Senior Corporate Counsel, Business Development Transactions Law

At Bristol Myers Squibb, our employees often ask, “Who are you working for?”—a question that fuels collaboration, accountability, and urgency in our work. Our purpose-driven culture inspires us to discover, develop, and deliver innovative medicines to prevail over serious diseases. We offer uniquely interesting and meaningful work, opportunities for growth, and a supportive environment that values inclusion, wellbeing, flexibility, and comprehensive benefits. This is work that transforms the lives of patients, and the careers of those who do it.

Position Summary

The Senior Corporate Counsel, Business Development Transactions Law position provides senior-level legal counsel, strategic guidance, and transactional support to Bristol Myers Squibb’s business development organization. This role is suited for an experienced transactional attorney who can independently lead complex matters end to end, advise senior business leaders, mentor less experienced attorneys without formal people-management responsibility, and provide practical, business-oriented advice aligned with BMS’s values. This position serves as lead counsel for business development and corporate development transactions—including licensing, collaborations, mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, and equity investments.  The role requires close partnership with senior business development leaders, deal teams, Alliance Management, specialist legal functions, cross-functional stakeholders, and external counsel to support effective deal execution and risk management.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the structuring, drafting, and negotiation of business development and corporate development transactions—including licensing, collaborations, mergers and acquisitions, options, equity investments, and divestitures—from term sheet through execution.

• Define the diligence scope and issue-escalation path for legal due diligence on assigned transactions, in coordination with IP, litigation, antitrust, regulatory, tax, and other specialist functions, and synthesize findings into actionable risk assessments and recommendations for deal teams and senior stakeholders.

• Coordinate antitrust and regulatory strategy for assigned transactions, working with specialist counsel and outside advisors from pre-filing analysis through clearance, and advise on escalation points.

• Own the legal handoff of newly executed transactions to Alliance Management, including knowledge transfer, governance setup, issue spotting, and practical guidance on post-execution implementation.

• Oversee external counsel relationships on assigned matters, including setting workstreams, reviewing advice and deliverables, and ensuring high‑quality, timely, and cost‑effective legal support aligned with business needs.

• Mentor other business development attorneys and contract professionals, review their work product on assigned transactions, and apply the group’s drafting and negotiation standards, without formal people-management responsibility.

• Monitor developments in contract law, relevant regulations, and industry practice that bear on assigned transactions, and advise on implications for negotiation positions, contracting standards, and template updates.

• Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives for business development contracting and alliance management processes, including templates, playbooks, escalation protocols, and knowledge-management resources.

 

Qualifications & Experience

• J.D. degree and admission to a state bar.

• Minimum 10 years of legal experience, including leading, drafting, and negotiating complex agreements in the biopharmaceutical/life sciences industry.

• Strong working knowledge of the biopharmaceutical/life sciences industry, including deal structures, development and commercialization models, and the regulatory environment.

• Track record as lead counsel on high-value licensing, collaboration, and M&A transactions from term sheet through closing, including directing legal due diligence across IP, litigation, antitrust, regulatory, and tax specialists and managing transactions requiring regulatory clearance.

• Sound independent judgment on significant legal and business issues, with a clear sense of when escalation is required.

• Strong interpersonal skills and executive presence, with the ability to advise and influence senior business stakeholders.

• High integrity and commitment to BMS values.

Location: Lawrenceville, NJ, Madison, NJ, or Cambridge, MA (Hybrid)

 

We hire for skills and capabilities, not just credentials – if this role excites you, but doesn’t perfectly match your resume, we encourage you to apply anyway.

Madison - Giralda - NJ - US: $255,260 - $309,309 Princeton - NJ - US: $255,260 - $309,309

The starting pay range(s) listed above is for full-time employees (FTE). You may also be eligible for additional discretionary incentive cash and stock opportunities. We determine starting pay thoughtfully – carefully considering the nature of the role, required skills, work location, schedule and the knowledge and experience you bring. Final compensation is guided by pay equity principles and applicable employment laws. Compensation programs are reviewed on an ongoing basis and may be adjusted over time to reflect evolving market factors, and individual, team or Company performance.

Benefits:

Subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable plans then in effect, you may be eligible to participate in our comprehensive benefit plans – including wellbeing support, retirement and financial protection benefits, and insurance offerings (medical, dental, vision, life and disability).

U.S.-based exempt employees are eligible for Flexible Time Off (FTO), which provides paid time off without a set accrual limit, subject to manager approval, along with 11 paid company holidays each year.

Non-exempt employees, RayzeBio employees, and employees located in Puerto Rico receive 160 hours of paid vacation annually for new hires (subject to manager approval), 11 paid company holidays, and 3 optional holidays.

Depending on eligibility, employees may also have access to additional time-off benefits, including paid sick leave, up to two paid volunteer days per year, summer hours flexibility, and leaves of absence for medical, personal, parental, caregiver, bereavement, or military needs. Eligible employees also enjoy an annual Global Shutdown between Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

U.S.-based job seekers can explore full benefit offerings at https://careers.bms.com/benefits

How We Work

Where you work matters – because collaboration, innovation and patient impact happen in many settings. Our roles are structured across four work models: site-essential, site-by-design, field-based and remote-by-design. The model assigned to this role is based on its core responsibilities. Learn more at https://careers.bms.com/ways-of-working.

Supporting People with Disabilities

BMS is dedicated to ensuring that people with disabilities can excel through a transparent recruitment process, reasonable workplace accommodations/adjustments and ongoing support in their roles. Applicants can request a reasonable workplace accommodation/adjustment prior to accepting a job offer. If you require reasonable accommodations/adjustments in completing this application, or in any part of the recruitment process, direct your inquiries to adastaffingsupport@bms.com. Visit careers.bms.com/eeo-accessibility to access our complete Equal Employment Opportunity statement.

Candidate Rights

BMS will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records, pursuant to applicable laws in your area.

For roles based in Los Angeles County only:  If you live in or expect to work from Los Angeles County if hired for this position, please visit this page for important additional information: https://careers.bms.com/california-residents/

Data Protection

We will never request payments, financial information, or social security numbers during our application or recruitment process. Learn more about protecting yourself at https://careers.bms.com/fraud-protection.

Any data processed in connection with role applications will be treated in accordance with applicable data privacy policies and regulations.

If this posting is missing required information required by local law or incorrect, contact BMS at TAEnablement@bms.comwith the Job Title and Requisition number. Do not send application-related inquiries to this email. To check your application status, please login to your Candidate Home Account.

R1607292 : Senior Corporate Counsel, Business Development Transactions Law