Senior Contracts Manager

Interviews: There will be a two-stage process comprising of an online interview and an in-person. The i n-person interview will be held at our London office on Wednesday 12 November 2025.

Closing date for applications: 24 October 2025.

The UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) is a globally leading multidisciplinary research institute of over 900 staff investigating the spectrum of neurodegenerative disorders causing dementia, driving a step change in our understanding of neurodegeneration, and accelerating the discovery, development and delivery of interventions that will help diagnose, treat, and ultimately prevent dementia.

About You

We're looking for a Senior Contracts Manager to provide expert legal support and contract management that underpin the Institute’s research, commercial and strategic initiatives. This will include collaborative research agreements with commercial organisations, licensing and spin-out agreements. This role will work closely with our Group Leaders, host universities, and external funding companies/investors.

As a pro-active and experienced expert in contract management, and driven by making a positive difference, this role will be responsible for:

• Contract management: drafting, amending, and negotiating contracts with commercial organisations, host universities both within the UK and internationally. This includes, for example, funding agreements, new centre agreements, strategic initiatives, procurement of goods and services.
• Relationship management: build strong, collaborative and proactive working relationships with host universities to enable efficient and seamless progression of the UK DRI contracts/terms.
• Templates: Build a bank of standard contracting templates for the Institute to use as required.
• Legal knowledge and due diligence: Maintain up-to-date knowledge of contract management, legislation, IP, tech transfer and anything relevant to this role for the Institute. Share knowledge across teams to create awareness and understanding. Provide crucial legal input on transactions and contractual negotiations, ensuring proper due diligence to protect the Institute’s interests

You'll need

• Excellent communication and negotiation skills.
• Experience of managing priorities, with a keen eye for detail and accuracy.
• Experience of building and nurturing professionals relationships as an independent specialist and be able to work as part of a wider matrix team.
• Degree qualified or equivalent experience, with evidence of ongoing learning and upskilling in the legal aspects of contract management
• Up-to-date experience and knowledge of the sector
• High level and detailed contract management experience including university spin-out creation and IP licensing
• Experience of working with universities, public sector and commercial partners
• Experience in positively and proactively managing multiple projects and key relationships
• Understanding and knowledge of dementia and/or neurodegeneration preferred

What we offer

As well as a competitive base salary and the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer great benefits, including:

• 27 days holiday + UK Bank Holidays
• Up to 6 business closure days
• Option to purchase 5 days’ annual leave
• Contributory pension scheme
• Single medical cover
• Group Life Assurance 4x base salary
• Group Income Protection and Critical illness cover
• Season ticket loan
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
• Employee assistance programme
• Comprehensive programme of voluntary benefits

The UK DRI currently operates hybrid working.

About the UK DRI

Today, over 1M people in the UK are living with dementia and related neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and motor neuron disease (MND). The impact of these incurable and progressive conditions on individuals and their families is devastating. Societal costs are staggering and growing as the population ages.

Due to major advances in our understanding of the biology of these disorders the field is at an inflection point with the next decade promising to deliver transformative breakthroughs in therapies and a new era of predictive, preventative, and precision medicine. The UK is well placed to play a leading role in this revolution due to its strengths in science required for discovery and delivery, led by the UK DRI working with our world-class university-based centres. To find out more about the UK's leading biomedical research institute dedicated to neurodegenerative diseases, visit. UK Dementia Research Institute.

To apply

Please submit your CV and covering letter detailing why you wish to join the UK DRI and your experience for this role.

No agencies please.

By applying to this role, you understand and agree that your information will be shared within the UK DRI People & Culture team and/or any team members who will be part of the hiring process. We are unable to provide visa sponsorship for this role.

UK DRI is committed to equal opportunities.

The UK DRI embraces diversity, inclusion and accessibility for all of our people. We are committed to building a diverse organisation that represents the communities we serve and ensuring inclusion in everything we do. This means ensuring our recruitment processes are barrier-free and as inclusive as possible to everyone. We will make adjustments for people who have a disability or long-term condition