Senior Director and Counsel, Contracts

Every Exelixis employee is united in an ambitious cause: to launch innovative medicines that give patients, and their families hope for the future. In this pursuit, we know our employees are our most valuable asset. After operating in the challenging biotech sector for 25 years, we have a proven track record of resiliency in the face of adversity. The success of our lead product has provided a solid commercial foundation allowing us to reinvigorate our research efforts and grow our team in areas such as Drug Discovery, Clinical Development and Commercial.

As we expand our global partnerships and further reinvest in R&D to help us discover the next breakthrough for difficult-to-treat cancers, we’re seeking to add talented, dedicated employees to power our mission.

Cancer is our cause. Make it yours, too.

SUMMARY/JOB PURPOSE:

Exelixis is seeking a Senior Director & Counsel, General & Administrative (G&A) Contracts & Data Privacy to lead the Legal Department’s G&A Contracting group, reporting to the Vice President II, Legal Affairs & Operations, Board Secretary. The successful candidate will be a seasoned attorney with strong leadership skills and a wide breadth of experience in commercial contracting, and is also a creative problem solver with sound business judgment. You will be responsible for managing a contracts team (counsels, contracts managers, contract admins), will serve as the leader on complex transactions, and will closely partner and collaborate with various departments across the organization.  Your role will focus on drafting and negotiating a broad range of contracts in support of critical business initiatives across all G&A functions, but with an emphasis on Information Technology, Information Security and Data Privacy matters.

*This position is onsite five (5) days a week (Monday through Friday) at our Alameda, CA headquarters.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Supervise and personally undertake the drafting, review, negotiating, and amending, as necessary, a wide range of contracts in support of the G&A functions, including master service agreements, Software License/SaaS/PaaS agreements, Subscriptions, data privacy agreements, consultant/professional service agreements, LOA/POA, lease, architect, and construction agreements, CDAs/NDAs, task orders/statements of work, and amendments.

• Identify, assess and prioritize legal risks and be able to communicate them effectively to the appropriate internal decision-makers for discussion and resolution.

• Advise and counsel on existing agreements.

• Develop, implement and update, as necessary, policies and procedures in your areas of support, including with respect to the use of artificial intelligence tools and the protection of personal data.

• Take a leadership role in the continuity and improvement of the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of contract drafting, negotiation, processes, and procedures.

• Manage the growth and development of attorneys and contract managers that support contracting requests from the G&A business functions.

• Lead the ongoing development of contracting playbooks and templates.

• Handle a broad variety of miscellaneous legal tasks on an as-needed basis. 

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Supervises staff, including hiring, scheduling, managing workloads, and assigning work, reviewing performance, and recommends salary increases, promotions, transfers, demotions, or terminations.

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE/KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS:

Education:

• BS/BA degree.

• JD degree required and must be admitted to practice, preferably in California.

• Certification in data privacy (e.g., CIPP, CIPM) is highly desirable.

Experience:

• 8-10 years transactional experience as counsel in a law firm or in-house legal environment, preferably supporting life sciences companies.

• Extensive contract drafting and negotiation experience required.

• Management experience requirement.

• Deep understanding of Document Management and Contracts Lifecycle Management systems.

Knowledge/Skills:

• Possesses strong management skills and ability to build strong relationships with direct reports.

• Possesses executive presence and ability to interact comfortably and appropriately with executives, senior management and stakeholders throughout the organization.

• Must be detail-oriented and have strong organizational skills.

• Ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously and with the ability to re