Senior VP, Legal

Salary Range: $310,000.00 To $330,000.00 Annually

Company Overview

ELIQUENT Life Sciences is a leading global consulting firm that provides solutions to life sciences companies researching, developing, and manufacturing innovative products that serve patients and address public health challenges around the world. The company supports clients through deep expertise, integrity, and strategic insight, helping advance the availability of safe, effective, and high-quality drugs, biologics, and medical devices.

Position Overview

The Senior Vice President, Legal is the company’s senior legal executive and serves as a strategic advisor to the Chief Financial Officer, executive leadership team, and business leaders across the organization. This position leads the global legal function and establishes the company’s legal strategy in support of its business objectives, international operations, growth plans, and commitment to ethical business practices.

The Head of Legal provides executive oversight of commercial contracting, corporate governance and Corporate Secretary activities, enterprise risk management, regulatory compliance, data privacy, employment-related legal matters, disputes, and other legal issues affecting the organization.

The successful candidate will balance legal risk with practical business needs, helping the organization make informed decisions while protecting its reputation, financial interests, client relationships, intellectual property, and operations. This role requires a collaborative and commercially minded attorney who can identify significant risks, explain available options clearly, and provide timely, actionable recommendations to senior leaders.

Primary Responsibilities

Executive Leadership and Legal Strategy

• Serve as the company’s senior legal advisor to the Chief Financial Officer, executive leadership team, and other senior leaders.
• Advise leadership on significant legal, contractual, regulatory, compliance, governance, and reputational matters.
• Promote ethical decision-making, accountability, compliance, and appropriate risk awareness throughout the organization.

Global Contracting and Commercial Support

• Lead or support significant negotiations involving clients, strategic partners, vendors, technology providers, contractors, and international business arrangements.
• Establish contract templates, approval authorities, negotiation standards, fallback positions, and escalation procedures.

Enterprise Risk Management

• Lead the company’s legal risk management framework in partnership with the Chief Financial Officer and executive leadership.
• Identify, assess, prioritize, and monitor material legal, contractual, compliance, operational, and reputational risks.
• Develop practical mitigation and escalation plans that balance legal protection with business priorities and operational needs.
• Provide leadership with meaningful reporting on material legal matters, compliance concerns, and emerging risks.

International Legal and Regulatory Oversight

• Advise on contracts, operations, and business arrangements involving multiple countries and legal jurisdictions.
• Support international operations, market expansion, acquisitions, integrations, and other growth initiatives.
• Monitor relevant legal and regulatory developments and communicate significant requirements or risks to business leaders.

Compliance, Privacy, and Corporate Governance

• Oversee the company’s legal and compliance framework, including policies, procedures, training, controls, and reporting mechanisms.
• Advise on corporate governance requirements and support the appropriate documentation of significant corporate decisions and approvals.
• Provide legal oversight of data privacy, cybersecurity, confidentiality, and ESG.
• Monitor changes in relevant laws, regulations, and industry expectations affecting the company and its global consulting operations.

Corporate Secretary Responsibilities

• Oversee the company’s corporate governance processes and maintain the integrity of its official corporate records.
• Attend Board and committee meetings as appropriate and ensure that accurate minutes, resolutions, approvals, and other required records are prepared and maintained.
• Maintain corporate entity records for the company, subsidiaries, and affiliated entities across applicable jurisdictions, including organizational documents, charters, minutes, resolutions, and written consents.
• Advise executive leadership on corporate governance requirements, fiduciary responsibilities, governance practices, and related legal considerations.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Juris Doctor degree from an accredited law school.
• Active license and good standing to practice law in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.
• 15+ years of progressively responsible legal experience, including significant in-house corporate legal experience.
• Previous experience serving as a senior legal leader, such as a Deputy General Counsel, General Counsel, Global Head of Legal, or leader of a substantial legal function.
• Demonstrated experience leading and developing attorneys or other legal professionals.
• Extensive experience drafting, reviewing, and negotiating complex commercial agreements.
• Experience supporting international business operations and agreements involving multiple countries or jurisdictions.
• Demonstrated ability to advise senior executives on material legal, governance, contractual, compliance, and enterprise risk matters.
• Strong knowledge of corporate governance, data privacy, regulatory compliance, employment-related legal matters, and dispute management.
• Experience managing external counsel, legal budgets, and specialized legal service providers.
• Ability to operate effectively in a global, remote, and highly collaborative work environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in the life sciences, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, healthcare, professional services, or consulting industry.
• Experience advising a global professional services organization with complex client and independent contractor relationships.
• Familiarity with regulatory considerations affecting life sciences consulting organizations and their clients.
• Experience supporting international expansion, acquisitions, integrations, or other business transformation initiatives.
• Experience implementing contract lifecycle management systems, legal intake tools, contract playbooks, entity management systems, or legal workflow automation.
• Experience establishing or strengthening enterprise risk management and corporate governance programs.

What We Offer

ELIQUENT provides a challenging and engaging work environment, competitive compensation, comprehensive health and welfare benefits, a 401(k) plan with employer match, paid leave, and flexibility that supports work-life balance.