Paralegal V – Commercial Contracts (Contracts Manager)

Who We Are

Applied Materials is the global leader in materials science and engineering solutions that are at the foundation of virtually every new semiconductor chip and advanced display in the world. The equipment that we create and service is essential to advancing AI and accelerating the commercialization of next-generation semiconductor chips. Join us and push the boundaries of materials science and engineering in a company at the foundation of the electronics industry. The work we do together advances the world’s technology.

What We Offer

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You’ll benefit from a supportive work culture that encourages you to learn, develop, and grow your career as you take on challenges and drive innovative solutions for our customers. We empower our team to push the boundaries of what is possible—while learning every day in a supportive leading global company. Visit our Careers website to learn more. 

At Applied Materials, we care about the health and wellbeing of our employees. We’re committed to providing programs and support that encourage personal and professional growth and care for you at work, at home, or wherever you may go. Learn more about our benefits. 

Job Description

Applied Materials is seeking an experienced Paralegal V - Commercial Contracts to lead frontline contracts and account support for commercial customers, acquisition integrations, U.S. Government customers and prime contractors, and at least one key managed North American customer. Under attorney supervision, this senior individual contributor will independently draft, negotiate, and manage complex customer agreements and build scalable playbooks, workflows, resources, and responsible AI-enabled contracting solutions for a global, matrixed environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Independently draft, review, and negotiate complex customer agreements, including equipment and service sales agreements, software and cloud agreements, purchase-order terms, complex commercial pricing and incentive agreements, NDAs, SOWs, JDAs, amendments, and related technology transactions.
• Lead frontline contracts and account support for commercial customers, acquisition integrations, U.S. Government customers and prime contractors, and at least one key managed North American customer, coordinating with supervising attorneys and subject-matter experts as needed.
• Lead negotiations with customers and their counsel; identify legal and commercial risks, propose practical alternatives, and escalate material deviations, novel issues, or matters outside established parameters with concise, decision-ready recommendations.
• Apply deep knowledge of U.S. Government contracting, including FAR and DFARS requirements; mandatory and risk-based flowdowns; representations and certifications; compliance obligations; intellectual property and data rights; audit and recordkeeping requirements; and prime and subcontractor practices.
• Manage the end-to-end contract lifecycle, including intake, drafting, negotiation, approvals, execution, and post-execution obligations.
• Serve as the Legal point of contact for designated business and account teams.
• Lead or support contracting programs and process improvements, including template and workflow optimization.
• Develop and continuously improve contract templates, clause libraries, negotiation playbooks, job aids, training, and responsible AI-enabled contracting resources and workflows.
• Partner directly with internal stakeholders and coordinate with outside counsel and vendors as needed.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience.
• Paralegal certificate or equivalent legal training strongly preferred.
• 8-12+ years of progressively responsible experience as a contracts manager, senior paralegal, or similar contracting professional, with substantial responsibility for drafting and negotiating complex customer agreements.
• Demonstrated ability to independently lead customer negotiations, manage complex and non-routine agreements, exercise sound judgment, and escalate appropriately to attorneys or subject-matter experts.
• Significant experience negotiating with or on behalf of U.S. Government contractors and deep working knowledge of FAR, DFARS, government-contract flowdowns, and federal subcontracting practices.
• Exceptional drafting, issue-spotting, negotiation, organizational, and communication skills, including the ability to translate complex risks into practical business recommendations.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting technology, capital equipment, manufacturing, or semiconductor businesses and negotiating equipment, services, software, data, and intellectual property terms.
• Experience supporting customer contracts across jurisdictions and working effectively across time zones and cultures.
• Experience building and implementing contract playbooks, clause libraries, templates, training, knowledge resources, and scalable contracting processes.
• Hands-on experience with CLM, e-signature, contract analytics, and AI-assisted drafting or review tools, including responsible use, testing, governance, and continuous improvement.
• Experience working with sales, supply chain, and/or procurement organizations.
• Exposure to regulated commercial environments or export‑controlled businesses.

Applied Competencies

• Exercises sound judgment with confidential and privileged information and uses technology and AI tools in accordance with Legal, privacy, security, and records-management requirements.
• Communicates credibly and effectively with customers, counsel, sales leaders, account teams, subject-matter experts, and other stakeholders across regions.
• Operates independently with minimal supervision.
• Proactively identifies risks and process improvement opportunities.
• Balances legal risk, business objectives, customer relationships, and efficiency; converts recurring issues into scalable process and knowledge solutions.

Additional Information

This is an individual contributor role without formal people-management responsibility.

Additional Information

Time Type:

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Travel:

Relocation Eligible:

The salary offered to a selected candidate will be based on multiple factors including location, hire grade, job-related knowledge, skills, experience, and with consideration of internal equity of our current team members. In addition to a comprehensive benefits package, candidates may be eligible for other forms of compensation such as participation in a bonus and a stock award program, as applicable.

For all sales roles, the posted salary range is the Target Total Cash (TTC) range for the role, which is the sum of base salary and target bonus amount at 100% goal achievement.

Applied Materials is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, citizenship, ancestry, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, veteran or military status, or any other basis prohibited by law.

In addition, Applied endeavors to make our careers site accessible to all users. If you would like to contact us regarding accessibility of our website or need assistance completing the application process, please contact us via e-mail at [email protected], or by calling our HR Direct Help Line at 877-612-7547, option 1, and following the prompts to speak to an HR Advisor. This contact is for accommodation requests only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.