Job Description
The Business Development & Licensing (BD&L) team is seeking a Senior Legal Counsel responsible for managing and executing legal aspects of strategic and complex transactions in close collaboration with M&A, BD&L and strategy colleagues and be a key enabler of Novartis’s portfolio and lifecycle management activities and overall enterprise strategy.
What you will be doing:
• Independently manage legal work streams on strategic and complex transactions in close collab-oration with M&A, BD&L, Strategy, functional and divisional stakeholders
• Define transaction objectives with project leads and other stakeholders and develop and implement project plans to achieve them, including timelines, reporting and key deliverables
• Take direct responsibility for legal advice and documentation and related work streams on trans-actions, including structuring, due diligence, signing, closing and post-closing/integration activities
• Drive robust due diligence processes, including external legal support, to identify, assess and communicate legal, regulatory and deal risks and to propose and implement appropriate risk mitigation
• Work with M&A, BD&L, Strategy, functional and other business colleagues to ensure appropriate due diligence on other aspects of transactions is completed and addressed in transaction structuring and terms
• Review, draft and negotiate transaction documentation to achieve transaction objectives and reflect agreed commercial terms, due diligence findings, legal and regulatory requirements and in-ternal policies and procedures
• Develop and implement creative solutions to structuring and legal issues on transactions, working with multiple stakeholders including tax, finance and P&O/C&B colleagues and external advisors
• Communicate and make recommendations to M&A, BD&L colleagues, senior management and other stakeholders in respect of legal and commercial issues arising in connection with transactions
• Support IR and PR on transaction-related communications
• Support the transition of closed transactions to responsible functional, divisional and integration/separation teams
• Proactively contribute to the development of a best-in-class transactions team at Novartis and initiatives to improve Novartis Legal
• Manage external legal counsel, including negotiating statements of work, setting and monitoring budgets and ensuring compliance with Novartis external counsel guidelines
This role can be based out of Cambridge, Massachusetts or East Hanover, New Jersey.
Diversity & Inclusion / EEO
The Novartis Group of Companies are Equal Opportunity Employers and take pride in maintaining a diverse environment. We do not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion or other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status. We are committed to building diverse teams, representative of the patients and communities we serve, and we strive to create an inclusive workplace that cultivates bold innovation through collaboration and empowers our people to unleash their full potential.
Minimum Requirements
What you will bring to the role:
Education:
• Law (JD degree) from an accredited law school
• Admitted to practice in a State in the US (e.g., NY, NJ, MA)
• Must be able to draft complex legal documents and negotiate in English
Experience:
• Minimum 6+ years of relevant transactional experience (post-qualification) at a major law firm or in-house
• Transactional experience in the life sciences sector, including licensing, co-development, joint ventures, in-out licensing, and divestments is required
• Significant experience executing complex public and private mergers and acquisitions transactions (both buy-side and sell-side) and other corporate transactions (e.g., joint ventures, equity and debt investments)
• Experience in related commercial arrangements (e.g., services and supply arrangements) a significant plus
• Life sciences experience required; VC and/or digital experience a significant plus
• Strong business acumen and proven ability to work and to lead in a matrixed organization
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Proven ability to work on multiple projects at any given time in a fast-paced environment
• High attention to detail
• Ability to work independently yet collaboratively while keeping key stakeholders informed
• Team player in a multidisciplinary, cross-cultural environment, high level of flexibility
• Ability to;
o exercise initiative and sound judgment.
o prioritize tasks and maintain efficiency; and
o identify opportunities for improvement
• Excellent organizational skills
Why Novartis?
766 million lives were touched by Novartis medicines in 2021, and while we’re proud of this, we know there is so much more we could do to help improve and extend people’s lives.
We believe new insights, perspectives and ground-breaking solutions can be found at the intersection of medical science and digital innovation. That a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment inspires new ways of working.
We believe our potential can thrive and grow in an unbossed culture underpinned by integrity, curiosity and flexibility. And we can reinvent what’s possible, when we collaborate with courage to aggressively and ambitiously tackle the world’s toughest medical challenges. Because the greatest risk in life, is the risk of never trying!
Imagine what you could do here at Novartis!
Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion: Novartis is committed to building an outstanding, inclusive work environment and diverse teams representative of the patients and communities we serve.
Accessibility and Reasonable Accommodations: Individuals in need of a reasonable accommodation due to a medical condition or disability for any part of the application process, or to perform the essential functions of a position, please send an e-mail to [email protected] or call +1 (877)395-2339 and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information. Please include the job requisition number in your message.
Join our Novartis Network: If this role is not suitable to your experience or career goals but you wish to stay connected to hear more about Novartis and our career opportunities, join the Novartis Network here: https://talentnetwork.novartis.com/network
The pay range for this position at commencement of employment is expected to be between $201,600.00 and $302,400.00 per year; however, base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package for this position may also include other elements, including a sign-on bonus, restricted stock units, and discretionary awards in addition to a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits (including 401(k) eligibility and various paid time off benefits, such as vacation, sick time, and parental leave), dependent on the position offered. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.