Senior Legal Counsel - CRO

Piper Companies is seeking a Senior Legal Counsel to join a global Legal team supporting U.S. operations across commercial contracting, corporate matters, employment, compliance, privacy, and strategic business initiatives for a CRO organization. This individual will serve as a trusted legal advisor to business leaders, providing practical, risk-based guidance while supporting complex commercial transactions, regulatory matters, and strategic growth objectives. This is a hybrid opportunity based in Raleigh, NC, reporting to the Associate Director, Legal.

Responsibilities for the Senior Legal Counsel include:

·      Lead the drafting, review, and negotiation of a wide range of commercial agreements, including customer, vendor, consulting, confidentiality, and partnership contracts.

·      Provide practical legal advice across commercial, corporate, employment, privacy, compliance, and operational matters.

·      Partner with Business Development, Clinical Operations, and other internal stakeholders to identify and mitigate legal and contractual risks.

·      Support disputes, investigations, employment matters, and regulatory issues, including managing outside counsel when necessary.

·      Assist with mergers, acquisitions, strategic transactions, due diligence activities, and post-acquisition integration efforts.

·      Contribute to the development and enhancement of legal, compliance, and risk management frameworks across the organization.

·      Advise business leaders on privacy and data protection requirements across multiple jurisdictions.

Qualifications for the Senior Legal Counsel include:

·      Juris Doctor (JD) degree and active admission to practice law within a U.S. jurisdiction.

·      Approximately 10-16 years of post-qualification experience (PQE) gained through private practice, in-house legal roles, or a combination of both.

·      Strong legal background supporting the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, CRO, life sciences, or healthcare industries.

·      Experience advising multinational organizations and supporting cross-border business operations.

·      Proven ability to negotiate high-value, complex business transactions with executive-level stakeholders.

·      Strong commercial judgment with a pragmatic, solutions-oriented approach to risk management.

·      Comfortable influencing and negotiating with senior executives and key business partners.

·      Experience serving as legal counsel within a CRO, pharmaceutical, biotech, or broader life sciences organization strongly preferred.

Compensation for the Senior Legal Counsel includes:

·      Salary Range: $150,000 - $180,000

·      Comprehensive Benefits: Medical, Dental, Vision, 401(k), and applicable sick leave

Keywords: Commercial contracting, contract negotiation, legal counsel, in-house counsel, CRO, clinical research organization, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, life sciences, healthcare, corporate law, employment law, privacy law, data protection, compliance, risk management, due diligence, mergers and acquisitions, M&A, strategic transactions, acquisitions, vendor agreements, customer contracts, consulting agreements, confidentiality agreements, partnership agreements, contract drafting, contract review, contract management, commercial agreements, dispute resolution, investigations, regulatory affairs, outside counsel, multinational organizations, global operations, cross-border transactions, stakeholder management, executive communication, business development, clinical operations, legal operations, governance, commercial law, risk mitigation, legal technology, contract lifecycle management, policy development, healthcare regulations, pharmaceutical regulations, biotech regulations, corporate governance, strategic advisory, business partnering, post-qualification experience, PQE, JD, attorney, licensed attorney, legal advisor, enterprise contracting.

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This job is open for applications on 9/10/2026 and will remain open for at least 30 days from the posting date