Associate Director - Legal & Compliance

Associate Director – Legal & Compliance

South East England | Hybrid Working

If the following job requirements and experience match your skills, please ensure you apply promptly.

Walker Cole International is supporting a leading pharmaceutical organisation in the recruitment of an Associate Director – Legal & Compliance. This is a high-impact, senior in-house role within a fast-paced UK pharma environment, offering broad exposure across commercial, regulatory, and governance matters.

The Role

As a key member of a lean UK legal function, you will act as a trusted senior legal adviser to the business, delivering pragmatic, risk-based legal support while enabling commercial growth. You’ll operate closely with leadership teams and global stakeholders, providing hands-on legal leadership across a broad remit.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as senior legal counsel to UK business units, delivering commercially focused, pragmatic advice
• Lead drafting, review, and negotiation of complex commercial agreements, including supply, services, consultancy/HCP, PV, and strategic collaboration agreements
• Provide expert guidance on UK pharmaceutical regulation, including ABPI Code, PMCPA matters, and GxP frameworks
• Oversee legal risk management, governance, and policy implementation
• Advise on data protection and privacy matters, including GDPR, DPIAs, and data breach management
• Partner closely with Compliance, Medical, Commercial, and Regulatory teams
• Lead legal training initiatives across contracts, compliance, and data protection
• Manage external counsel and ensure efficient use of legal spend
• Contribute to legal process improvement within a high-growth, xwzovoh dynamic environment

Experience Required

• Qualified lawyer (England & Wales or equivalent)
• Typically 8–12 years’ PQE
• Strong experience within pharmaceuticals or life sciences (essential)
• In-depth knowledge of UK healthcare and medicines regulation
• Proven experience advising on complex commercial contracts
• Comfortable operating at senior stakeholder level in a fast-moving business
• Strong commercial judgement with a pragmatic, solutions-led approach