Senior Contracts Paralegal

Position Summary: The Senior Contracts Paralegal is part of the Legal Department and supports the company's commercial contracting work. The person in this role is responsible for drafting, reviewing, negotiating, and managing a wide range of business agreements, with a focus on cloud, technology, software, vendor, licensing, confidentiality, and procurement contracts. 

The Senior Contracts Paralegal works with internal teams and outside parties to move contracts forward, protect the company's interests, and support business decisions. Additionally, the person in this role helps improve contract processes, supports the use and training of approved AI tools, and may guide or oversee contract negotiations handled by other paralegals. This position will be based in Charlotte, NC and will report to the Senior Manager Paralegal.  

Essential Functions and Responsibilities: 

• Draft, review, negotiate, and manage a wide range of commercial agreements while balancing legal risk with business needs. 

• Independently negotiate contract terms directly with vendors, consultants, technology providers, cloud providers, and other third parties within approved guidelines. 

• Review and help negotiate cloud services, SaaS, software, and AI-related agreements, including use rights, data use, security, privacy, confidentiality, and service levels. 

• Work closely with Procurement, Information Security, Technology, Finance, Compliance, Risk Management, and business teams throughout the contract process. 

• Provide guidance to internal partners on contract terms, negotiation strategy, and company standards. 

• Develop, update, and maintain contract templates, clause libraries, negotiation playbooks, and standard procedures, while supporting effective contract processes and the appropriate use of approved AI tools. 

• Provide guidance and oversight to other paralegals on contract negotiations and help ensure consistency in approach and quality. 

• Assist attorneys with legal research, contract interpretation, regulatory requests, and special legal projects. 

• Coordinate with outside counsel and external service providers as directed. 

• Recommend process improvements that increase efficiency, reduce cycle times, and strengthen contract governance. 

• Maintain confidentiality and handle sensitive information with discretion. 

• Perform other legal and operational duties as assigned. 

Qualifications Required 

• Bachelor's degree required, or an equivalent mix of education and relevant experience. 

• Paralegal certificate from an ABA-approved program, or equivalent experience. 

• At least 10 years of progressively responsible paralegal experience, with strong experience negotiating commercial contracts in an in-house legal department or major law firm. 

• Strong experience drafting, reviewing, negotiating, and managing complex commercial contracts, including cloud, software, technology, professional services, vendor, licensing, confidentiality, and procurement agreements. 

• Working knowledge of contract risk, privacy, cybersecurity, information security, cloud services, and AI-related terms. 

• Familiarity with AI tools and their appropriate use in legal and contract-related work. 

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. 

• Ability to manage multiple assignments independently in a fast-paced environment. 

Qualifications Desired: 

• Experience supporting financial services, banking, payments, fintech, or other regulated industries. 

• Experience negotiating cloud services, SaaS, technology, and AI-related agreements. 

• Experience reviewing privacy, cybersecurity, information security, and data-related contract provisions. 

• Experience working collaboratively with Procurement, Technology, Information Security,   Compliance, and other business functions on commercial contracting matters. 

• Experience with contract lifecycle management systems and other legal technology tools. 

Physical Demands and Work Environment: The working environment is generally favorable. Lighting and temperature are adequate, and there are no hazardous or unpleasant conditions caused by noise, dust, etc. Work is generally performed within an office environment, with standard 

office equipment available. Travel may be required. Candidates will report to the office three days each week. Onsite work requirements may change at any time.  

About The Clearing House: The Clearing House Payments Company L.L.C. is a bank-owned industry utility that shapes the payments landscape and provides infrastructure for safe, reliable, and efficient payments. We see an economy where everyone is connected and a future where modern payments make life easier. The Clearing House operates four payment systems: a high-value wire-transfer system (the CHIPS® network), the country’s first and largest instant payments system (the RTP® network), an automated clearinghouse network (the EPN® network), and a check image exchange network (the Image Exchange Network). TCH also operates a bank account number tokenization service, runs a payments association known as the TCH Payments Authority, and maintains the rules for private-sector check image exchange through its ECCHO® business line.