General Counsel

The General Counsel & Head of Legal will serve as the senior legal advisor to the executive leadership team and Board, with responsibility for designing, implementing, and managing the legal, governance, compliance, and risk management framework for the Solvias Group of Companies.

This is a builder role requiring a commercially minded legal leader with deep international experience who can establish legal operations, policies, governance structures, and scalable processes in a fast-growing, highly regulated life sciences environment.

The successful candidate will combine strategic leadership with operational execution and will be expected to build a high-performing legal department capable of supporting global business growth, M&A activity, regulatory compliance, customer contracting, intellectual property protection, employment matters, and corporate governance.

Legal Department Strategy & Build-Out

• Design and implement the global legal department structure, operating model, and legal service delivery framework

• Develop the legal roadmap aligned with Solvias’ strategic growth objectives

• Establish scalable legal processes, workflows, templates, approval matrices, and reporting structures

• Build and lead a high-performing in-house legal team, including internal hiring strategy and external counsel management

• Implement legal technology solutions, contract lifecycle management systems, and document governance practices

• Develop legal budgets, outside counsel management protocols, and cost-control initiatives

Corporate & Commercial Legal Support

• Lead all commercial contracting activities, including master service agreements, quality agreements, confidentiality agreements, licensing arrangements, vendor agreements, procurement contracts, and strategic partnerships

• Provide pragmatic legal advice to business leaders across sales, operations, procurement, HR, finance, quality, and R&D

• Support global business expansion initiatives and cross-border commercial operations

• Negotiate complex customer and strategic partner agreements with pharmaceutical, biotech, and healthcare clients

• Establish enterprise-wide contract standards and risk management guidelines

Compliance, Ethics & Risk Management

• Develop and implement global compliance and ethics programs

• Ensure compliance with applicable pharmaceutical, biotech, healthcare, privacy, anti-bribery, trade, and competition laws

• Oversee enterprise legal risk assessment and mitigation activities

• Establish policies and training programs relating to ethics, anti-corruption, data privacy, conflicts of interest, records retention, and regulatory compliance

• Partner with Quality and Regulatory teams to support GxP-related legal matters

Corporate Governance

• Serve as corporate secretary or oversee corporate governance activities for the group

• Advise executive leadership and the Board on governance, fiduciary obligations, and strategic legal risk

• Manage board materials, resolutions, corporate records, and entity governance compliance

• Ensure maintenance of legal entities and corporate formalities across jurisdictions

Employment & Labor Law

• Provide strategic support on employment law matters globally, including executive employment agreements, policies, investigations, disciplinary matters, restructurings, and workforce integration

• Partner with Human Resources on labor law compliance and people-related risk management

Intellectual Property & Data Protection

• Oversee intellectual property strategy, protection, and enforcement in collaboration with business and scientific leadership

• Advise on licensing, technology transfer, confidentiality, and innovation-related matters

• Ensure compliance with applicable data privacy and cybersecurity regulations, including GDPR and related frameworks

Litigation & Dispute Management

• Manage disputes, claims, investigations, and litigation matters

• Coordinate external counsel and develop efficient dispute resolution strategies

• Minimize legal exposure while protecting the company’s commercial and reputational interests

• Juris Doctor (JD), LL.M., or equivalent law degree from a recognized institution

• Qualified to practice law in at least one major jurisdiction relevant to Solvias’ operations

• Minimum 12–15 years of progressive legal experience, including substantial in-house leadership experience

• Demonstrated experience building or transforming legal departments in a global organization

• Significant experience supporting life sciences, pharmaceutical, biotech, CRO/CDMO, diagnostics, healthcare, or regulated laboratory services businesses

• Strong experience with international commercial contracts and cross-border legal matters

• Experience advising executive leadership teams and Boards

• Proven experience managing external counsel and legal budgets

• Act as a trusted advisor and strategic business partner to the CEO, executive leadership team, and Board

• Build credibility and influence across scientific, operational, and commercial teams

• Operate effectively in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial, and acquisitive environment

• Demonstrate strong judgment, integrity, and the ability to balance legal risk with commercial objectives

• Lead through collaboration, accountability, and operational excellence

• Foster a culture of compliance, ethics, and business enablement

• Experience in private equity-backed or high-growth international organizations

• Familiarity with GxP environments and regulated healthcare/life sciences operations

• Expertise in data privacy, compliance, and international corporate governance

• Experience implementing legal operations technology and scalable legal infrastructure

• Multi-jurisdictional legal exposure across Europe and North America