Senior Legal Counsel

Are you passionate about life science and want your legal expertise to support innovation from early development through clinical trials to commercial product supply? Do you have experience within drafting, reviewing, and negotiating contracts that directly support innovation and scientific advancement?

If so, now is your chance to join Ascendis Pharma as our new Senior Legal Counsel (R&D).

• →Act as a key legal partner to Product Supply and Quality, supporting agreements such as commercial supply and manufacturing-related contracts, and advising on legal matters arising in day-to-day supply chain operations.
• →Support global clinical trials and studies, including negotiating trial site agreements, reviewing informed consent forms, and managing vendor contracts (e.g., CROs).
• →Draft, review, and negotiate a broad range of other contracts, including confidentiality, service, consultancy, research, license, collaboration, and material transfer agreements.
• →Provide legal and contract support to other departments within the R&D organization, including Research, Medical Affairs, and Regulatory Affairs — based on your experience and interests.
• →Collaborate with stakeholders across Denmark, the US, and Germany, and help improve legal processes and contract templates.
• →Actively contribute to a collaborative team culture within the R&D Legal team.

You hold a Master’s degree in Law and bring at least 7–8 years of experience as an in-house legal counsel or as an attorney in a law firm, preferably within the pharmaceutical or life sciences sector.

Furthermore, you have:

• Proven expertise in drafting, reviewing, and negotiating a wide range of complex contracts in the pharma industry.
• Solid experience supporting Product Supply and Quality, including drafting and negotiating commercial supply and manufacturing agreements.
• Experience supporting Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC), including agreements with CMOs/CDMOs for CMC development and manufacturing activities, is an advantage.
• Experience with clinical trial agreements, including negotiating trial site agreements, vendor contracts (e.g., with CROs), and reviewing informed consent forms is an advantage.
• Strong understanding of intellectual property law, including the handling of IP rights in contractual contexts.

You are a strong team player, analytical, and have a can-do attitude.

You possess an entrepreneurial mindset and can thrive in an informal, open environment where innovation and change are key.  

To succeed in this role, we also expect you to have:

• Business-oriented legal mindset – You are able to translate complex legal concepts into practical guidance that supports scientific and operational decision-making in a fast-paced R&D environment.
• Stakeholder collaboration – You work proactively and effectively with cross-functional teams, including scientists, project managers, and external partners, to align legal strategy with research goals.
• Risk assessment and mitigation – You can identify potential legal risks early in the development process and propose balanced solutions that enable innovation while ensuring compliance.

We evaluate applications when received, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible. Please note that we conduct interviews on a rolling basis and reserve the right to remove the job posting at any time.   

To ensure your application is reviewed, please submit it through the specified platform - applications sent by email or other channels will not be evaluated. 

For more details about the position or the company, please contact Sara Weiss, Head of R&D Legal, +45 40403678 / sws@ascendispharma.com

We do not allow external search party solicitation.  Presentation of candidates without written permission from the Ascendis Pharma HR team (specifically from: Talent Acquisition Partner or Human Resources Director) is not allowed.  If this occurs, your ownership of these candidates will not be acknowledged.