Senior Legal Leader, UK & Ireland – Pharma

UCB; Brussel; Hybrid; EUR 108,000 - 156,000; Full time

Job summary

UCB is seeking a Senior Legal Council UK & Ireland to provide strategic legal leadership across the UK and Ireland, guiding strategy from development through commercialization and lifecycle management. You will serve as a trusted partner to cross-functional teams, ensuring compliant local execution of global strategies while managing risk and enabling growth.

You will collaborate with regional and global teams, lead complex agreements, and coach legal professionals in a high-performing

Qualifications

• Qualified lawyer with a law degree and admission to practice in a relevant jurisdiction.
• Significant experience in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, healthcare, or life sciences legal environments.
• Experience supporting global or regional product assets, including launches and lifecycle management.
• Strong knowledge of medical, regulatory, commercial and compliance considerations within the healthcare sector.
• Demonstrated success in complex, matrixed, international organizations.

Responsibilities

• Provide clear, practical, and business-focused legal advice to senior leaders and governance bodies on key strategic decisions.
• Drive alignment of legal positions, risk assessments, and decision-making frameworks across teams.
• Partner with cross-functional stakeholders to support compliant patient engagement, medical, regulatory, commercial, and market access activities.
• Anticipate, assess, and mitigate legal, compliance, and reputational risks while enabling innovation and business growth.
• Support launch readiness, pricing, reimbursement, commercialization, and stakeholder engagement activities across the United Kingdom and Ireland.
• Lead legal support for complex agreements, investigations, disputes, and external counsel management.
• Coordinate legal input for innovative digital, data-driven, and patient-focused initiatives.
• Develop and coach legal professionals while fostering an inclusive, collaborative, and high-performing team culture.
• Build strong partnerships across regions to ensure consistent legal guidance and effective local implementation.

Skills

Stakeholder influence

Strategic thinking

Communication excellence

Collaboration

Problem solving

Education

Law degree

Bar admission or equivalent

Job description

UCB is seeking a Senior Legal Council UK & Ireland to provide strategic legal leadership across the UK and Ireland, guiding strategy from development through commercialization and lifecycle management. You will serve as a trusted partner to cross-functional teams, ensuring compliant local execution of global strategies while managing risk and enabling growth.

You will collaborate with regional and global teams, lead complex agreements, and coach legal professionals in a high-performing