General Counsel

IAVI is seeking an exceptional General Counsel who will serve as the Chief Lawyer of IAVI and the organization’s legal representative. The successful candidate will provide legal advice to senior management, board members, and staff on various legal matters that pertain to remaining compliant with current laws on a global basis.

This position is responsible for all legal matters including corporate governance, corporate matters, intellectual property, compliance, employment law, litigation, regulatory, and privacy.

Key Responsibilities:

Leaderships of legal matters related to IAVI operations:

Provide sound legal advice in all legal matters pertaining to IAVI’s operations on its legal rights and obligations, based on existing and new laws.

Develop functional plans for managing legal matters, including activities to be performed in-house or through third-party providers.

Enforce claims IAVI may have against third party, as appropriate, and defend IAVI against third party claims and litigation.

Partner with human resources on employment law matters both in the US and globally, engaging with local counsel as necessary.

Provide advice on structuring business activities that optimizes business objectives while minimizing risks and ensures compliance with the applicable laws

Draft, review, and negotiate a wide variety of agreements including confidentiality, partnership or contract, license, and other intellectual-property-related matters with domestic and international parties including funders, partners, vendors and users ranging from global biotech companies to healthcare organizations, research and clinical sites, landlords, subcontractors, foundations, and government agencies.

Develop annual risk management plan

Corporate Governance and Secretary of IAVI Board of Directors:

Preserve corporate records.

Manage and oversee governance of all IAVI legal entities and create new entities, as appropriate.

Handle statutory filings, such as licensing forms and annual state filings.

Coordinate board of director meetings and acts as the corporate secretary preparing meeting minutes and maintaining appropriate corporate records.

Compliance and code of conduct:

Provide leadership and technical guidance to ensure an effective global ethics and compliance program. Oversee the development of programs to prevent and detect violations of laws, company policies, and other misconduct; promote ethical practices; and ensure the implementation of the compliance program, including compliance with funder requirements, throughout the organization.

Proactively address rapidly evolving regulatory and governance compliance environment including changes in laws and regulations, regulatory focus areas, and industry best practices.

Intellectual Property:

Articulate and execute IAVI’s IP strategy.

Responsible for the organization’s intellectual property affairs, including, litigation, licensing and other complex business transactions, patent drafting, prosecution and enforcement, publication review, due diligence, and opinion work.

Lead an annual IP portfolio review

Team Leadership:

Manage a legal team including ability to attract, motivate, mentor and retain key talent.

Manage a network of outside law firms which may support complex intellectual property matters, litigation, and employment and labor relations issues requiring outside counsel.

Education and Work Experience:

JD from an accredited law school is required.

Admission to the NY Bar is required.

15+ years of relevant experience is required.

General corporate legal or regulatory experience in biotechnology and/or pharmaceutical industries is required.

Qualifications and Skills:

Solid knowledge of statutes, rules and regulations applicable to the operations of an international nonprofit is required.

Ability to provide timely and sound legal advice based on business sensitivities and confidentiality is required.

Experience with corporate governance issues and corporate secretarial duties are required.

Ability to research laws and industry standards, trends, and technologies, and prepare corporate policies and practices is required.

Ability to work across departments and take leadership in the implementation of policies and procedures is required.

Excellent track record of being an effective leader and manager in directing legal activities is required.

Ability to work effectively with Senior Leadership and Board of Directors is required.

Demonstrated experience in commercial legal analysis and compliance, including effectively managing multiple projects/priorities is required.

Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to build and maintain positive work relationships with staff at all levels across the organization and relevant stakeholder are required.

Excellent communicator with business acumen and the ability to consistently meet or exceed project deadlines are required.

Experience working in a global organization is required.

Solid experience in intellectual property rights, including litigation experience is highly desirable.

Experience with FDA and healthcare regulatory and compliance is desirable.

Knowledge of 2 CFR 200 and FAR is desirable.

Organizational Overview:

IAVI is a nonprofit scientific research organization dedicated to addressing urgent, unmet global health challenges including HIV and tuberculosis. Our mission is to translate scientific discoveries into affordable, globally accessible public health solutions. Through scientific and clinical research in Africa, India, Europe, and the U.S., IAVI is pioneering the development of biomedical innovations designed for broad global access. We develop vaccines and antibodies in and for the developing world and seek to accelerate their introduction in low-income countries. IAVI programs and partnerships are grounded in the regions of the world where the disease burden is the greatest, and our approach emphasizes sustainability. Our network of clinical research center partners in Africa and India helps strengthen in-country research capacity and supports the training and education of the next generation of scientists. The global impact of our science includes fundamental contributions to understanding the biology of HIV infection, which IAVI and others are applying toward advancing vaccine science and immunology. IAVI accelerates scientific discovery and development by fostering unique collaborations among academia, industry, local communities, governments, and funders to explore new and better ways to address public health threats that disproportionately affect people living in poverty. Our global reach, including a clinical research network in five countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in India, has allowed us to make fundamental contributions to understanding the epidemiology, transmission, virology, and immunology of HIV. This work played a key role in facilitating the design of promising HIV vaccine candidates, as well as the discovery of broadly neutralizing antibodies that are now being advanced as promising approaches for HIV prevention. Our integrated capabilities in vaccine and antibody discovery, development, and clinical research take advantage of bio-pharmaceutical industry expertise to accelerate the development and testing of prevention methods for HIV and other diseases. Through the Product Development Center, we support external researchers with technical and scientific expertise to accelerate the development of their own products.

IAVI CORE VALUES:

Dedication to the Mission: We are committed to the translation of scientific discoveries into affordable, globally accessible public health solutions.

Innovative Evolution: We are committed to solving complex problems in creative and innovative ways, learning from our mistakes and successes and never giving up

Integrity: We are committed to meeting the highest ethical and professional standards in everything we do and to taking responsibility for our actions to earn respect

Collaboration: We are committed to embracing diversity, the power of global teamwork and the belief that by working as one we can make a difference

Disclaimer: Nothing in this job description restricts management's right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time. The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by individuals assigned to this position. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities and skills required of personnel so classified. This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise, other than an “at-will” relationship. IAVI is an equal opportunity employer and applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

IAVI IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER actively committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive global organization. IAVI believes that diversity and inclusion among our teammates is critical, and we seek to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people from a representative candidate pool. At IAVI, we celebrate the spectrum of colleagues’ experiences and believe that dedication to our mission above all is essential to our success as a scientific global non-profit. IAVI upholds these principles through IAVI’s Global Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

IAVI has zero tolerance for discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, caste, national origin, home language, ancestry, religion, marital or civil partnership status, age, physical or mental disability, HIV status and any other medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and veteran status, in addition to any other status protected under the law in any of our locations worldwide.