US Senior Legal Counsel - Employment

AstraZeneca is a global, science-led, patient-focused biopharmaceutical company focusing on the discovery, development and commercialization of prescription medicines for some of the world’s most serious diseases.

But we’re more than one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies - the work we do here is meaningful. Every action we take is focused on putting our patients first, and those actions add up to something bigger. We help AstraZeneca to run faster and better, powering everyone else to focus on what’s important - delivering life-changing medicines to our patients.

What you’ll do as the US Senior Legal Counsel – Employment:

As Senior Legal Counsel - Employment, you will work independently, reporting into and with oversight from the Assistant General Counsel (AGC) Global Employment and Senior Director, Global Employment, ensuring all employment legal risks within your remit are identified and appropriately mitigated. You will prioritize and manage legal risks of high materiality and/or reputational impact.

You will influence business decisions with high quality legal advice and analysis.  Strategic thinking and influencing skills are key as the position has a direct impact on business activities and key legal matters.  The Senior Legal Counsel will be a proactive business partner with an understanding of internal and external trends, and able to articulate legal considerations to senior stakeholders clearly and concisely in a dynamic environment.

Key responsibilities

• Manage the delivery of employment legal advice and services to Human Resources and business leaders across all AstraZeneca business units on all aspects of US employment law including but not limited to performance management, discrimination and harassment prevention, workplace investigations, leave of absence and accommodations, wage and hour issues, contingent workers, compensation, pay equity, terminations and restructuring.
• Manage all aspects of assigned employment-related litigation matters ranging from single-plaintiff litigations to class actions; responsibilities include managing strategy, cost containment, discovery / e-discovery, and communication with internal stakeholders, in partnership with External Legal Counsel (ELC) and under limited supervision from the Senior Director, Global Employment.
• Handle pre-litigation employment matters, including overseeing responses to the EEOC and other administrative agencies and responses to attorney demand letters.
• Continually review US HR policies and practices to ensure legal compliance and provide strategic partnership in development of new policies and initiatives.
• Help drive AstraZeneca’s global strategies on increasing inclusion and diversity while ensuring compliance with US laws.
• Identify and manage present and potential legal risks in delivery of all HR services, including legal risks associated with the implementation of strategic initiatives and projects.
• Manage ELC to aggressively control internal and external resources to meet budget requirements.
• Focus on delivering the appropriate level of service, from internal and external resources, at the lowest possible cost.
• Independently handle complex legal matters and innovative business arrangements and projects.
• Ensure collaboration with other Legal teams and support areas to ensure seamless service to clients.
• Handle special projects assigned by Legal leadership.

Essential requirements

• JD and admission to the bar of at least one state
• 7+ years of legal experience
• Ability to take accountability, appropriately calibrate risk and enable clear decision-making with confidence and professional maturity
• Solutions-oriented and pragmatic mindset
• Intellectually curious, appetite for learning with a proven ability to master new subjects quickly and effectively
• Resilient and able to operate effectively and independently under pressure
• Ability to work flexibly and collaboratively
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and presentation skills
• Demonstrated experience managing accountabilities and stakeholders
• High level of integrity and strong work ethic

Highly Desirable Requirements

• Employment/HR-law specific experience at a law firm and/or previous in-house experience in this capacity, including experience with class actions 
• Experience advising global pharmaceutical/life sciences organizations

When we put unexpected teams in the same room, we unleash bold thinking with the power to inspire life-changing medicines. In-person working gives us the platform we need to connect, work at pace and challenge perceptions. That's why we work, on average, a minimum of three days per week from the office. But that doesn't mean we're not flexible. We b