Legal Operations and Contracts Manager

About XBOW: XBOW uses AI to automate offensive security testing, helping organisations identify and address vulnerabilities before attackers exploit them. Working at the intersection of AI and cybersecurity, we’re tackling complex technical challenges and bringing a new approach to security. As we grow, we’re looking for a Legal Operations & Contracts Manager to help build a legal function that supports our ambition and keeps pace with the business. About the role: You’ll sit at the heart of XBOW’s legal team and how it works with the wider business. Combining substantial paralegal experience with legal operations expertise, you’ll own day-to-day legal workflows, support commercial contracting and build the processes that help the team scale. Working closely with colleagues across Sales, Finance, Product, Engineering, Security and People, you’ll make it easy to engage with Legal, keep matters moving and ensure the team has clear visibility of its priorities. This is a hands-on role for someone who enjoys both detailed legal work and operational ownership. You’ll be comfortable working independently, exercising sound judgement and creating structure in a fast-moving environment. What you’ll do: Keep Legal connected to the business

• Be a central point of contact for legal requests, gathering relevant information, coordinating priorities with legal counsel and tracking matters through to completion.
• Build strong relationships across XBOW, helping colleagues understand legal processes, approval requirements and next steps.
• Work closely with Sales and Finance to progress commercial agreements and resolve operational bottlenecks.
• Give stakeholders clear updates on timelines, dependencies and outstanding decisions. Support commercial contracting
• Draft, review and negotiate NDAs, and other lower-risk commercial agreements within agreed playbooks and delegated authority.
• Support customer contracting by preparing approved templates and order forms, coordinating internal reviews and managing approvals and signatures.
• Identify non-standard terms and escalate issues requiring legal counsel’s judgement, including those relating to liability, intellectual property, data protection and security testing permissions.
• Maintain contract records and track key obligations, renewal dates and notice periods.
• Help develop contract templates, negotiation playbooks and practical guidance that enable the business to handle routine requests efficiently. Build and run legal operations
• Own the administration of legal intake, matter tracking and contract management systems, keeping records accurate and accessible.
• Implement and improve workflows for contract review, approvals, signatures and document retention.
• Produce useful reporting on legal demand, contract turnaround times, outstanding matters and external legal spend.
• Coordinate external counsel onboarding, engagement administration, invoices and budget tracking.
• Manage legal subscriptions, service providers and associated renewals.
• Identify practical opportunities to automate repetitive tasks and use approved AI tools, with appropriate handling of confidential and sensitive information. Provide broader paralegal support
• Conduct legal research and prepare initial drafts of internal guidance, correspondence and other documents for counsel review.
• Support corporate housekeeping, governance records and signature processes.
• Help maintain legal policies and coordinate training and internal guidance.
• Coordinate inputs from Legal, Security and other teams on customer due diligence and related documentation.
• Support legal projects as XBOW’s products, operations and international footprint evolve. Skills and Qualifications: Essential
• 8+ years of relevant experience spanning paralegal work and legal operations, including at least 2+ years in-house.
• A legal qualification, paralegal certification or equivalent relevant experience. Qualification as a solicitor or attorney is not required.
• Practical experience supporting commercial contracts and working within templates, playbooks and approval frameworks.
• A track record of taking ownership of legal processes and improving how a legal team operates.
• Strong organisational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to manage competing priorities and follow matters through.
• Confidence working with business stakeholders and translating legal processes into clear, practical steps.
• Sound judgement about what you can resolve independently and when to involve legal counsel.
• Experience with contract management, electronic signature and workflow tools, and an interest in responsible uses of AI. Advantageous
• Experience in technology, SaaS, cybersecurity or AI would be valuable, as would familiarity with customer procurement processes, data protection documentation and international business operations.
• Experience in a startup or scale-up environment is strongly preferred. How you’ll work: You’ll take ownership, communicate candidly and collaborate across teams. You’ll be comfortable moving quickly, adapting as priorities change and focusing your effort on improvements that make a practical difference. What success looks like: Colleagues know when and how to engage Legal. Contracts and requests move forward with clear ownership and fewer avoidable delays. Legal records are reliable, priorities are visible, and the team has more capacity to focus on complex matters as XBOW grows.

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