Company Overview

Our client is a clinical-stage biotech applying artificial intelligence to drug discovery for rare diseases. Over 400 million people worldwide live with a rare condition, yet around 90% of those conditions still have no approved treatment. The business exists to change that, combining large-scale data, technology and deep scientific expertise to develop treatments faster and more efficiently than traditional discovery allows.

Well funded and with assets already in clinical trials, they work with academic and industry partners across the globe, with teams based in the UK, the Eastern United States and Europe. The culture is genuinely mission-led: rare disease patients sit at the centre of decision making, and the business is known for rapid innovation and calculated risk taking without compromising on scientific standards.

Diversity and inclusion sit at the heart of how they build teams. They welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, and value potential and transferable skills as highly as direct experience.

They are now looking for an experienced Legal Counsel to join them on a fully remote basis as the business moves into its next phase.

The Role

This is a hands-on, generalist in-house role covering the day-to-day operational legal activity of a growing biotech. You will work closely with teams right across the business, research, clinical, partnerships, technology, finance and operations, providing practical legal support that helps colleagues move at pace while managing risk sensibly.

The remit is deliberately broad. Alongside commercial contracting you will take on company secretarial activity, governance and compliance, and the legal side of fundraising, drawing on external counsel where it makes sense. Much of the process, guidance and templating is yours to build rather than inherit, so this suits someone who enjoys shaping how a function works rather than maintaining someone else’s system.

There is a real appetite here for tech-forward legal practice. The company wants someone curious and pragmatic about using AI-enabled tools to improve turnaround, insight and collaboration, while keeping strong independent judgement and critical thinking at the centre of the work.

The role is fully remote within the UK, with occasional travel to the Cambridge office and periodic in-person team days. You will need to be comfortable building trust and influence with colleagues you mostly meet on a screen, the teams here should come to you directly, and that relationship is yours to build.

Key Responsibilities

Commercial contracting and business partnering

• Provide day-to-day legal support to teams across the business, identifying legal risk and working with colleagues to manage it appropriately while balancing commercial priorities

• Draft, review, negotiate and execute a broad range of agreements, including NDAs, collaboration agreements, MTAs, MSAs, SSAs, work orders, and vendor and consultancy contracts

• Support strategic partnerships, including global academic and industry collaborations

• Build and maintain a contract filing and review process, so agreements can be located quickly by party, document type or date of execution

• Develop the processes, guidance, policies and templates that allow the business to move quickly without taking on unnecessary risk

• Work collaboratively across the organisation to embed good legal practice as the company scales

Company secretarial and corporate

• Manage company secretarial activities, including compliance filings and the reporting of key legal documents, leveraging external counsel as required

• Manage the legal aspects of fundraising activity, coordinating communication with external stakeholders and their legal advisers

• Own and manage the relationship with the company’s outside legal counsel

Governance, compliance and tech-forward legal

• Manage compliance activity across data protection, intellectual property, research-related requirements, HR and technology

• Adopt and embed GenAI-assisted workflows into legal processes to improve effectiveness and reduce turnaround times

What Success Looks Like in the First Six Months

• You have taken full ownership of the standard contract suite, NDAs, MTAs, MSAs and work orders, end to end, and the business comes to you first for these

• The contract filing and review process has been reshaped, so senior leaders can find any agreement by party, type or date within minutes

• Multiple GenAI-assisted workflows are embedded in contract review, with measurable impact on turnaround time

• Standard agreements run end to end without escalation, and you have a clear view of which agreement types still warrant senior input

• The research, clinical and partnerships teams come to you directly and trust your judgement on routine matters

• Statutory filings have been issued on time, and board and shareholder records are up to date

Qualifications & Experience

Essential

• Qualified lawyer, England & Wales or an equivalent jurisdiction

• Approximately 5+ years’ post-qualification experience, or equivalent

• Experience drafting and reviewing biotech and other commercial agreements

• Comfortable working across a wide range of legal topics, using external counsel where appropriate

• Experience gained within biotech or the wider life sciences sector

• A hands-on, collaborative and commercially pragmatic approach to legal work

• Curiosity about technology and AI-enabled tools, balanced with strong independent judgement

Desirable

• Previous in-house experience, and experience managing outside counsel

• Familiarity with data protection, for example UK GDPR, and with intellectual property considerations

• Exposure to CROs or clinical trials

• Legal knowledge extending beyond the UK

• Experience with Google Workspace, Slack, Confluence, DocuSign, Carta and similar tools

If you are excited by this role but do not meet every requirement, we would still encourage a conversation. Our client places real weight on potential and transferable skills.

The Offer

• Salary: £75,000 – £95,000, depending on experience

• Share options

• 7% employer pension contribution

• Life insurance at 4x base salary

• Private medical insurance

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays, with the option to purchase additional days

• Fully remote working within the UK, with occasional travel to the Cambridge office

• Home office set-up allowance, plus periodic in-person team days for company-wide collaboration

• Enhanced family leave policies, including miscarriage and fertility leave, and flexible working practices

• Personal learning and development budget, with regular career development conversations and ongoing support

• Wellbeing support through Spill and an Employee Assistance Programme

• One paid day each year to volunteer for a cause aligned with supporting rare disease patients, and regular engagement with patient groups and communities

Apply below if you believe you’re the right candidate for the opportunity.