Director and Head of Legal, India

Position: Director and Head of Legal, India

Level: EG-150

Location: Mumbai, India

Overview:

This position will be primarily responsible for providing legal support to the Mumbai commercial affiliate and the Hyderabad site operation, both located in India. The role will focus on assessing, managing and explaining legal risk, ensuring compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, providing education on relevant legal matters, and responding to the legal needs of Mumbai and Hyderabad organizations in India.

This position will report to the APAC Legal Head. This position will not have direct reports. This role will be office-based in Mumbai and will require travel to Hyderabad, India.

Responsibilities:

Advise Business Operations

• Provide legal support to the day-to-day business operation managed by the Mumbai office, including commercial, R&D, medical, access, sales and marketing, and all supporting functions including finance, HR, regulatory, IT, supply chain, and others, to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, as well internal client access to clear, concise and tailored legal advice to appropriately achieve business goals.
• Provide legal advice on day-to-day Hyderabad site operational matters such as contracting, employment, privacy and other areas in law that are not related to drug development.
• Identify, manage and mitigate legal risks as well as provide support when legal issues arise.
• Keep HQ, regional and market management informed of potential liability of ongoing litigation and potential new contingency/litigation.
• Act as the Legal representative on, and proactively participate in, certain Committees led by the General Manager and/or Site lead, as applicable, and other members of the leadership team as part of the affiliates’ governance model.
• Support the defense and protection of IP rights in coordination with the global IP team.
• Lead and develop, as applicable, in close collaboration with other Law Departments around the world and at headquarters, legal guidelines and education as part of preventive initiatives and to assist in the speedy resolution of legal matters.
• Participate in initiatives focused on continuous monitoring of the external environment, including the development of relevant laws and industry codes to assist in anticipating, assessing and advising on potential impact and opportunities. Work with and participate in Trade Associations to proactively advocate in relation to their content and approval, as needed.

Ensure Proper Governance and Compliance

• Embrace BMS culture of integrity and strictly adhere to BMS principles and policies.
• Escalate issues appropriately.
• Work closely and collaborate with Compliance on the review of new initiatives and projects, as well as in the delivery of training, simplification and development of procedures impacting business activities. Partner with Compliance to ensure potential legal and compliance risks are mitigated and appropriately addressed while avoiding duplication of efforts.
• Participate as a member of the Compliance Committee. Provide constructive recommendations to continuously improve BMS’ compliance program.
• Act as legal counsel on internal investigations by working with the global Compliance & Ethics team, Employee Relations and Corporate Security, as necessary.
• Support internal and external audits and inspections and, as appropriate, support execution of audit follow-up actions.
• Help build a culture of documenting information properly, managing and sharing knowledge and learning timely and appropriately, keeping confidentiality of information.
• Promote a transparent and healthy work environment and trustworthy relationship.
• Serve as Integrity and Diversity & Inclusion model by leading through example.

Manage external counsel

• Properly leverage external legal support and manage legal spending within the budget.
• Consistently prioritize workload based on business needs and communicate prioritization.

Qualification:

• Law degree and qualification to practice law in India from an accredited University.
• An average of 15 years of professional qualified experience, preferably in life-science/pharmaceutical law.
• Working experience with multinational pharmaceutical companies preferred.
• Excellent oral and written communication in English and local languages.

Essential Skills and Abilities:

• Superior personal integrity and ethics.
• Creative, innovative thinking and solution oriented.
• Take ownership for work while extending trust and empowering others to own their work.
• Demonstrated ability to establish leadership and maintain strong collaboration and teamwork across the business and within the Law Department.
• Excellent analytical and strategic thinking skills, with attention to detail and impact on broader organization. Ability to recognize and appropriately escalate to manager and/or subject matter experts on higher risk or other issues.
• Ability to communicate complex issues clearly, verbally and in writing, anticipating the expected level of detail and preparing for potential follow-up questions.
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple projects under deadline pressure.
• Hands-on and team player. Ability to integrate, influence and collaborate with others to support speedy and appropriate decision-making.