Senior Director, Corporate Law & Transactions

Position Title: Senior Director, Corporate Law & Transactions 

Department: Legal 

Reports To: Vice President, Corporate Law and Head of Transactions 

Location: South San Francisco, CA or Princeton, NJ – On-site 4 days per week (Mon to Thurs) 

Job Overview  

Kardigan is seeking an experienced Senior Director, Corporate Law & Transactions to serve as a key strategic legal leader and trusted business partner across the organization.  This is a senior-level legal and high impact role for a business-minded attorney who enjoys transactions but wants broader exposure to strategy, operations, and company building. While transactions and contracting will be a core responsibility, the successful candidate will also partner with leaders across the business on strategic initiatives, operational frameworks, alliance management, process design, and other high-impact projects that help scale the company and its legal infrastructure.   

Beyond transactional support, this position offers a unique opportunity to work directly with senior leadership on strategic initiatives and play a meaningful role in shaping how Kardigan scales its business, partnerships, and legal infrastructure.  The successful candidate will play an active role in evaluating and executing strategic initiatives, building scalable operational frameworks, and helping guide key business decisions that impact the company's partnerships, operations, and long-term success.   

This single role can be based in either Princeton, NJ or South San Francisco, CA, and reports to the Vice President, Corporate Law and Head of Transactions. 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities   

Stakeholder Management 

• Partner closely with Business Development, Technical Operations, Supply, R&D, and other key functions to provide proactive, solutions-oriented legal support on strategic initiatives, new business opportunities, and alliance management. 

• Partner with Business Development and functional leaders to help establish and evolve Kardigan's alliance management framework, including governance structures, decision-making processes, escalation pathways, and management of strategic collaborations. 

• Serve as a trusted advisor to senior leadership and a cross-functional business partner, helping shape commercial, operational, and strategic decisions while ensuring Legal is viewed as an enabler of growth rather than a point of review. 

• Partner with HR on strategic legal initiatives, including developing and implementing a comprehensive framework for contractor and contingent workforce management. 

Strategic Initiatives & Business Partnership 

• Partner with business leaders to identify and solve operational, compliance, governance, and commercial challenges as Kardigan scales. 

• Partner directly with senior leadership to evaluate and execute strategic business initiatives, helping shape decisions related to external partnerships, operational priorities, risk management, and organizational growth 

• Help build scalable policies, frameworks, and processes across the organization. 

• Lead or support cross-functional special projects involving Legal, HR, Finance, Compliance, Clinical Operations, Technical Operations, and Business Development. 

• Provide legal and strategic guidance on workforce models, consultant and contingent worker engagement, and other operational matters. 

• Assist in evaluating and implementing systems, technology, and process improvements that enhance business efficiency and reduce legal risk. 

• Serve as a trusted advisor and thought partner to senior leadership on emerging business needs and organizational priorities. 

Contract Negotiations 

• Lead the negotiation and drafting of high-value, complex strategic agreements, including collaboration agreements, alliance agreements, licensing and co-development transactions, technical agreements, supply and manufacturing agreements, service agreements, sponsored research agreements, material transfer agreements, and other commercial and strategic transactions, providing end-to-end counsel and support as needed. 

• Provide strategic counsel on structure, risk allocation, and terms to optimize business outcomes and protect company interests across a broad range of commercial and strategic relationships. 

• Provide strategic guidance on transaction structure and contract terms to optimize business outcomes while managing legal risk. 

• Develop and maintain contract templates, playbooks, and standardized contract terms. 

Risk Management & Compliance 

• Identify and mitigate legal risks in business operations and commercial relationships, with particular emphasis on strategic and general transactions, intellectual property, data protection, and regulatory considerations. 

• Update and improve contract policies and procedures. 

• Train business teams on contract policies, procedures, risk management, and other legal practices. 

Function Building 

• Help shape the future structure, processes, and operating model of Kardigan's Legal transactions function, including development of playbooks, contracting frameworks, AI-enabled workflows, and legal technology solutions. 

• Help establish metrics and reporting systems to track efficiencies and effectiveness of contracting procedures and other legal practices. 

• Manage outside legal consultants and counsels for specialized matters and overflow work, as needed 

Qualifications and Preferred Skills 

• JD degree from an accredited law school with admission to practice law. 

• A minimum of 12 years of legal experience with a mix of law firm and in-house experience at pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or medical device companies with a focus on contracts and commercial transactions, including substantial hands-on experience with clinical-development-related agreements. 

• Demonstrated ability to influence business decisions and serve as a trusted advisor to senior leaders by balancing legal, operational, and commercial considerations in a growth-stage environment. 

• Expertise in drafting and negotiating complex agreements. 

• Experience providing legal counsel for managing external business relationships and collaborations. 

• Solid understanding of intellectual property, licensing, privacy, and data protection laws as they relate to strategic agreements and life science transactions. 

• Knowledge of healthcare, FDA regulations, and other relevant laws applicable to life science business transactions, including laws and regulations impacting clinical research. 

• Demonstrated ability to connect the dots across functional areas, identifying how legal issues in one domain may impact other business operations. 

• Strong systems thinking approach to understand complex interdependencies and anticipated downstream effects of legal or business decisions. 

• Proven track record of translating complex legal concepts into practical business implications. 

• Skill in facilitating cross functional dialogue to ensure alignment between legal strategies and business objectives. 

• Experience serving as a bridge between technical, business and legal stakeholders to drive to solutions. 

• Strong organizational and planning skills, ability to manage changing priorities and workflow, and the ability to effectively advance multiple simultaneous projects. 

• Strong interpersonal and written and verbal communication skills, with an ability to communicate and collaborate with individuals at all levels inside and outside of the organization in a positive and effective manner. 

• Ability to operate in a fast-paced, rapidly growing workplace, with a keen interest in providing a consistently high level of service. 

• Able to work independently while exercising initiative and good judgment. 

• Motivated and enthusiastic, with a proactive approach to solving complete legal and business challenges. 

• Assist and support with any special projects and initiatives. 

• Perform other duties as directed by the manager.