Head of Legal, China

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Job Description

About the role:

The Head Counsel, China serves as the senior legal leader and strategic advisor for the company’s operations across mainland China, with broader oversight of the Greater China region. This role has full accountability for all legal matters in China, operating in one of the company’s most complex and highly regulated markets, while ensuring consistent and high-quality legal support. 

As a member of both the China Leadership Team and the International Legal Leadership Team, the Head Counsel shapes and delivers the legal strategy for China, ensures alignment with global priorities, and contributes to broader enterprise decision-making. 

The role operates in a player-coach model. In addition to leading and developing the China legal team, the Head Counsel remains closely involved in day-to-day legal matters, including direct support to key client groups and strategic initiatives. 

The Head Counsel, China will lead a high performing team to protect the company’s interests, navigate complex regulatory and enforcement environments, and enable growth across business units. This includes balancing sound risk management with a pragmatic, business-oriented approach in a fast-evolving external landscape. 

This is a high visibility, executive level role requiring strong judgment, cultural fluency, and the ability to operate effectively at the intersection of local market realities and global corporate expectations. 

How you will contribute:

• Act as a core member of the China Leadership Team and the International Legal Leadership Team, providing executive-level counsel on all legal matters. 

• Provides commercially grounded, strategic legal guidance that strengthens decision‑making and business impact. 

• Drives high‑quality outcomes with urgency, ownership, and a focus on delivering what matters most. 

• Anticipates, assesses, and manages risks responsibly to protect the organization while enabling innovation. 

• Adapts quickly, simplifies complexity, and leverages digital tools to accelerate efficiency and effectiveness. 

• Communicates clearly and concisely to align stakeholders and support sound decision‑making. 

• Champions improvement, leads through change with resilience, and fosters a culture of growth and innovation. 

• Partner tightly with the Ethics & Compliance function to cultivate an organizational culture of unyielding integrity and robust internal audit readiness. 

• Collaborate with Global Intellectual Property teams to build robust defenses for the company’s patent portfolio, data exclusivity rights, and drug formulations within China’s specialized IP courts. 

• Manage local litigation, labor disputes, and product liability challenges via efficient deployment of external counsel panels. 

• Lead, mentor, and build a world-class in-house legal team, fostering an inclusive, high-performance workspace. 

• Modernize internal department workflows using legal-tech toolsets to automate low-complexity transactional tasks and focus human capital on strategic risk advisory. 

Preferred Qualifications:

• 12+ years of post-qualification experience (PQE), with at least 6–8 years operating within an in-house leadership capacity inside a Multinational Pharma, Biotech, or Healthcare organization. 

• Regulatory Fluency: Deep, proven expertise in China's complex healthcare regulations, anti-bribery/anti-corruption frameworks  and cross-border data transfer structures. 

• Languages: Native fluency in Mandarin Chinese along with flawless, executive-level written and spoken English. 

• Key Competencies: Exceptional stakeholder management capabilities in highly matrixed environments, robust emotional intelligence, commercial acumen, and the composure required to manage high-stakes government interactions. 

Locations

Shanghai, China

Worker Type

Employee

Worker Sub-Type

Regular

Time Type

Full time