Life Sciences Counsel

Anthropic$335K — $385K *
Pharmaceuticals & Biotech
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • JD with active membership in a U.S. state bar (California or New York preferred)
  • In-depth understanding of life sciences industry operations and regulatory environments
  • Proven experience in negotiating complex IP allocation in multi-party research contracts
  • Excellent communication skills for translating legal risk into guidance for non-legal stakeholders
  • Experience managing outside legal counsel across various specialties
  • Collaborative problem solver with a focus on practical, multi-priority solutions
  • Low-ego, high-empathy mindset with a proactive, 'doer' attitude
  • Curiosity about AI and science with a commitment to responsible AI development

Responsibilities

  • Advise life science research teams on global research, development, and commercial matters
  • Handle high volume of sophisticated agreements with life science and biopharma partners
  • Proactively manage regulatory risks in collaboration with the legal department
  • Develop scalable guidance and processes to support the life sciences initiative
  • Stay ahead of emerging legal issues in AI technologies for the life sciences sector
  • Act as a key legal partner embedded within the research team
  • Collaborate with various legal specialists to ensure comprehensive support

Benefits

  • Opportunities for collaboration with top researchers in the life sciences
  • Embedded legal role providing unique influence and impact in the organization
  • Exposure to cutting-edge AI applications in health and life sciences
  • Flexible working arrangements including hybrid work options
  • Visa sponsorship available for candidates, enhancing inclusivity
  • Commitment to diversity and representation within the team
Full Job Description
AI has the power to dramatically accelerate the pace of scientific discovery and the development of healthcare interventions. We're hiring Anthropic's first dedicated Life Sciences Counsel to work side-by-side with our researchers as they work to advance biomedical progress. You'll serve as their trusted counsel on a wide range of efforts - from fast paced life sciences transactions with top research organizations to navigating the complexities of operating at frontier pace in a regulated ecosystem. This role carries unusual scope for a single lawyer: you will be the embedded legal partner to the team, while collaborating deeply across the broader legal department to pull in the wide range of subject matter expertise this strategic initiative will require for success. Key responsibilities • Serve as a key strategic advisor to our life science research teams on complex research, development, and commercial matters globally • Drive high deal volume with life science and biopharma counterparties across a range of sophisticated agreement types • Identify, analyze, and proactively manage life science regulatory risks in close coordination with the broader Legal department • Design and implement scalable guidance and processes to support our fast-growing life science efforts • Anticipate emerging legal developments affecting AI technologies in the life science and biopharma space and provide strategic guidance to leadership Minimum qualifications • JD and active membership in at least one U.S. state bar (California or New York preferred) • Real fluency in how the life sciences industry works: how drugs get developed, how research organizations are structured, what pharmaceutical and biotech counterparties care about, and why • Working knowledge of the regulatory environment life sciences tools may be deployed in - GxP, clinical and health data regulations, human-subjects research, FDA processes • Deep experience with negotiating and drafting complex IP allocation issues in multi-party research arrangements, including ownership of inventions and improvements • Excellent communication skills, with the ability to translate legal risk into practical guidance for scientists, researchers, and business partners • Experience scoping and managing outside counsel across specialties (FDA/regulatory, IP, privacy, export control) for both substantive depth and cost efficiency • Exceptionally collaborative disposition - with the ability to find creative solutions that account for multiple priorities at once • A low-ego, high-empathy orientation and a "doer" attitude - willing to roll up your sleeves and pitch in where needed • Intense curiosity about AI and science, and a commitment to responsible AI development Preferred qualifications • 10+ years of relevant legal experience, including substantial experience in life sciences transactional work - contract research, strategic collaborations, and licensing and commercialization deals - with the ability to operate independently and hit the ground running • Experience with AI/ML companies or products deployed into regulated scientific and clinical settings, particularly for drug discovery • Familiarity with biosecurity, dual-use research, or export control considerations in the life sciences • Experience leveraging AI to optimize their work, with a desire to work in a fast-paced, innovative environment • Scientific or technical training Role-specific policy: For this role, we expect all staff to be able to work from our New York offices at least 3 days a week, though we encourage you to apply even if you might need some flexibility for an interim period of time. The annual compensation range for this role is listed below. For sales roles, the range provided is the role's On Target Earnings ("OTE") range, meaning that the range includes both the sales commissions/sales bonuses target and annual base salary for the role. Annual Salary: $335,000-$385,000 USD Logistics Minimum education: Bachelor's degree or an equivalent combination of education, training, and/or experience Required field of study: A field relevant to the role as demonstrated through coursework, training, or professional experience Minimum years of experience: Years of experience required will correlate with the internal job level requirements for the position Location-based hybrid policy: Currently, we expect all staff to be in one of our offices at least 25% of the time. However, some roles may require more time in our offices. Visa sponsorship: We do sponsor visas! However, we aren't able to successfully sponsor visas for every role and every candidate. But if we make you an offer, we will make every reasonable effort to get you a visa, and we retain an immigration lawyer to help with this. We encourage you to apply even if you do not believe you meet every single qualification. Not all strong candidates will meet every single qualification as listed. Research shows that people who identify as being from underrepresented groups are more prone to experiencing imposter syndrome and doubting the strength of their candidacy, so we urge you not to exclude yourself prematurely and to submit an application if you're interested in this work. We think AI systems like the ones we're building have enormous social and ethical implications. We think this makes representation even more important, and we strive to include a range of diverse perspectives on our team.

About Anthropic

Anthropic is an artificial intelligence research lab that focuses on developing AI systems that are safe, reliable, and trustworthy. The company was founded in 2019 by Dr. Yoshua Bengio, a leading AI researcher and winner of the Turing Award. Anthropic's research is focused on developing AI systems that can learn from small amounts of data, reason about complex systems, and interact with humans in a natural way. The company is based in New York City and has a team of experienced AI researchers and engineers.
Learn more about Anthropic
Size
50 employees
Industry
Founded
2019

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