Senior Legal Counsel – Strategic Partnering

About the role

Novartis is seeking a Senior Legal Counsel to lead strategic partnering activities in Barcelona. The role will support high‑impact M&A, licensing and transformation projects across the global operations network, ensuring legal excellence from deal structuring to post‑closing.

Key responsibilities

• Provide strategic legal advice on mergers and acquisitions, licensing and transformation initiatives.
• Lead drafting, review and negotiation of complex commercial and transactional agreements.
• Manage the end‑to‑end deal lifecycle, including due diligence, execution and post‑closing activities.
• Partner with global business teams to identify risks and deliver pragmatic legal solutions.
• Act as legal lead on business development, acquisitions, divestments and licensing transactions.
• Oversee external counsel, manage legal spend and ensure quality outcomes.
• Support the development of legal processes, guidelines and training across the operations network.

Required profile

• Qualified lawyer with significant post‑qualification experience in corporate and commercial law.
• Proven experience handling complex transactions in the pharmaceutical or healthcare sector or at leading law firms.
• Strong expertise in M&A, licensing and complex commercial contracts.
• Demonstrated ability to lead negotiations and manage multiple legal projects independently.
• Ability to manage high workload, prioritize competing deadlines and deliver under pressure.
• Experience leading transformation or outsourcing legal projects.
• Excellent stakeholder management and collaboration across cross‑functional global teams.
• Fluent written and spoken English.

Required skills

What we offer

• Competitive annual base salary ranging from €83,700 to €155,500.
• Performance‑based bonus opportunity.
• Opportunity to work on high‑impact, global transactions in a leading pharmaceutical company.
• Professional development and training within a collaborative international environment.