Senior Legal Counsel

Limagrain; Chappes; Sur place; EUR 90 000 - 130 000; Plein temps

Avantages offerts par ce poste

Avantages CSE

Résumé du poste

Limagrain is seeking a Senior Legal Counsel to support Licensing and Field Seeds Research in France and internationally. You will draft and negotiate complex agreements in English and French, oversee contract lifecycle, and provide strategic legal advice to diverse teams across crops and regions.

You will also lead training on key topics, develop templates, and supervise a Junior Legal Counsel, contributing to risk mitigation and governance across Limagrain’s licensing activities.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in business or IP law with experience drafting contracts in technologies.
• Fluent in French and English in an international context (mandatory).
• Experience in life sciences or agriculture biotechnology is preferred.

Responsabilités

• Draft, review and negotiate complex agreements in English and French.
• Oversee contract lifecycle management and ensure proper implementation of contractual components.
• Provide legal analysis and advisory to internal and external stakeholders across geographies.

Connaissances

Fluent English

Fluent French

Strong interpersonal skills

Multitasking in complex environments

Formation

Master's degree in business law or intellectual property law

Outils

Contract management system

Knowledge management

Description du poste

Within the Licensing / Legal Department, part of Limagrain’s Field Seeds Research, and reporting to the Head of Licensing, you will play a key role in providing senior‑level legal support for our legal & licensing activities in France and internationally. You will contribute to securing access and use of genetic material, breeding technologies and traits, protecting Limagrain’s intangible assets, and mitigating risks associated with these activities.

Main Goal

Your main responsibilities include:

Contract drafting & negotiation

Drafting, reviewing and negotiating complex agreements in English and French, including: service agreements, NDAs, material transfer agreements, research collaboration and consortium agreements, co‑hybridization and crossing agreements, traits and technology license agreements, licenses on germplasm and more.

Contract lifecycle management

Overseeing contract execution and follow‑up, ensuring the proper implementation of all contractual components (financial, legal, germplasm management, etc.).

Legal analysis & advisory

Providing legal advice and strategic support to internal and external stakeholders: Head of Licensing, Licensing team members, Traits & Technologies departments, researchers and breeders across different crops and geographies, affiliate legal teams, cooperative farmers, and JVs.

Legal monitoring & training

Leading communication and training workshops on key legal topics relevant to the Licensing department and field crops R&D.

Drafting and reviewing legal procedures.

Tools, templates & knowledge management

Developing and updating contract templates and clauses; managing and enriching contract databases

Management

Supervise a “Junior Legal Counsel”

What we expect of you

• Master’s degree (Master 2) in business law or intellectual property law, with demonstrated experience in contract drafting in technologies, preferably in life sciences.
• Fluent in French and English, with experience in an international context (mandatory).
• Knowledge of agriculture biotechnology is preferred.
• Strong interpersonal skills in order to facilitate and enforce guidelines or legal rules and ensure compliance in good relationships with stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to multi-task, prioritize and handle multiple projects simultaneously in a complex environment.
• Excellent writing skills.
• At least 5 years’ experience in a similar position.

Your benefits and working environment

• Avantages CSE

Recruitment process

Limagrain Field Seeds, with its international multi-crop LG brand is the global Feld Seeds division of Group Limagrain. Limagrain Field Seeds covers all continents with subsidiaries in over 40 countries and sales in 77 countries. Limagrain Field Seeds supplies LG branded seeds of Maize, Wheat, Sunflower, Winter Rape and other regional crops to all farmers large or small. A strong commitment to progress through technology ensures that plant variety improvements arrive continually from 84 research sites and are adapted for maximum local performance.

Limagrain is a global company with deep local roots. Our parent company is an agricultural cooperative based in the Limagne‑Val d’Allier plain, in the heart of Central France’s Auvergne region, while we are an international seed and agri‑food group with some 9,600 employees working in 53 countries. As the 4th largest seed company in the world, we achieved sales of 2.522 billion euros in 2023-2024, with additional sales of 729 million euros from activities carried out in collaboration with our strategic partners.