Senior Vice President, General Counsel

Essential Functions

• Serve as a strategic partner and financial advisor to the CEO, the Board of Directors including the audit committees, and members of the senior management team to help shape the overall legal direction for the company.
• Serve as corporate Compliance Officer. Set internal governance policies and ensure adherence to policies
• Oversee SEC filings in partnership with other members or senior management
• Rendering legal opinions and providing guidance concerning issues of patentability, validity, and freedom-to-operate
• Draft, review, and negotiate a wide range of agreements, including licensing, collaboration, CRO, CDMO, clinical trial, supply, and consulting agreements.
• Support business development and strategic transactions such as M&A, joint ventures, and research collaborations.
• Partner with Finance and Corporate Development teams on securities, fundraising, and disclosure issues as needed.
• Manage corporate governance matters including board and board committee minutes
• Provide legal and strategic guidance on clinical trial operations, including protocol development, site and investigator contracting, informed consent, and patient data protection.
• Advise on preclinical and translational research agreements, material transfer agreements (MTAs), and sponsored research arrangements with academic and industry partners.
• Prepare, file and prosecute patent applications with a primary focus on the protection of inventions and patent prosecution from “cradle to grave” and at diverse development stages, as well as matrixed support to other IP practice areas
• Provide IP support for partnering and other agreements (e.g., major licensing agreements, research collaborations, MTAs, CDAs)
• Maintain strong knowledge of legal case law, rules and regulations before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office as well as other jurisdictional IP offices
• Develop best practices for legal operations and contract management systems.
• Support intellectual property-related transactional and litigation work
• At times, direct and manage outside counsel, including overseeing budget as appropriate
• Serve as a trusted advisor to senior management and business leaders on strategic initiatives and legal risk.

Education & Experience

• Juris Doctor (JD) with 12+ years of experience, 3-5+ in-house at a clinical stage publicly traded company is preferred, including at least 5 years of “in-house” experience in a life sciences organization
• Several years of experience at a Corporate Law Firm, preferably in the biotech space