Head of Legal Affairs (Vice President)
Senti Biosciences
Legal
South San Francisco, CA, USA
Posted on Tuesday, July 16, 2024
The Head of Legal Affairs will report to the CEO and play a key role in overseeing a broad range of legal and business matters. The ideal candidate will be looking to build on existing strengths, in one or more of these areas, to quickly develop a broad range of legal and business expertise to support a growing cancer cell therapy company.
Responsibilities
- Manage the preparation and filing of periodic and annual reports and other securities-law matters, including Securities and Exchange Commission filings on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q, Form 8-K, and proxy materials.
- Assist in the preparation and review of earnings releases, annual meetings and other relevant public announcements in collaboration with key stakeholders, including finance and investor relations functions.
- Manage general corporate governance matters, including coordinating, preparing, and distributing board/committee materials, setting meeting agendas, taking minutes, maintaining corporate records, and leading other governance related matters.
- Provide general legal and business advice to the company’s management team and the board of directors.
- Provide legal advice and support in connection with stock plans, executive compensation, subsidiary management, investor relations, shareholder outreach and other corporate matters
- Develop, recommend, implement corporate policies and compliance programs.
- Manage legal work streams in connection with financing, strategic partnerships, and BD activities, including drafting term sheets and definitive agreements and managing due diligence.
- Provide oversight of the company’s patent portfolio and IP strategy; provide counseling to management on IP related legal matters.
- Manage company’s contract review and approval processes and systems.
- Manage assignments and prioritize workload in line with the company’s objectives and departmental needs.
- Advise on the interpretation of legal documents in a manner that provides accurate guidance and practical advice while properly managing risk to the organization.
- Work across all company departments to meet business objectives.
- Manage outside counsel.
- Other special projects and duties as assigned to support the company.
Qualifications
- Active membership in good standing in at least one state bar required, CA preferred
- J.D. from a respected law school and sterling academic credentials.
- Minimum of 12 years legal experience in securities, corporate governance, corporate transactions, intellectual property and legal operations with exposure to biopharmaceutical industry and healthcare regulatory law.
- Thrive in a fast-paced environment while remaining proactive, resourceful, flexible and efficient, and maintaining high quality and ethical standards.
- Excellent analytical and contract interpretation skills, and an ability to communicate complex issues in a simple way.
- Experience with complex contract drafting and negotiations required.
- Experience managing legal work for a public company required.
- Familiarity with a wide variety of transaction types (e.g., public company, private company, stock purchase, asset purchase, cross-border, etc.).
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Ability to provide timely, practical, and actionable legal advice.
- Exceptional organizational and analytical skills, independent judgment, a desire to learn, and an ability to take on and prioritize a wide variety of complex matters.
- High emotional intelligence, capable of collaboratively influencing decision making through respectful exchange of competing ideas and perspectives.
- Self-driven to identify and solve complex and challenging problems.
Salary and Benefits
- Compensation for this role includes base salary, annual target bonus and equity.
- The base salary range for this role is $290,000-$340,000. Starting pay is determined by multiple job-related factors including a candidate’s skills, education and experience level, benchmark, and internal parity.
- Significant growth opportunity as the company expands.
- Empathetic, supportive, and collaborative colleagues and work environments