Legal & Business Operations Director (US)
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Overview
Job Description
Opportunity Overview
PhaseV is transforming clinical development through advanced AI and ML. With rapidly growing demand from top pharma, biotech companies, and CROs, we're seeking a commercially minded leader with a strong legal foundation to help scale our business across various partnerships. This role sits at the intersection of legal, commercial operations, and cross-functional execution. Reporting to the VP of Finance & Operations, you will partner closely with the Business Development, R&D, Finance, and other cross-functional teams to help accelerate commercial execution while ensuring appropriate legal and operational rigor. Based in the U.S. you will work closely and support our existing legal team in the US and Israel, coordinating across offices to triage legal matters, negotiate commercial agreements, and work external legal resources as appropriate.
Beyond legal, you will lead strategic operational initiatives that improve how the company executes, scales, and partners with customers. This role is ideal for someone who wants to build upon their legal foundation and apply it to our fast-paced, growing startup.
Key Responsibilities
Legal Management
- Serve as the legal partner for the U.S. commercial organization.
- Draft, review, and negotiate commercial agreements, including NDAs, MSAs, SaaS agreements, data licensing agreements, consulting agreements, and vendor contracts.
- Triage legal requests and determine when escalation to specialized counsel is appropriate.
- Coordinate outside counsel when specialized expertise is required.
- Develop scalable contract templates, playbooks, and approval processes.
- Partner closely with the Legal Director (Israel) to ensure consistent legal support globally.
Business Operations & Strategic Projects
- Lead cross-functional initiatives that improve how the company operates and scales.
- Partner with finance, legal, operations, BD, and other teams on company-wide process improvements.
- Identify operational bottlenecks and drive improvements across the org.
- Support strategic partnerships, corporate initiatives, and executive projects.
- Evaluate and implement systems, tools, and workflows that improve organizational efficiency.
- Drive operational improvements that reduce friction across teams.
- Build strong relationships with commercial stakeholders, acting as a trusted business advisor rather than a downstream legal reviewer.
- Assist with financing, strategic transactions, and other corporate initiatives.
Key Success Factors
- enjoys solving ambiguous business problems
- exercises sound judgment with limited direction
- balances legal rigor with business pragmatism
- is equally comfortable negotiating contracts and improving internal processes
- builds trust across technical, commercial, and executive teams
Qualifications & Required Skills
- 5+ years of legal experience, incl.
- law firm experience
- In-house commercial legal experience (preferably at least 1 at a Series A or later company)
- Experience with at least one of the following: high-growth technology, SaaS, AI and/or pharma/ life sciences.
- Familiarity with at least one: privacy, data licensing, AI, IP, and clinical research agreements.
- J.D. and admission to practice in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.
- Experience negotiating commercial agreements.
- Strong business judgment and practical risk assessment.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
- Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally.
Additional Information
- Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position.
- Must be legally authorized to work in the United States. PhaseV is not able to sponsor or take over sponsorship for employment visas at this time.
- PhaseV is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.
- PhaseV maintains a drug-free workplace and complies with ADA regulations as applicable.
- Competitive package including base salary, performance bonus, and additional earning potential for exceeding target, plus equity participation, comprehensive benefits, 401(k) match, and a flexible hybrid culture.
- Reports to VP of Business Development.
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