Counsel, Global Product Development

At Bristol Myers Squibb, our employees often ask, “Who are you working for?”—a question that fuels collaboration, accountability, and urgency in our work. Our purpose-driven culture inspires us to discover, develop, and deliver innovative medicines to prevail over serious diseases. We offer uniquely interesting and meaningful work, opportunities for growth, and a supportive environment that values inclusion, wellbeing, flexibility, and comprehensive benefits.

This is work that transforms the lives of patients, and the careers of those who do it.

The Counsel, Global Product Development provides strategic, regulatory, and transactional counsel across the Company’s pharmaceutical and biologics product development and clinical supply activities. This attorney will support some of the Company’s most significant transactions, including complex, high-value alliance and  collaboration agreements.

Decisions about product development strategy and how to turn a newly discovered molecule into a manufacturable, testable, regulatory-approvable medicine, sit at the center of how BMS delivers medicines to patients, and this attorney will be a trusted partner to senior business leaders as those decisions are made.

The role sits within the Product Development & Supply (PDS) Law team, a collaborative and dynamic group within the Global Drug Development, Manufacturing & Corporate Transactions (GDMCT) legal team at BMS. The PDS Law team provides comprehensive legal support for internal and external manufacturing operations, product development, supply chain, human rights, customs and trade, engineering, real estate, and EOHSS.

The broader GDMCT legal team also supports Drug Development, Global Quality, and transactional support across the enterprise. This attorney will work alongside colleagues with deep subject matter expertise across manufacturing, quality, regulatory, and transactional practices, on work that is directly connected to the delivery of medicines to patients.

The successful candidate brings excellent legal judgment, strong business development and transactional skill, and the ability to translate complex legal issues into clear, practical advice for senior executives, always prioritizing the urgent needs of patients.

Serve as the lead legal advisor to Global Product Development, counseling senior executives on business strategies and complex and high-value transactions across the pharmaceutical and biologics pipeline.

Negotiate, structure, and draft material development and supply transactions, including contract manufacturing (CMO/CDMO), that enable PD's internal sites and external manufacturing partners.

Support legal due diligence on business development opportunities and support the manufacturing, operations, and supply aspects of BMS M&A and BD deals, including asset integration into the PD network.

Draft and negotiate secondary agreements arising out of business development deals, including assignment, manufacturing, material transfer, and bill of sale agreements.

Negotiate, structure, and draft material business transactions that drive revenue growth and operational improvements, including drug development, procurement, manufacturing, laboratory, and research agreements, and advise on enterprise-wide manufacturing strategy.

Collaborate cross-functionally to identify potential risks and establish mitigation strategies, including guiding the PDS team through alliance-related issues.

Partner with IP colleagues to protect and leverage PD's innovations.

Lead process optimization and integration initiatives, including intellectual property strategy, asset integrations, and the streamlining of transactional legal support across the enterprise.

Collaborate across the Law & Policy Department and with business clients and colleagues to deliver coordinated, comprehensive legal advice.

Qualifications

• JD (or equivalent) and admission in good standing to at least one U.S. state bar; qualified, or able to become qualified, to practice in-house in New Jersey.
• 6 or more years of legal experience across law firm, in-house, and/or government roles, including experience in the pharmaceutical or life sciences industry.
• Experience drafting and negotiating complex product development and commercial agreements relevant to product development and supply (e.g., alliance, collaboration, licensing, and merger and acquisition agreements; drug development, procurement, manufacturing, laboratory, and research agreements) is preferred.
• Familiarity and experience with intellectual property law is preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to build strong relationships and to advise and influence senior executives on high-impact legal and business matters.
• Excellent judgment and objectivity, with strong attention to detail and the ability to navigate complex legal issues.
• Excellent verbal and written communication and collaboration skills; proactive, with the ability to independently prioritize and manage multiple projects and clients.
• Highly collaborative, with the ability to earn the trust of others, build productive internal and external relationships, and operate effectively in a multi-cultural, matrixed environment.
• Pragmatic and solutions-oriented, with a commitment to an inclusive workplace and superior personal integrity and ethics.
• We hire for skills and capabilities, not just credentials – if this role excites you, but doesn’t perfectly match your resume, we encourage you to apply anyway.