Senior Contracts Counsel

Department: Legal

Job Type: Regular Full Time

Education Level: JD

Required Years

Experience:

6

Church Pension Group (CPG) is a financial services organization that serves the Episcopal Church, located in Midtown Manhattan. CPG was founded in 1917 to provide pension benefits to eligible clergy of the Episcopal Church. Since then, its mission has expanded to include life and disability insurance, health benefits, property & casualty insurance, and publishing.

The Senior Contracts Counsel will play a pivotal role in supporting CPG's dynamic and evolving operations. Reporting directly to the EVP, Chief Legal Officer, this is an exciting opportunity to join a collaborative legal team to work on a broad range of complex and sensitive legal and business issues to give real‑time analysis and practical advice. You must be able to manage multiple priorities across the different units of the organization, such as vendor management, publishing, property & casualty, technology, and benefits.

We are seeking a creative and curious self‑starter and generalist with a positive attitude and team focus to take ownership of CPG's commercial contracts.

• Serve as legal counsel to the business units and corporate units for a wide range of commercial and corporate contracts with an emphasis on contract review and support
• Take ownership for the entire vendor contracting cycle—from initial draft to execution, working with business teams to drive contract negotiations to timely and successful completion, including complex SaaS and data technology‑related agreements (cloud, cybersecurity, software licensing) and third‑party consulting contracts
• Partner with the vendor management team to design and implement a contract and vendor management strategy and improve knowledge management practices and risk assessments, documenting necessary policies and procedures
• Collaborating closely with the vendor management team you will develop standard vendor contract templates and SLA terms
• Collaborate closely with internal stakeholders, subject matter experts and the privacy team on legal and business risks, compliance and contract strategy
• Ensure alignment with applicable laws and internal policies
• Leverage and supervise outside counsel specialists where additional subject‑matter expertise is necessary
• Own and manage the contract life cycle management platform, from intake to repository leveraging technology to develop legal and business insights and vendor playbooks
• Effective performance of the essential functions of this position requires regular in‑person, on‑site interaction with colleagues, both for purposes of relationship building and meaningful collaboration
• Other related duties may be assigned

• Experience with U.S. data privacy laws (e.g. HIPAA, CCPA, CIPA)
• Familiarity with publishing agreements (author, licensing, etc.) is a plus
• Skilled in contract management, problem‑solving, strategic negotiations, with a deep understanding of risk allocation and mitigation and regulatory frameworks
• Demonstrated strong contract drafting and negotiation skills with a business‑centric mindset and a clear ability to translate business needs into practical legal solutions
• Outstanding interpersonal written and verbal skills with the ability to communicate with stakeholders in a clear, understandable way
• Excellent business judgment, both detail oriented and practical, with a high level of professional and personal integrity
• Comfortable working autonomously but collaboratively, with a high level of personal accountability, able to make decisions in a fast‑paced and demanding environment
• Highly effective at building and maintaining strong cross‑functional, internal relationships and with outside counsel
• Demonstrated resilience, resourcefulness and self‑confidence with a high degree of personal integrity
• Willingness to solicit and receive feedback and ability to respond appropriately

• 6+ years of relevant experience in a law firm and/or in‑house legal department, with a strong background in SaaS/data technology, health care and pension third‑party service providers, and general commercial contracts
• J.D…