Paralegal - Legal Operations

VitalSource®, is hiring a Paralegal/Legal Operations Specialist to contribute to our Legal team located in Raleigh, NC. This is a hybrid role.
This is a brand-new role for our Legal team. Because you will be the first person in this role, you will be building the legal operations function from the ground up at a company where contracts matter. You’ll own the full lifecycle: triaging incoming legal requests, administering contract management end to end, and setting the standard for how this team works. Some contracts you’ll handle directly; others you’ll prepare and route to specialists, but you’ll be the one ensuring nothing falls through and deadlines hold. You will have the opportunity to use AI to generate initial contract drafts, respond to counterparty redlines, and build the data that helps the legal team track what’s working. This is a role where your judgment matters: You’re not just processing requests, you’re deciding what needs escalation, what can move forward, and how to keep the legal function running at pace.
This role reports directly to VitalSource’s General Counsel.
VitalSource is a mission-driven company delivering affordable, impactful learning to anyone, anywhere.
Key Responsibilities:
Triage and route incoming legal requests, applying judgment to assess urgency, complexity, and whether something needs escalation.
Manage the full contract lifecycle: intake, preparation, routing for review, DocuSign workflows, execution tracking, and post-signature filing.
Create and maintain accurate contract records in our contract management system, ensuring data integrity across all stages.
Monitor contract deadlines — expiration dates, renewals, and key milestones — and proactively alert stakeholders in advance.
Coordinate administrative tasks for outside counsel engagements: scheduling, document transmission, invoice tracking, and processing.
Generate initial drafts of routine contracts, templates, and NDAs using AI tools from approved playbooks; proofread and refine for legal review.
Prepare preliminary responses to counterparty redlines using AI, flagging deviations from standard terms and surfacing issues that need attorney judgment.
Support legal operations reporting by using AI tools to compile data on contract cycle times, request volume, and other KPIs.
Maintain legal department records across shared systems and ensure organized document management.
Support special projects and cross-functional initiatives as assigned.
Required Qualifications:
4+ years as a paralegal or legal assistant
Demonstrated experience administering contract lifecycle processes (DocuSign or equivalent e-signature platforms).
Experience with contract lifecycle management (CLM) software preferred (Ironclad, ContractPodAI, Conga or similar).
Associate's or Bachelor's degree in Paralegal Studies, Legal Studies, or related field
Comfort with AI-assisted legal tools.
Preferred Skills:
In-house corporate legal experience
ABA-approved Paralegal certificate
Familiarity with EdTech, SaaS, or technology adjacent industries.
Salary Range: 81,000-87,000
What We Offer:
Culture: Collaborative, Inclusive, and Mission-driven
More in your pocket: Competitive base salary and a strong variable component
We take care of all aspects of our people: Generous, well-rounded benefits such as Medical, Vision, Dental, Life, Disability, Critical Illness, Accident, FSA, HSA, ID Protection, Pet and Legal Insurance
Retirement: 401K match up to 5%
We support our families: 12 weeks of paid parental leave
Continued education: Use our tuition reimbursement program
The Importance of Balance: start at 4 weeks’ vacation, 12 sick days, 11 company holidays, and 3 personal days
Flexibility: flexible work schedules and remote capabilities (by team) - feel free to skip the commute and hit your deadlines from home
Casual Dress: be as comfortable at work as you are in your own living room
Wellness: lots of opportunities for fitness challenges and rewards
Who We Are:
VitalSource is the leading education technology solutions provider committed to helping partners create, deliver, and distribute affordable, accessible, and impactful learning experiences worldwide. As a recognized innovator in the digital course materials market, VitalSource is best known for partnering with more than 1,000 publishers and resellers to deliver extraordinary learning experiences to millions of active users globally—and today we’re also powering new, cutting-edge technologies designed to optimize teaching and lea