Sr. Dir., Associate General Counsel

Join the Spark Team

 

We were born of innovation, springing from the curiosity, imagination and dedication of remarkable scientists and healthcare visionaries. Our shared mission is to unlock the power of gene therapy to accelerate healthcare transformation. 

 

We don’t follow footsteps. We create the path.

 

 

Primary Duties

Spark Therapeutics is a fully integrated, commercial gene therapy company dedicated to unlocking the power of gene therapy to accelerate healthcare transformation.  We are looking for an experienced generalist attorney to join our legal team with deep expertise across the biotech/biopharma/pharma industry, including in commercial transactions.   The Associate General Counsel (AGC) is responsible for directly leading the legal function supporting contracts processes and human and workplace resources and technologies, and for overseeing legal support for development & product strategy, commercial, patient supply, corporate compliance, and corporate communications. In that role, the AGC anticipates and identifies legal risks and develops and advances strategies to mitigate those risks; provides timely and expert counsel to the assigned functions to help ensure compliance with existing and anticipated legal obligations; identifies opportunities under the law that help drive innovation and support the company’s achievement of its mission and goals and serves as a thought-partner with the assigned functions and areas.

 

Primary Responsibilities:

The AGC will be responsible for providing direct legal support for the following Spark functions and areas:

• Contracts Processes & Procurement
• Human Resources
• Information Technology
• Strategy
• Finance
• Litigation in the assigned areas
• Roche engagement in assigned areas
• Third-party agreements arising from assigned functions and issues

The AGC will also be responsible for providing oversight for the following Spark functions and areas directly supported by other attorneys:

• Development & Product Strategy
• Commercial
• Corporate Compliance
• Patient Supply
• Corporate Communications

 

The AGC leads professional legal staff supporting the assigned functions, ensuring that work is prioritized and handled in an efficient and expert way consistent with the high standards set by the Company as reflected in its Mission and Code of Conduct and Business Ethics and supportive of achievement of the company’s goals.

• Collaborates and interacts effectively with key stakeholders in the assigned functions and areas to ensure the legal group remains current on issues affecting those functions and develops strong working relationships with stakeholders.
• Represents the legal group on various committees and teams that are convened by the various supported functions and areas as may be requested by those functions and areas or by the Chief Legal Officer (CLO)..
• Collaborates with and advises Corporate Compliance on issues and matters related to the supported functions and areas in furtherance of the company’s compliance programs.
• The AGC is a member of the CLO’s leadership team and advises the CLO and other members of the leadership team on developments in the supported functions and areas, apprises and advises the CLO on emerging legal issues and risks in those functions and areas, collaborates with the CLO and the leadership team on strategies that mitigate legal risks that are companywide, and assists the CLO in managing the legal function to ensure that it operates effectively and efficiently.
• Seeks the guidance and advice from external counsel as needed on novel, emerging or complex legal issues and manage external counsel to ensure that such guidance and advice is provided effectively and efficiently.
• The AGC works with the CLO and other members of the CLO’s leadership team in evaluating the performance and meeting company cost expectations of external counsel.
• Leads or assists in the development of Spark internal and external policies and positions related to the assigned functions and areas.
• Leads and develops members of the AGC’s team to ensure that each of them works effectively and receives professional development and timely feedback and coaching.

 

Additional Responsibilities Include:

Manage lawyers and other legal professionals (internal and external) supporting the assigned functions and departments to achieve business goals and objectives:

• Foster Spark’s Culture.  Role model the Spark Values. Create an environment where team members thrive by living our truths, always in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Emphasize to employees that “how” they achieve performance objectives i