Senior Legal Counsel Ethics & Compliance

We are looking for an experienced professional to join our legal department in a senior  position, with primary focus on ethics and compliance. This is an exciting opportunity to become part of a dynamic, entrepreneurial, and fast-growing international pharmaceutical company.

Job profile

As a Senior Legal Counsel Ethics & Compliance you are an integral part of our legal department and will be engaged in its diverse legal activities. Your primary focus will be on ethics and compliance. You will play a key role in the continued development, professionalization, and reinforcement of our ethics and compliance framework. You will be part of a growing organization where integrity and responsible business practices are core values.

You will support in drafting policies, implementing procedures and in performing investigations.  You will give advice on a wide variety of ethics and compliance topics. Furthermore, you will develop training materials and train employees to enhance awareness of relevant ethics and compliance topics.

You will also engage in other core activities of the legal department, in particular the drafting and negotiation of sales and supply chain agreements and giving advice on a variety of legal topics in the context of our pharmaceutical business.

We expect that you collaborate closely with global business teams, staff departments, and the Ethics & Compliance Committee.

In this role you report to the General Counsel.

Key Responsibilities

Compliance governance and risk management

• Further enhance and implement the company’s compliance policy and risk frameworks
• Conduct compliance risk assessments across the organization and monitor the effectiveness of risk mitigation strategies
• Advise on ethical and compliance risks, trends and best practices

Training and awareness building

• Design and lead ethics and compliance training sessions tailored for cross-functional audiences
• Support in the promotion of a culture of integrity through consistent communication, role-modeling, and behavioral reinforcement

Cross-functional support and advise

• Provide day-to-day legal and compliance support to the business and operations globally and to staff departments, including contract compliance, trade and distribution practices

Contract drafting and legal advice

• Draft and negotiate sales (license & supply) agreements and supply chain (purchase, CMO) agreements
• Give advice on a variety of legal topics in the context of our pharmaceutical business.

This role is important to embedding a strong culture of ethics and compliance within a rapidly scaling organization.

Contract & location

40 hours per week, minimum of 3 days in Nijmegen

Requirements 

• Master degree in law
• at least 8 years work experience in an international environment, affinity with the pharmaceutical industry is a plus
• experience with a wide range of compliance topics, such as code of conduct, ABAC, trade sanctions, competition law, fraud, privacy (GDPR) and whistleblowing
• experience with the drafting and negotiating of international agreements
• sound communicator with the ability to interact at all levels of the organization

Languages

Very good command of the English language, excellent verbal and written communication skills

Personal skills

In interviews, you will be able to demonstrate a proactive mindset, a high level of accuracy and precision, and the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously. You possess strong planning skills and are capable of meeting deadlines effectively. You work well independently, maintain an open mind, and have strong interpersonal skills, making it easy for you to connect and collaborate with others.

Our offer

We offer our employees a working environment in which trust, pride and joy play an important role. We understand our economic, social and environmental impact on the wider world. We care - for each other, for partners, for patients and for society at large. We support various educational initiatives and actively contribute to charitable causes and to the development of the communities worldwide to which we belong. We offer a professional, yet pleasant and informal working environment with short communication lines, focus on cooperation and appreciation of initiatives.

Application and important dates

If you are interested in this fulltime position and you would like to join our company, we look forward to your application no later than 15 July 2025. The first round of interviews will be held at Thursday 24 July.

Contact

For further information, please contact Ivo Verheijden (General Counsel), at ivo.verheijden@synthon.com or Saskia Hendrickx (Director HR) at saskia.hendrickx@synthon.com