Associate Brand Counsel

Role Summary 

As an Associate Brand Counsel, this position will report to the Supervising Counsel – Brand Strategy and serve as a legal advisor for small molecule and biologics oncology brands and appropriately execute oncology strategy and brand objectives. The individual will provide legal support, counsel and advice that contributes to the overall success of the business, including legal risk assessments to ensure appropriate and comprehensive understanding of potential enterprise risk, escalation, and resolution. You will also collaborate with Ethics and Compliance, Regulatory and other business groups to ensure robust, integrated and complete business support and counselling. 

Primary Responsibilities 

• Provide focused legal support, in collaboration with other attorneys, for US-marketed products and global projects 

• Serve as legal advisor/brand attorney to commercial, medical affairs, patient office, market access, distribution and development teams, R&D, as assigned, for late-stage clinical trial products and marketed products 

• Review business materials (including but not limited to brand plans, annual needs assessments, medical plans, training documents) requiring legal input and advising internal clients, partners and stakeholders on compliant strategies, plans and tactics 

• Work with the Supervising Counsel – Brand Strategy to establish appropriate parameters for relationships with a variety of external parties, including healthcare professionals, patients, HCOs, and market access stakeholders. 

• • Advise on patient office charitable giving, education programs, and patient assistance programs  

• • Advise on medical education programs, grants, and giving 

• • Advise on Advisory Boards and Speaker Programs  

• • Advise on healthcare economics and market access communications and programs 

• Lead legal reviewer for promotional and medical scientific review committees and Medical Information 

• • Responsible for creating legal guidance documents  

• • Responsible for training pertinent stakeholders  

• Support customer-facing activities involving the drafting, negotiating and consummation of contracts. 

• Supports US Contracting operations to improve the level of support by the business by acting as the primary point of escalation; support the development of contract templates, and support the contract lifecycle management platform. 

• Advise on fraud and abuse risks, Stark Law, antikickback legislative obligations, Lanham Act, and qui-tam risks 

• Support the development of policies, guidelines, procedures and SOPs as assigned 

• Collaborate with Ethics and Compliance colleagues involved with late stage clinical and marketed products with responsibility for ensuring an aligned approach across multiple products 

• Work collaboratively with Ethics and Compliance colleagues to develop and implement training to internal clients, partners and stakeholders on key policies, procedures, practices and requirements for healthcare and related legal compliance and educate clients and partners about current enforcement trends 

• Confers with outside counsel as assigned 

Education and Required Skills 

• 4-7 years of experience in pharmaceutical, or parallel industry such as Medical Device, law firm/in-house commercial product matters 

• 2+ years’ experience supporting a pharmaceutical commercialized brand preferred  

• JD or LLM from an accredited US law school. Additional advanced degrees (e.g., MBA, MS) a plus, but not required   

• Excellent oral and written skills 

• Self-motivated, strong leadership, work well independently on projects, meet aggressive deadlines, handle multiple projects, technical knowledge, business acumen, and excellent communication skills 

• Sound conflict resolution skills and ability to work in a collaborative, global environment 

• Effective decision making; proven ability to assess, calibrate, triage, and effectively communicate legal risks to senior management and others. 

• Active membership and good standing in a state bar 

Licenses/Certifications: 

Admitted to practice in a recognized US jurisdiction and registered with the MA Board of Bar Overseers as Massachusetts In-House Counsel if not admitted in MA 

Technical/Functional Expertise:

• Significant expertise in all areas of U.S. laws and regulations including FDA, anti-kickback, antitrust, privacy, product liability, and transactional work 

• Experience acting as a cross-functional lawyer supporting a franchise with accountability for legal advice 

• Proficient technical skills in applications such as Veeva, Microsoft Teams, and PowerPoint  

• Ability to clearly, and concisely, explain complex legal principles and positions to business audiences  

• Familiarity with drafting, negotiating and reviewing a range of pharma-related commercial agreements 

• Market Access experience a plus 

Leadership 

• Serve as a key member of a small and developing legal team contributing business and legal expertise/guidance  

• Maintain an enterprise view in developing and delivering legal guidance to client base 

• Lead select educational sessions for legal team and company 

Decision-making and Autonomy 

• Ability to advise on risk-based decisions involving significant risk to company reputation and financial status and to act globally 

• Manage outside counsel as assigned 

Interaction 

• Significant cross functional interaction at all levels of the company including cross functional global teams and with leadership in US and globally 

Innovation 

• High level of legal innovation and cross functional capacity; ability to lead and think beyond “legal” and to lead cross functional innovative initiatives 

Complexity 

• Experience in successfully navigating a still-developing organization within an established global work environment 

Travel and Location 

• Boston onsite-hybrid; onsite at least two days per week. 

• Minimal travel as required