Senior Legal Operations Jobs in Reston, VA (NOW HIRING)

We are seeking an experienced Senior Corporate Paralegal/Legal Contracts Specialist to support a lean, fast-paced in-house legal department of a publicly traded company. This role provides broad-based legal support across board and committee support, routine commercial contracting, legal operations, systems management, and selected public company and intellectual property support.

This is a senior legal support role for a professional who is above a purely administrative level but is not an attorney. The ideal candidate will have 5+ years of relevant legal experience in an in-house legal department, law firm, or similar environment, with experience spanning some combination of board support, contract administration, legal operations, commercial contracting, and corporate paralegal work.

The successful candidate must exercise the utmost discretion, demonstrate exceptional attention to detail, and thrive in an environment where urgent matters, shifting priorities, and executive-driven requests are common. This person must be able to set aside lower-priority work, pivot quickly to priority matters, and then return to other projects without losing accuracy or momentum. This role will also require periodic extended hours and responsiveness outside normal business hours in connection with board matters, transaction support, contract deadlines, public company obligations, or other urgent business needs.

What You’ll Get to Work On

• Gain direct exposure to corporate governance in a public-company environment.
• Partner closely with executive leadership and cross-functional stakeholders, including commercial teams, finance, HR, and scientific teams.
• Help build and improve contract management and legal operations processes in a lean, highly collaborative legal team.
• Take on a broad, visible role with meaningful responsibility and day-to-day impact across the organization.

Key Responsibilities

• Support first-pass drafting, review, redlining, and administration of routine commercial agreements using approved templates and playbooks, subject to attorney supervision and final attorney approval, including NDAs, vendor agreements, supply agreements, services agreements, consulting agreements, amendments, statements of work, and other routine commercial contracts.
• Support contract administration processes, including intake, template population, routing, approvals, signature coordination, status tracking, and organization of fully executed agreements.
• Manage multiple assignments simultaneously while maintaining a high degree of accuracy, responsiveness, professionalism, sound judgment, and attention to detail.
• Maintain and support legal operations tools and systems, including contract management systems, document repositories, trackers, dashboards, and related workflows.
• Support use of internal business systems, including NetSuite, Salesforce, and other legal or operational platforms, as applicable.
• Maintain corporate records, trackers, and related legal documentation in an organized and audit-ready manner.
• Assist with preparation, coordination, and filing support for SEC and other public company documents, as needed.
• Identify non-standard, higher-risk, or business-sensitive terms and escalate appropriately to supervising counsel.
• Coordinate document execution processes, including use of DocuSign and related signature workflows.
• Partner directly with commercial teams, field teams, scientists, finance, HR, and executive leadership on contract-related, operational, and legal support matters.
• Assist with patent-related administration and USPTO-related processes, as needed.
• Support board of directors and committee meetings, including preparation and organization of agendas, materials, minutes, action items, and related records.

• Paralegal certificate, bachelor’s degree, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 5+ years of relevant legal experience in an in-house legal department, law firm, or comparable environment.
• Ability to work onsite at the Company’s Rockville, Maryland headquarters on a regular basis, with flexibility for limited remote work as business needs and department priorities permit.
• Experience supporting board and committee meetings, including board materials, agendas, minutes, and related documentation.
• Experience handling routine commercial contracts under attorney supervision, including drafting, review, redlining, routing, and execution support.
• Experience with legal operations and contract workflow tools, including contract management systems, document repositories, workflow trackers, electronic signature platforms, and related business systems.
• Strong organizational skills and exceptional attention to detail; accuracy is of utmost importance in this role.
• Demonstrated ability to handle highly confidential and sensitive information with the utmost discretion and professionalism.
• Ability to independently manage routine legal support matters and appropriately escalate legal, business, or process issues.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office is required, including strong working knowledge of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and related tools.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and the ability to interact effectively with executives and cross-functional stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications

• In-house legal department experience, particularly in a publicly traded company environment.
• Experience supporting a commercial organization with commercial teams, field teams, scientists, and related business stakeholders.
• Experience coordinating with outside counsel on corporate, securities, patent, and contract matters.
• Life sciences, biotech, or other regulated-industry experience is helpful, but not required.
• Some familiarity with SEC reporting requirements, EDGAR, Section 16 filings, proxy support, and related public company processes.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a proactive, business-minded legal professional who brings a practical mix of board support, contracts, legal operations, and systems experience. This person is comfortable supporting senior leadership, managing sensitive materials, handling routine commercial contracts under attorney supervision, and operating with a high level of independence and professionalism.

MaxCyte offers a base salary, annual bonus, and equity. MaxCyte also offers a comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance and generous time off.

MaxCyte is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, disability, veteran status, age, marital status, pregnancy, genetic information, or other legally protected status