Legal Director, Partnerships & Licensing

Zealand Pharma

• $180K — $250K *
Pharmaceuticals & Biotech
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Law or commercial law degree; admission to practice law in a relevant jurisdiction preferred
  • Minimum of 10 years of experience in a legal role within biotech or pharmaceuticals
  • Solid understanding of biotech industry regulations and clinical development challenges
  • Experience with complex contract negotiations, including IP, licensing, and M&A
  • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
  • Professional proficiency in English, capable of working with English-language contracts

Responsibilities

  • Provide expert legal guidance across business development, medical, AI, and R&D
  • Draft, review, and negotiate complex agreements, including partnerships and M&A
  • Facilitate and manage strategic partnerships with external collaborators
  • Identify and assess new business opportunities to contribute to growth
  • Participate in legal projects involving template updates and compliance initiatives

Benefits

  • Flexible work options, including remote work and office access in Boston
  • Opportunity to work with cutting-edge science and innovation
  • Engagement in strategic partnerships and high-stakes negotiations
  • Collaboration with cross-functional teams in a dynamic environment
  • Involvement in ESG initiatives and compliance projects
Full Job Description
Does it excite you to negotiate large international deals? And do you have experience with complex contract negotiations and M&A within life sciences? If this sounds like you, and you are ready to take on a broad area of responsibilities, then you could be our new colleague.

Your new position

We are looking for a Legal Director based on the U.S. east coast to join our Legal Partnerships and Licensing team, headquartered in Denmark. The role guides research and development initiatives and drives business development efforts, supporting company growth and compliance with industry and market regulations. As a trusted advisor, the Legal Director works closely with Medical, R&D and Business Development teams to shape the legal approach to cutting-edge science and to enable innovation. The role reports to the Senior Director of Partnerships & Licensing in Denmark and offers the flexibility to work from home or from the Boston office, with some travel to the headquarters in Denmark.

We offer exciting responsibilities:
  • Provide expert legal guidance across the organization, with a focus on business development, medical, AI and R&D
  • Draft, review and negotiate complex agreements, including partnerships, alliances, licensing, collaborations, AI partnerships and M&A
  • Facilitate and manage strategic partnerships with external collaborators to advance innovation
  • Identify and assess new business opportunities, including strategic partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, contributing to the company's growth agenda
  • Participate in and support legal projects involving template updates, ESG initiatives, guidance notes and compliance initiatives


Your profile

You bring a blend of legal expertise and strategic insight, and you are energized by shaping complex negotiations and collaborating across functions to enable innovation. You thrive in a dynamic, changing biotech environment, with a strong sense of ownership and proactiveness. You likely bring many of the following:
  • Law or commercial law degree; admission to practice law in a relevant jurisdiction is preferred
  • Minimum of 10 years of experience in a legal role, in private practice or in-house, within the biotech or pharmaceutical industry
  • Solid understanding of biotech industry regulations and of research and clinical development challenges
  • Experience with complex contract negotiations, including IP, licensing and M&A
  • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
  • Professional proficiency in English and the ability to work with English-language contracts


Your new team

You will join the Legal Partnerships and Licensing team at our headquarters in Denmark, working with colleagues across Legal and with the Medical, R&D and Business Development teams.

Interested in bonding with us? The applications will be reviewed as they come in. While a cover letter is not required, please include a few sentences in your CV explaining your motivation for applying.

Salary Range: $180,000 - $250,000/Yr

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