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Job DescriptionAbout 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.
Skills Required
- 12+ years of post-qualification legal experience
- 6–8 years in an in-house leadership role within a multinational pharmaceutical, biotech, or healthcare organization
- Deep expertise in China's healthcare regulations
- Expertise in anti-bribery and anti-corruption frameworks
- Expertise in cross-border data transfer structures
- Native Mandarin Chinese fluency
- Executive-level written and spoken English fluency
- Exceptional stakeholder management in highly matrixed environments
- Strong emotional intelligence and commercial acumen
- Ability to manage high-stakes government interactions
Takeda Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Takeda and has not been reviewed or approved by Takeda.
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Retirement Support — Employer-funded retirement is described as notably strong, combining a dollar-for-dollar 401(k) match with an additional company contribution that scales with age and service. Access to an employee stock purchase plan further supports long-term wealth building.
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Parental & Family Support — Paid bonding leave for all parents, substantial adoption/surrogacy reimbursement, and robust caregiver resources (backup care and Maven family-forming support) are emphasized as core strengths. These offerings create a comprehensive safety net for a range of family situations.
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Healthcare Strength — Multiple medical plan options (nationwide PPO/HSA and regional HMOs), employer HSA funding, and integrated mental-health and well-being programs signal depth in coverage. Preventive care is covered in-network, and plan choices by state expand access.
Takeda Insights
What We Do
For over 240 years, Takeda’s propensity to evolve has driven the next generation of innovation, and as a future-focused organization, we’re continuing to drive forward with endurance in our steadfast pursuit to achieve the best outcomes for our patients in a rapidly changing world. We have been preparing for this period of value creation by investing in data, digital and technology, and we’re proud of our employees and their commitment to turning groundbreaking ideas into life-changing impacts. Since our founding in Japan, integrity and putting patients first have been at the heart of our identity, and we will emerge ready for our future as one of the most trusted and science-driven digital biopharmaceutical companies. Join a team where your innovation impacts lives. Together, we’ll realize improved outcomes by improving data quality, enhancing launch execution and improving the patient journey. You’ll play a critical role in accelerating data collection and increasing accuracy across all parts of the business. Patients across the globe will benefit from access to treatments afforded by greater opportunities and efficiency in our research and development.
Why Work With Us
We connect to our history and Japanese heritage through everything we do to bring our purpose, values, vision, and imperatives to life. We are committed to bringing better health and a brighter future to patients. Being a part of Takeda means having the opportunity to be a part of something bigger than yourself.
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