Remote Associate General Counsel – Life Sciences Contracts

Worldwide Clinical Trials; Durham (NC); Remote; USD 201,000 - 399,000; Full time

Job summary

Worldwide Clinical Trials is seeking an experienced Associate General Counsel to lead legal, regulatory, and commercial matters across a global clinical research environment. You will partner with senior leaders to balance business objectives with legal obligations and support growth.

You will guide complex sponsor contracting, oversee risk-based decisions, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to drive compliance and operational excellence.

Qualifications

• Juris Doctor from an accredited law school, active license to practice law in at least one jurisdiction.
• 8–12+ years of progressively responsible legal experience, including in-house leadership in a CRO or regulated life sciences setting.
• Demonstrated experience supporting clinical research services, sponsor contracting, and global legal/compliance matters.
• Strong expertise in commercial contracting: MSAs, SOWs, CLAs, data protection agreements.
• Working knowledge of global clinical research regulations, GxP, data privacy, and regulatory obligations.

Responsibilities

• Advise the General Counsel and senior leadership on complex legal and regulatory risk matters.
• Lead strategic legal areas and provide practical guidance for global operations and risk tolerance.
• Oversee drafting, negotiation, and execution of complex clinical research and sponsor-facing agreements.
• Partner with Business Development, Finance, Clinical Operations, and other stakeholders to streamline contracting processes.
• Collaborate with Quality, Data Privacy, Information Security, Regulatory, and Compliance teams on regulatory obligations.
• Support enterprise risk management activities, investigations, compliance initiatives, governance programs, and escalation of significant risks.
• Provide legal support for mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, and governance matters.
• Lead and develop legal professionals while improving processes and knowledge management.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Business acumen

Change management

Strategic thinking

Education

Juris Doctor (JD)

Tools

Microsoft 365

Job description

Worldwide Clinical Trials is seeking an experienced Associate General Counsel to lead legal, regulatory, and commercial matters across a global clinical research environment. You will partner with senior leaders to balance business objectives with legal obligations and support growth.

You will guide complex sponsor contracting, oversee risk-based decisions, and collaborate with cross-functional teams to drive compliance and operational excellence.