Attorney (Biotechnology - Contracts, Legal Affairs)

NextCure Inc•Beltsville, MD

3d•Onsite

About The Position

NextCure seeks a highly motivated, self-starter, and versatile Attorney to join the office of the General Counsel. The ideal candidate will hold biotechnology or similar industry experience. The Attorney will perform a broad range of legal work, including drafting, negotiating a wide variety of contracts, and managing the workflow of the contracting process. This position will report directly to the Senior Vice President & General Counsel and will support key initiatives which are critical to the successful development and implementation of global growth strategies. This is an impactful position with significant cross-functional team interactions with the Development, Research, Clinical, and Business functional units to drive project completion. We seek an individual who thrives in a high-volume, fast-paced, high-performing, and collaborative corporate environment, who excels at, enjoys client service, and takes pride in owning and producing high-quality work products and independently managing their workload.

Requirements

J.D. from an ABA accredited law school with admission to practice law in at least one US jurisdiction
3 years of relevant experience negotiating and drafting agreements within a large law firm or in-house legal department preferred
Prior experience in a technical or scientific corporate environment, such as a biotechnology company, pharmaceutical company, life sciences firm, healthcare, or laboratory environment
Knowledge of legal and regulatory environments as it relates to the diagnostic and pharmaceutical biotechnology industries, global exposure desired
Comprehensive knowledge and demonstrated experience in contracting processes, lifecycle, and administration
Ability to work on-site in Beltsville, Maryland within a commutable distance to company headquarters

Nice To Haves

A flexible and adaptive self-starter with motivation and ability to take initiative
Ability to tactfully but successfully engage colleagues to embrace contracting process
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills and be able to multi-task and prioritize
Ability to prioritize and manage multiple tight deadlines in a fast-paced business environment
Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to successfully manage internal client expectations while working/operating effectively with a variety of personalities and capabilities in a cross-functional matrix environment
Creative, thoughtful, and practical problem-solving skills
Must have high integrity, ability to assess risk, ability to make decisions and think strategically while applying knowledge of applicable legal issues
Ability to provide practical, timely, and risk-appropriate legal counsel to a wide variety of internal clients and interact effectively with employees at all levels of the organization
Proficiency utilizing and managing contract management software

Responsibilities

Draft, review, and revise contracts and advise on contracts and other transactional agreements, including, supply and manufacturing agreements, services agreements, consulting agreements, sponsor research agreements, clinical trial agreements, data privacy agreements, collaborations, material transfer agreements, nondisclosure agreements, and other business documents
Advise the business on contract interpretation, terms, issues, risks and negotiating strategies, protecting confidential and privileged information, and protecting company IP and other assets
Provide accurate and timely counsel to the different internal business units and executives on a variety of legal topics (business law, contracts law, corporate compliance, privacy laws, etc.)
Assist in improving and maintaining contract workflows, document management databases, and document retention procedures for contracts and other company records
Keep business units and any other involved properly and timely informed of the progress and status of the contracts assigned to you
Keep proper track of the negotiations in the contract management and repository systems, and assist the division in the signature process, uploading, filing and maintenance of updated records in both systems
Draft Memorandums, e-mails, letters, and other documents to ensure clarification on legal language or specifications
Maintain current knowledge of changes in business law, contracts legislation and other regulations
Conduct your work with the highest degree of confidentiality, integrity, responsibility, and excellence in client service
Other duties as assigned