Full-Time

VP – Contracts & Compliance

Posted on 9/16/2025

MERGE

MERGE

1-10 employees

Full-service marketing and advertising agency

Compensation Overview

$175k - $200k/yr

No H1B Sponsorship

Chicago, IL, USA

Hybrid

Hybrid work arrangement.

Category
Legal & Compliance (2)
,
Requirements
  • J.D. from an accredited law school; active member in good standing of at least one U.S. state bar
  • 7–10 years of legal experience, including at least 3–5 years in-house
  • Proven expertise in contract law, negotiation, and lifecycle management
  • Strong understanding of data privacy laws (GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA) and digital advertising regulations
  • Experience advising on SaaS/software licensing, technology partnerships, and digital marketing/AdTech/MarTech initiatives
  • Excellent communication and negotiation skills, with the ability to translate complex risks into practical, business-friendly guidance
  • Highly organized, detail-oriented, and comfortable managing competing priorities in a fast-moving environment
Responsibilities
  • Draft, review, and negotiate a wide range of agreements including MSAs, SOWs, NDAs, SaaS/software licenses, technology vendor agreements, client service agreements, and licensing deals
  • Manage contract administration, including renewals, deadlines, and deliverables, ensuring proper tracking in contract management systems
  • Identify and mitigate contractual risks across indemnities, limitations of liability, confidentiality, IP ownership, data protection, and privacy compliance (GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA)
  • Maintain and update contract templates, negotiation playbooks, and approval workflows to improve consistency, efficiency, and scalability
  • Serve as a trusted advisor to Sales, Procurement, HR, Finance, IT, and Product teams, delivering clear, actionable guidance that enables business velocity without compromising safeguards
  • Partner with CFO and leadership to identify and assess enterprise risks (legal, regulatory, data privacy, operational, reputational)
  • Contribute to the development and evolution of MERGE’s risk appetite, controls, and monitoring processes
  • Support corporate filings, governance matters, and policy development (privacy, compliance, ethics, code of conduct)
  • Monitor evolving laws/regulations in marketing, technology, and data protection; brief leadership on business impacts
Desired Qualifications
  • Background in marketing, technology, healthcare, or professional services preferred

MERGE is a full-service marketing and advertising agency focused on healthcare, life sciences, financial services, consumer goods, and retail. It offers digital marketing, creative design, brand strategy, media planning, CRM, public relations, communications, web development, and marketing technology to create tailored campaigns that blend storytelling with data and tools across major markets. The company differentiates itself by targeting specific sectors, combining narrative-driven creative with advanced marketing technology and analytics, and delivering a coordinated, measurable, full-service platform. Its goal is to help clients grow their brands and deepen customer relationships through effective, data-backed campaigns that drive solid business results.

Company Size

1-10

Company Stage

N/A

Total Funding

N/A

Headquarters

Chicago, Illinois

Founded

2004

Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Perkuto acquisition enhances analytics and omnichannel performance marketing systems.
  • Expanded to Denver, Los Angeles, and Raleigh, strengthening national footprint.
  • Healthcare trends favor AI personalization, aligning with Predictive Decision Engine.

What critics are saying

  • WPP's VML erodes 20% healthcare revenue via superior AI integrations.
  • Publicis Epsilon poaches 700 CRM specialists from uncompetitive offices.
  • FTC guidelines force Predictive Decision Engine overhaul, halting 15% projects.

What makes MERGE unique

  • Humanity Suite balances AI automation with human-centered creativity across six offerings.
  • Acquired Blazer for strategic consulting and Zee Jay Digital for Adobe Workfront expertise.
  • Appointed Stacey Hawes as Chief Performance and Data Officer to lead data services.

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Benefits

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

Life Insurance

401(k) Retirement Plan

401(k) Company Match

Flexible Work Hours

Paid Holidays

Company News

The Associated Press
Apr 7th, 2026
MERGE launches Humanity Suite operating model for AI-empowered marketing agencies

MERGE, a Chicago-based marketing and technology agency, has launched the Humanity Suite, a new operating model comprising six integrated offerings designed for AI-first marketing. The system aims to balance automation with human-centred creativity and empathy. The suite includes three foundation offerings: MarTech Contextual Platform for unified data architecture, Adaptive Creative System for personalised content at scale, and Predictive Decision Engine for proactive customer relationship management. Three impact offerings focus on strategic planning, experience orchestration and AI implementation with ethical oversight. The launch responds to growing demand for personalisation whilst addressing concerns about over-automation. MERGE, which employs over 700 specialists across eight US cities, works with brands including Abbott, American Express and T-Mobile. The suite integrates with platforms like Adobe, Google, Salesforce and Sitecore.

Business Wire
Jun 3rd, 2025
MERGE Expands Integrated Capabilities with Blazer Acquisition to Accelerate Next Growth Phase

MERGE, a leading marketing and technology agency, today announced it has acquired Blazer, a strategic consulting firm, as part of its ongoing growth trajecto...

TechCrunch
Nov 2nd, 2023
Payroll Integrations Grabs $20M To Build Employee Financial Wellness Tools

Employers are increasingly offering perks and benefits to satisfy and retain employees, and it’s widely known that helping with financial wellness is near the top of the list. Rising interest rates and inflation are putting a strain on people, and companies, for example Amazon and Delta, are developing financial wellness programs to aid employees.Payroll Integrations is one of the startups providing ways for employers to support their employees’ financial wellness. The San Diego-based company was founded by Doug Sabella and Andrew Hallengren in 2016.Hallengren was previously a registered investment advisor working in the benefits space and noticed there was lack of automation in the sector. He reached out to his old friend Sabella, who was working at Salesforce at the time, to see where the gaps were. Payroll Integrations came from continued discussions, Sabella told TechCrunch.Over the past seven years, the pair built integrations with the largest payroll companies in the U.S. to provide a direct two-way connection between payroll and benefits automation as an integration platform-as-a-service (iPaaS).Payroll Integrations’ proprietary technology ingests employee census and payroll data from those payroll companies

Business Wire
Oct 5th, 2023
MERGE Acquires Zee Jay Digital to Orchestrate the Content Supply Chain for Superior CX

MERGE, a premium storytelling technology company that promotes health, wealth and happiness, announced today the acquisition of the Adobe Workfront pl

Google
Aug 7th, 2023
MERGE Recognized as an "Independent Agency Finalist of the Year"' and "Best Disease Education Campaign Finalist" by Medical Marketing + Media Awards for 2023

MERGE is being recognized for outstanding work in the categories of Disease Education Campaign and for the second consecutive year as an Independent Agency with Private Equity Backing.

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