Director, Contracts Counsel

The Company:

Pioneering Medicines is Flagship Pioneering’s in-house drug discovery and development unit. Our team of drug development experts creates new therapeutics built from Flagship’s innovative bioplatforms and novel modalities.

More than 40 companies across the Flagship ecosystem are pioneering innovative platform technologies to address major challenges in human health. Pioneering Medicines explores and identifies new product concepts and then works jointly with Flagship’s companies to form integrated teams that advance medicines through robust discovery and early clinical development.

Pioneering Medicines also partners with external collaborators across biopharma throughout our R&D process. We apply our unique approach to the R&D priorities of our partners through highly co-creative relationships that draw on the expertise of our respective teams.

Pioneering Medicines leads Flagship’s Innovation Supply Chain Partnerships with Novo Nordisk and Pfizer to speed innovation in drug development and bring novel therapies to patients. The team also leads a partnership with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to develop therapeutics that address the unmet needs of people living with cystic fibrosis.

If this sounds like an environment you’d love to work in, even if you only have some of the experience listed below, please apply.

The Role:

This is an outstanding career opportunity for a highly motivated Director, Contracts Counsel to join the Flagship Legal team, directly supporting Pioneering Medicines (PM). The ideal candidate will have experience in preparing and negotiating a broad range of agreements related to the research and development, IT and general business needs of PM.  Must be detail-oriented and have strong organizational skills to effectively manage competing priorities and workstreams.  Requires the ability to proactively foster organizational knowledge and relationships and think critically and creatively to support problem-solving and ensure strong communication flow and follow-through.

The Contracts Counsel will work as part of Flagship’s Contracts team but exclusively support PM and will report to the Sr. Director, Contracts Counsel. The Contracts Counsel must efficiently manage a very large volume and variety of contracts. This position has high visibility across the organization and requires a proactive, positive, and professional approach. 

Responsibilities include:

• Prepare, negotiate and manage a wide variety of contracts related to the general business and Research and Development needs of PM, including Master Service Agreements and associated work orders, MTAs, Consulting Agreements, CDAs, and research collaboration agreements.

• Optimize contracting processes and provide training to relevant business units on such processes to ensure approvals and contract requirements are met.   

• Format documents for finalization and execution including use of e-signature services

• Coordinate with other departments (Finance, Procurement, IP) to ensure alignment of business needs and risk assessments, contract compliance, improve contract processes, suggest and implement new / more efficient processes as needed.
• Identify operational pain points and internal knowledge gaps and collaborate on solutions. 
• Proactively guide stakeholders as to contractual rights and obligations  while mitigating risks and concurrently supporting business strategic goals .
• Identify and assist with resolution of issues impacting completion of contracts.
• Maintain standardized forms and templates and assist in updating them.
• Work effectively within the Cobblestone contracts lifecycle management system and use influence to drive understanding and compliance throughout PM for the same.

Education, Experience, and Skills:

• A law degree and admission to the bar in at least 1 US state; a minimum of 7 years of experience drafting, negotiating and executing contracts in the tech, medical device, and/or pharma/biotech industries.
• Hands-on experience independently drafting, negotiating and managing a wide variety and volume of contracts.
• Law firm experience handling diverse transactional matters beneficial.  Additional in-house legal experience preferred. Alternative significant contracts experience considered. 
• Self-motivated individual who has the capacity to build trust amongst colleagues and work as part of a team.
• Ability to work independently and thrive in a fast-paced environment; exceptional time-management and prioritization skills, be detail oriented, manage multiple contracts and projects simultaneously under tight timelines and mitigate risk.
• Strategic mindset with the ability to think creatively to find common ground in contract negotiations, to conduct research to evaluate applicable laws, rules, regulations and guidelines.
• Ability to assist in the development and delivery of training programs to educate internal teams on legal policies, compliance, and best practices.
• Experience in scaling legal operations to support high-growth operations. 
• Creative mindset to design, refine, and implement business unit specific processes to enhance operational efficiency. 
• Demonstrated ability to work closely with cross-functional teams. 
• High level of responsiveness and exceptional interpersonal and communication skills;  excellent customer service; ability to actively manage stakeholder expectations.
• Ability to provide clear and concise legal advice; resourceful and decisive and manage a wide variety of matters and stakeholders.
• Positive outlook, willingness to learn and contribute, commit to personal growth and a team-oriented attitude; the ability to adapt to new/evolving processes will be key.
• Interest in using AI tools to increase efficiencies in legal practice. 

Location:

The position is being posted as a Hybrid work structure. Hybrid is flexible combination of both remote and in-person work at our Headquarters in Cambridge, MA.  

More About Flagship Pioneering:

Flagship Pioneering is a platform innovation company that invents and builds platform companies, each with the potential for multiple products that transform human health or sustainability. Since its launch in 2000, Flagship has originated and fostered more than 100 scientific ventures, resulting in more than $90 billion in aggregate value. Many of the companies Flagship has founded have addressed humanity’s most urgent challenges: vaccinating billions of people against COVID-19, curing intractable diseases, improving human health, preempting illness, and feeding the world by improving the resiliency and sustainability of agriculture.  Flagship has been recognized twice on FORTUNE’s “Change the World” list, an annual ranking of companies that have made a positive social and environmental impact through activities that are part of their core business strategies, and has been twice named to Fast Company’s annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies. Learn more about Flagship at www.flagshippioneering.com.

Flagship Pioneering and our ecosystem companies are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.

At Flagship, we recognize there is no perfect candidate. If you have some of the experience listed above but not all, please apply anyway. Experience comes in many forms, skills are transferable, and passion goes a long way. We are dedicated to building diverse and inclusive teams and look forward to learning more about your unique background.

Recruitment & Staffing Agencies:  Flagship Pioneering and its affiliated Flagship Lab companies (collectively, “FSP”) do not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates.  The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to FSP or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by Flagship Pioneering’s internal Talent Acquisition team.   Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of FSP, and FSP will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto

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