Legal Counsel - JAPAC

Clinigen Group; Shah Alam; On-site; MYR 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Clinigen Group is seeking a qualified lawyer to provide high-quality, timely legal support for the JAPAC region. You will draft, review and negotiate a broad range of commercial contracts with suppliers and customers, engaging stakeholders early to shape deal terms and enable business objectives.

The role requires 4–6 years PQE, strong contract drafting and negotiation skills, and the ability to balance legal protections with practical business needs.

Qualifications

• Law degree with admission as a solicitor or equivalent in relevant jurisdictions.
• 4–6 years post-qualification experience, ideally in both law firm and in-house settings.
• Strong contract drafting, negotiation and risk assessment capabilities.
• Experience bridging legal requirements with business needs and customer expectations.
• Knowledge of pharmaceutical industry is advantageous but not required.
• Awareness of compliance issues (anti-bribery, data privacy) preferred but not essential.
• Proven influencing and negotiation skills with strong communication abilities.
• Structured, proactive, and able to manage multiple deadlines.

Responsibilities

• Provide high quality, timely legal support aligned with business strategy.
• Draft, review and negotiate commercial contracts across JAPAC regions.
• Engage stakeholders early to shape deal terms and avoid gatekeeping.
• Deliver training and guidance to internal teams to build compliance capability.
• Support regional JAPAC projects and improve contracting processes.

Skills

Legal advisory

Contract drafting

Contract negotiation

Stakeholder management

Regulatory compliance

Communication skills

Risk assessment

Attention to detail

Education

Law degree

Job description

• To provide high quality, timely and commercially focused legal support to the business in line with company strategy and departmental objectives Engage early with business stakeholders (BD, Commercial, Operations) to understand deal objectives before reviewing terms, so legal input shapes deals rather than only gatekeeping them at the end
• Draft, review and negotiate a broad range of commercial contracts with suppliers and customers across the Clinical Trial Supplies/Clinical Supplies Management, managed access programs, unlicensed and commercial medicines, Clinigen Lifecycle Services business areas in JAPAC
• Proactively propose commercially viable alternatives when standard positions cannot be met, rather than simply declining requests. Provide legal training to internal stakeholders to build capability and foster a culture of compliance
• Support JAPAC regional projects
• Enhance the JAPAC Legal portal to improve access to templates and guidance materials
• Create and roll out self-help tools, checklists and FAQs to empower business teams
• Identify and implement opportunities to improve efficiency in contracting processes and knowledge management, and champion a 'find a way' culture within the contracting process, minimizing unnecessary escalation or rejection of reasonable commercial requests.
• To act with the highest integrity at all times and in line with the Clinigen Code of Conduct, Clinigen’s values and culture and the Legal team’s best in class service approach
• To ensure compliance with all applicable law and best practice in the jurisdictions where Clinigen operates in the JAPAC region
• Solicit and act on feedback from business stakeholders regarding responsiveness and practicality of legal support, using this to continuously refine service delivery.

Additional Duties:

The list of duties is not intended to be exhaustive, but gives a general indication of the tasks involved. It is the nature of the company that tasks and responsibilities are, in many circumstances, unpredictable and varied. All employees are, therefore, expected to work in a flexible way when the occasion arises and acknowledge that tasks not specifically covered in their job description are not excluded.

Requirements

• Law degree with admission as a solicitor in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and/or England and Wales
• 4-6 years’ post qualification experience, ideally gained in both a reputable law firm and an inhouse environment
• Strong knowledge of contract law and contract drafting, and ability to bridge the gap between legal requirements, business needs, and customer expectations
• Demonstrated experience of drafting, reviewing and negotiating commercial contracts
• Knowledge/experience of the pharmaceutical industry would be an advantage but not required.
• Some experience with compliance issues (anti-bribery and corruption, data privacy) is preferred but not essential
• Commercial pragmatism — able to distinguish between must-have legal protections and nice-to-have preferences, and comfortable accepting reasonable business risk where appropriate rather than defaulting to the most conservative position. Builds credibility as a business enabler, measured by how often the business proactively seeks legal input early (a sign of trust) versus how often legal is seen as a final-stage hurdle.
• Proven influencing and negotiation skills, with the confidence to resolve challenging issues constructively
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to develop relationships with all parts of the business including the executive leadership team
• Well-organised and pro-active, and detail-oriented with strong logical and process-driven thinking
• Effective workload management and ability to prioritise and balance multiple deadlines across different projects