Senior Counsel - R&D Legal Team

Senior Counsel - R&D Legal Team  
 
GSK remains committed to achieving bold commercial ambitions for the future. By 2031, we aim to deliver £40 billion in annual sales, leveraging our existing strong performance momentum to significantly increase our positive impact on the health of billions of patients globally. Our Ahead Together strategy is centred on early intervention to prevent and alter the course of disease, thereby protecting people and supporting healthcare systems.
 

You will be part of the R&D Legal Team  which supports both the Respiratory, Immunology and Inflammation R&D programmes and the platform teams which  support the discovery and development of our medicines and vaccines (including R&D Technologies, Translational & Development Sciences, Development Operations and Drug Development and Supply).  Team members have deep understanding of the R&D business and science and are legal subject-matter specialists on the regulatory landscape affecting these activities and facilitating external collaborations that are essential to our operating model.  

You will be a trusted legal partner to R&D teams in the UK and abroad, advising across research and development. You will provide clear, timely legal advice that helps teams move science forward while managing legal and regulatory risk. You will work closely with scientists, clinicians, regulatory and commercial colleagues in a global, matrixed environment. We value practical judgment, collaborative spirit, and a drive to learn. This role offers growth, meaningful impact and alignment with GSK’s mission of uniting science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together.

You will be part of a small team providing legal support to clinical phase platforms that enable our R&D organisation, GSK’s ambition in China and a number of investigational medicines in our Respiratory, Immunology and Inflammation pipeline. 

This role requires an aptitude for both transactional and regulatory legal advice together with an interest in working across multiple countries in GSK’s R&D footprint. This role is an individual contributor role.

This role will provide YOU the opportunity to lead key activities to progress YOUR career. These responsibilities include some of the following:

Be the primary lawyer for key R&D pipeline assets, accountable for all aspects of legal advice,  working closely with other legal and cross functional partners for input where needed. Represent legal on cross-functional project teams and governance forums relating to these pipeline assets.

 Provide support to key development operations organizations such as the UK Cambridge Clinical Unit and the Asia R&D team.
Draft, review and negotiate key R&D agreements such as research, collaboration and clinical trial agreements

Advise on legal matters relating to clinical development, human biological samples, informed consent, data protection and privacy, and ethical considerations.
Support precision medicine initiatives including use of biomarkers, companion diagnostics and data-driven research, advising on associated contractual and regulatory issues.

Manage and instruct external counsel when needed and contribute to improving legal processes, templates and guidance.

Why You?

Basic Qualifications

We are seeking professionals with the following required skills and qualifications to help us achieve our goals:

• Qualified lawyer admitted to practice in England and Wales.
• Significant post-qualification experience advising life sciences R&D, clinical trials or related areas.
• Relevant private practice and/or in-house experience advising clients active in the discovery, development and/or commercialization of medicines and vaccines including experience of advising on several of the following legal topics: clinical and commercial contracting, collaborations and intellectual property licensing, data privacy, regulation of clinical trials and other human subject research and regulation of medicinal product approval.
• Practical knowledge of data protection and privacy laws as they apply to clinical and research data.
• Experience working in an international matrixed organisation and partnering with scientific and commercial colleagues from across the globe.
• Strong communicator who can explain legal issues clearly to non-lawyers and deliver pragmatic advice.
• Willingness to undertake domestic and international travel as required

Preferred Qualifications

If you have the following characteristics, it would be a plus:

Experience of the use of healthcare technologies in clinical development including in vitro diagnostics and digital health solutions.

Familiarity with AI/machine learning issues in research and related contractual considerations.

Experience supporting asset in‑licensing, acquisitions or strategic partnering in R&D, including negotiating academic collaborations

Experience of transactions with entities in China.

Comfort managing external counsel and prioritising legal spend efficiently.

Working model
This role is offered as hybrid working based in the United Kingdom. You will combine on-site work with remote working in line with the team’s rhythm and critical reporting or project needs, with a basic expectation of 2-3 days per week presence in the office.

What we value
We look for people who are collaborative, curious, and focused on outcomes. We welcome applicants with diverse backgrounds and career paths. If you want to help shape how legal support enables science to progress, grow your legal career, and make meaningful impact on patient health, we would like to hear from you.

How to apply
Please submit your CV and a short cover letter that explains how you meet the basic qualifications and what impact you hope to make in this role. We encourage applications from people at different career stages and from all backgrounds.

Closing Date for Applications:19/07/2026 EOD

Please take a copy of the Job Description, as this will not be available post closure of the advert.

When applying for this role, please use the ‘cover letter’ of the online application or your CV to describe how you meet the competencies for this role, as outlined in the job requirements. The information that you have provided in your cover letter and CV will be used to assess your application.

GSK is an Equal Opportunity Employer. This ensures that all qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, age, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), military service or any basis prohibited under federal, state or local law.

Why GSK?

Uniting science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together.

GSK is a global biopharma company with a purpose to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together. We aim to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people by the end of the decade, as a successful, growing company where people can thrive. We get ahead of disease by preventing and treating it with innovation in specialty medicines and vaccines. We focus on four therapeutic areas: respiratory, immunology and inflammation; oncology; HIV; and infectious diseases – to impact health at scale.

People and patients around the world count on the medicines and vaccines we make, so we’re committed to creating an environment where our people can thrive and focus on what matters most. Our culture of being ambitious for patients, accountable for impact and doing the right thing is the foundation for how, together, we deliver for patients, shareholders and our people.

GSK is an Equal Opportunity Employer. This ensures that all qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, age, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), military service or any basis prohibited under federal, state or local law.

We believe in an agile working culture for all our roles. If flexibility is important to you, we encourage you to explore with our hiring team what the opportunities are.

Should you require any adjustments to our process to assist you in demonstrating your strengths and capabilities contact us at UKRecruitment.Adjustments@gsk.com where you can also request a call.

Please note should your enquiry not relate to adjustments, we will not be able to support you through these channels. However, we have created a  Recruitment FAQ guide. Click the link where you will find answers to multiple questions we receive

Important notice to Employment businesses/ Agencies

GSK does not accept referrals from employment businesses and/or employment agencies in respect of the vacancies posted on this site. All employment businesses/agencies are required to contact GSK's commercial and general procurement/human resources department to obtain prior written authorization before referring any candidates to GSK. The obtaining of prior written authorization is a condition precedent to any agreement (verbal or written) between the employment business/ agency and GSK. In the absence of such written authorization being obtained any actions undertaken by the employment business/agency shall be deemed to have been performed without the consent or contractual agreement of GSK. GSK shall therefore not be liable for any fees arising from such actions or any fees arising from any referrals by employment businesses/agencies in respect of the vacancies posted on this site.

Please note that if you are a US Licensed Healthcare Professional or Healthcare Professional as defined by the laws of the state issuing your license, GSK may be required to capture and report expenses GSK incurs, on your behalf, in the event you are afforded an interview for employment. This capture of applicable transfers of value is necessary to ensure GSK’s compliance to all federal and state US Transparency requirements. For more information, please visit the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) website at https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov/