Legal Counsel (12-Month Contract)

Posted 5 Days Ago
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Montréal, QC, CAN
Hybrid
Mid level
Healthtech • Pharmaceutical
The Role
Provides strategic commercial legal counsel to AbbVie Canada across marketing, medical affairs, trade, market access, compliance, promotion, patient support, payer access, collaborations, and corporate matters. Drafts and negotiates commercial agreements, advises senior stakeholders on Canadian law, manages outside counsel and legal budgets, supports global legal projects, and mentors junior attorneys. The role requires independent judgment, cross-functional leadership, and the ability to navigate complex regulated-industry issues.
Summary Generated by Built In
Company Description

About AbbVie

AbbVie's mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines and solutions that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on people's lives across several key therapeutic areas including immunology, oncology and neuroscience - and products and services in our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.com. Follow @abbvie on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.

Job Description

Joining AbbVie means you will be part of a team of outstanding professionals dedicated to making a remarkable impact on patients' lives. At AbbVie, we conduct ground-breaking science on a global scale every day. AbbVie Canada is one of the Best Workplaces in Canada.

AbbVie’s mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on people’s lives across several key therapeutic areas: immunology, oncology, neuroscience, eye care, virology, women’s health and gastroenterology, in addition to products and services across Allergan Aesthetics portfolio.

When choosing your career path, choose to be remarkable.

We have a new opportunity for an experienced Legal Counsel  to join our new and dynamic Legal Affairs team. Based in Montreal, this role reports to the Head of Legal for AbbVie Canada.  

As Legal Counsel, you will provide strategic commercial legal advice and strong counsel to support AbbVie’s core businesses and enterprise-wide initiatives.  The successful candidate will be expected to rapidly gain knowledge of our industry and business and be a true business leader capable of managing priorities, providing strategic advice, and finding innovative legal solutions to a wide range of complex Canadian matters and global projects. To ensure success, you will need to be confident in managing issues and display strong communication and leadership skills, with the ability to navigate legal and regulatory complexities. 

 Key responsibilities

  • Serve as the lead counsel in defined strategic priority areas and key brand teams, providing expert substantive advice and risk-based solutions to Marketing, Medical Affairs, Trade and Market access concerning a broad range of complex to highly complex legal, regulatory and compliance issues.  
  • Provide clear advice to senior business clients and executive management on Canadian laws and regulations focusing on areas of promotion, patient support, payer access, go-to-market strategies and collaborations. 
  • Develop proactive leadership offering business oriented, efficient, flexible and long-term solutions for core strategic business challenges, anticipating hurdles and evaluating the broader business impact of proposed ways forward.  
  • Draft, review and negotiate a wide range of agreements such as complex trade and commercial agreements, master service agreements, pharmacy agreements, and other corporate agreements. 
  • Support executive matters delegated by the Head of Legal and drive workstreams within the Global Legal therapeutics team on strategic matters or projects in novel areas of law or business transactions.    
  • Adopt a problem-solving approach, proactive leadership skills and sound risk perspective to find legal solutions to a wide range of matters. Advise and resolve multi-faceted legal matters in practice area without supervision. 
  • Provide growth & development opportunities by coaching and training more junior attorneys via AbbVie mentorship programs or through project collaboration.  
  • To the extent that complex problems or specific technical expertise is required, select and direct the work of outside counsel, define and manage project objectives and budget.   
  • Find solutions and unlock opportunities for business clients consistent with the law, policies/procedures, and AbbVie’s Code of Conduct. 

Key leadership competencies: 

  • Highly motivated and enthusiastic individual, with cultural sensitivity to working in a diverse and inclusive multi-national company. Strong communication and influencing skills.  
  • Demonstrated ability to work effectively in cross-functional teams and build strong relationships with senior or executive stakeholders. 
  • Work independently and prioritize key business priorities. Use good judgment, deliver initiatives on time, be agile and proactive.  
  • Learn about our business quickly and extensively, grasp the “essence” of matters or issues and understand facets and impact of decision-making. 
  • Demonstrate ability to be versatile and driven, while maintaining effectiveness and efficiency in a matrixed work environment.  
  • High ethical standards and integrity, acting as a role model and legal business leader within the organization. 

Qualifications

Education / Experience required: 

  • Law degree from a recognized university.  
  • Licensed to practice law in Canada, preferably in Quebec. 
  • Minimum of 3-5 years of relevant legal experience, preferably in the pharmaceutical or other highly regulated industry.   
  • General understanding / experience in competition law, general corporate and criminal/anti-bribery law, privacy, intellectual property and regulatory compliance.  
  • Solid knowledge of market access and relevant Canadian legal landscape.  
  • Ability to manage multiple issues and files across different departments.

Essential skills and abilities: 

  • Advanced French and English language proficiency (oral and written).  English skills are required for communication with stakeholders outside of Quebec and with global senior leadership.  

Additional Information

AbbVie is an equal opportunity employer and encourages women, Aboriginal people, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities to apply.

AbbVie is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to operating with integrity, driving innovation, transforming lives and serving our community.  Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled. 

US & Puerto Rico only - to learn more, visit https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/equal-employment-opportunity-employer.html

US & Puerto Rico applicants seeking a reasonable accommodation, click here to learn more:

https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/reasonable-accommodations.html

Skills Required

  • Law degree from a recognized university
  • Licensed to practice law in Canada
  • Licensed to practice law in Quebec
  • 3-5 years of relevant legal experience
  • Legal experience in the pharmaceutical or another highly regulated industry
  • General understanding or experience in competition law, corporate law, criminal and anti-bribery law, privacy, intellectual property, and regulatory compliance
  • Knowledge of market access and the relevant Canadian legal landscape
  • Ability to manage multiple legal issues and files across departments
  • Advanced oral and written French proficiency
  • Advanced oral and written English proficiency

AbbVie Compensation & Benefits Highlights

The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about AbbVie and has not been reviewed or approved by AbbVie.

  • Retirement Support Retirement programs are portrayed as a standout, with a dollar‑for‑dollar 401(k) match up to 6% and an additional annual company contribution based on age and service. Feedback suggests this materially boosts perceived total compensation for many U.S. employees.
  • Parental & Family Support Paid parental and caregiver leave are emphasized, including up to 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave for all parents and 4 weeks of paid caregiver leave in the U.S. Feedback suggests these policies are a meaningful differentiator for employees balancing family needs.
  • Leave & Time Off Breadth Time off is described as extensive, with tiered vacation that scales with tenure, 17 company holidays, and two paid volunteer days in the U.S. Feedback suggests the breadth of leave contributes notably to overall benefits satisfaction.

AbbVie Insights

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The Company
HQ: North Chicago, IL
50,000 Employees
Year Founded: 2013

What We Do

AbbVie is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on creating medicines and solutions that put impact first — for patients, communities, and our world. We aim to address complex health issues and enhance people's lives through our core therapeutic areas: immunology, oncology, neuroscience, eye care, aesthetics and other areas of unmet need.

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