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One of my friends recently claimed that a friend he knew was pulling in 260k as a "Contracts Manager."

The person in question is non-JD, studied a soft major at a lower ranked ivy, and has 7 years of experience--is this as questionable as it seems to me? It is a major company and a major market (SF) but it still seems suspicious to me. As far as I know, he's not in any type of management position and it doesn't sound as though he's particularly stellar as an employee. Based on sites that track salary this seems way overinflated, but I want to hear thoughts on this because it's really bothering me (it was brought up in a bragging context haha).

Anyone have any insight? Why would a firm pay a non-JD 260k to manage contracts when they could probably get a solid JD with firm experience to do the same?

The role of a contracts manager can vary widely from company to company. At one place it may essentially be an in-house type role where a JD is required, at another it could be a low level admin job where the main duties are saving/maintaining contract files, monitoring minor compliance details (dates, payment amounts, etc.), etc.

That being said, my boss is a non-jd Contracts Manager making 120k+ in a low cost of living area. So I guess its not inconceivable that someone in SF working for a F500 whose main duties would be similar to an in-house contracts atty (negotiating/drafting/reviewing) would make that much, especially if that number includes bonus or something. I will say though that $260k is the most I've ever heard of and is definitely not the norm...it's typically more in the $150k range for someone at the top of a contracts dept.

Some firms have contracts managers at an executive/ senior level, and in many different industries a contracts manager is not a JD.

$260k seems high, but I've definitely seen those numbers where a contracts manager is 20 years into their career. Could be a case where the salary is a result of relationship and not the market for the position.