• Serve as a key point of contact and subject matter resource for internal stakeholders regarding legal processes, systems, and operational workflows, providing guidance and training to legal team members on department systems and best practices.
• Support and coordinate cross-functional initiatives involving Legal, Compliance, Procurement, IT, and other business partners, effectively influencing stakeholders at all levels of the organization.
• Support attorneys with complex document management, project coordination, and operational initiatives, serving as a trusted operational partner across multiple legal practice areas.

Fan & Customer Impact

• Serve as a primary resource for internal stakeholders on contract-related processes, templates, and repository governance, ensuring timely and accurate responses to inquiries regarding contractual terms and obligations.
• Maintain matter management systems, legal records, and department tracking tools to ensure visibility into deadlines and workflow metrics that support seamless legal service delivery.
• Design and implement standardized processes and dashboards that improve operational effectiveness and decision-making across the Legal Department.
• Partner with Legal, IT, Compliance, and business stakeholders to implement system enhancements that improve the quality and responsiveness of legal services across the organization.

Innovation & Problem Solving

• Evaluate opportunities to leverage automation and AI tools to modernize legal service delivery, streamline contract lifecycle management, and improve operational efficiency across legal workflows.
• Analyze contract volume, cycle times, and process trends to recommend improvements that increase throughput, reduce friction, and mitigate risk.
• Assess legal workflows across contracts, litigation, compliance, and regulatory functions to identify inefficiencies and design scalable, technology-enabled solutions.
• Develop and execute system governance, user training, and adoption strategies that embed new tools and ways of working into the Legal team's daily operations.

Ownership & Execution

• Manage the end-to-end contract lifecycle process, including intake, review routing, approvals, execution, repository management, and post-execution governance.
• Manage the intake, triage, prioritization, routing, and tracking of legal requests across the department, determining appropriate workflows and escalation paths with minimal direction.
• Administer and maintain the legal team's technology platforms, defining governance standards and proactively recommending enhancements that improve legal service delivery.
• Identify continuous improvement opportunities within established workflows and lead change management efforts related to legal operations and technology implementation.

CAPABILITIES & EXPERIENCE YOU BRING

• Bachelor's degree required; Paralegal certification from an ABA-approved program preferred.
• 4-6 years of experience in legal operations, contract management, compliance, litigation support, or related legal functions, with demonstrated success managing complex processes and cross-functional initiatives.
• Strong understanding of contract lifecycle management, legal workflows, and legal technology platforms, with hands-on experience in CLM platforms, matter management tools, e-signature systems, and document management solutions.
• Familiarity with AI tools and their application to legal operations and contract management processes, with experience implementing workflow automation, reporting, and analytics.
• Strong analytical, organizational, project management, and problem-solving skills.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise sound judgment and discretion while managing competing priorities in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
• Experience designing and implementing standardized processes, dashboards, and reporting frameworks.
• Experience supporting multiple legal practice areas in a high-growth, dynamic environment preferred.

WORK LOCATION:

Hybrid: The primary place of performance of this role is in one of the Company's offices located in either New York City, Atlanta, GA, Tampa, Jacksonville or Miramar, FL, subject to the Company's current hybrid work policy. This role currently requires in office presence Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.

NYC Salary Range: $96,000 - $110,000 USD. The salary range represents base pay only and does not include short-term or long-term incentive compensation. This salary range is specific to New York City and may not be applicable to other locations.