As the R&D manager, I was responsible for bringing new technology to the company.

Sometimes it made me feel like a lawyer. Contracts and service agreements are really a thing to behold: The basic agreement offered by the vendor frequently have the odd combination of offering nothing and disclaiming everything.

I worked closely with our legal department and the vendors to develop contracts that ensured performance, service levels, and competitive pricing.  Frequently this involved outside contact with research groups to verify we were getting the best deal.

As part of our technical alliance with sister companies, we also drafted them so our affiliates could take advantage of our volume pricing without re-negotiating from scratch.