Director, Legal Operations

Carlsbad, CA

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is headquartered in Carlsbad, California, with offices in Boston, Massachusetts, and Dublin, Ireland. For more than 30 years, Ionis has been the leader in RNA-targeted therapy, pioneering new markets and changing standards of care with our novel antisense technology. Ionis currently has three marketed medicines and a premier late-stage pipeline highlighted by industry-leading cardiovascular and neurological franchises.

Our scientific innovation began and continues with the knowledge that sick people depend on us, which fuels our vision to become the undisputed leader in genetic medicine, utilizing a multi-platform approach to discover, develop and deliver life-transforming therapies.

As the first company to fully harness the power of RNA technology for human therapeutics, Ionis’ platform continues to revolutionize drug discovery and transform lives for patients with unmet needs. We are building upon our innovative research and drug development excellence to provide greater value to patients, and we are well positioned financially to deliver on our strategic goals.

Ionis is a challenging, motivating and rewarding environment designed to foster innovation and scientific excellence. Our success is a direct result of our outstanding employees. We are interested in bringing together a diverse group of individuals with different skill sets and perspectives into this creative environment to be part of a productive and inclusive team. While acknowledging people are actively engaged in hybrid/remote work, we continue to invest time, money, and energy into making our workplace locations a place where our culture and employees can thrive.

We believe engaging on a day-to-day basis, in person, builds solid and lasting relationships, and contributes positively to our culture and innovation. From the heart of our stunning Carlsbad campus, we aim to provide a central connection point for all our employees. These facilities give us the opportunity to connect cross-functionally, collaborate and to build on the success of our business as we continue to grow. Join us and experience our unique culture while you develop and expand your career.

Ionis is seeking an experienced legal operations professional to establish and manage the Legal Operations function within the Legal Department. Reporting to the Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, this role will be responsible for managing the Legal Department operations related to process development and improvement, technology, and budgeting to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of legal services delivered to stakeholders.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Assess legal department operations and recommend process and system improvements to increase team productivity and efficiency, and manage the rollout and training of approved process and system improvements
Evaluate and recommend tools to streamline legal department processes and workflows.
Provide guidance on technology and systems to improve legal team productivity and efficiency in collaboration with IT, and manage the design, rollout and training for new and updated systems
Serve as key member of cross-functional team on upgrade of contract lifecycle management system
Work closely with our Strategic Sourcing team to bring efficiencies to Ionis’ contracting processes
Advise on strategic plan for growth and organization of legal department
Develop training for legal department staff and internal clients who request legal department support
Assist with annual budgeting cycle and manage portion of budget related to legal operations
Proactively take ownership of projects from inception to completion
Generate ideas and solutions with limited guidance
Communicate in a responsive and proactive manner
Manage workload effectively

REQUIREMENTS:

At a minimum, the successful candidate must have the following skills, experience and abilities:

Substantial prior experience establishing or growing a legal operations function;
Project management expertise;
Proven ability to work collaboratively across functions and levels;
Expertise with current and evolving legal technology (e.g., e-signature, e-billing, matter and workflow management, contract management, enterprise legal management, Sharepoint, Office365);
Superb communication skills and excellent judgment;
Outstanding problem solving and relationship building skills;
Self-starter, and proactive in identifying proposed solutions and improvements and putting plans into action; and
Demonstrated ability to think strategically and develop and implement strategic vision.

The successful candidate will possess a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university and 10+ years of relevant experience in legal operations or the legal field. JD and in-house experience at a biotech or life sciences company is preferred but not required.

Ionis offers an excellent benefits package! Follow this link for more details: Ionis Benefits