Senior Legal Counsel

Are you passionate about life science and the dynamic world of research and development? Do you thrive in a legal environment where your expertise in drafting, reviewing, and negotiating contracts directly supports innovation and scientific advancement?

If so, now is your chance to join Ascendis Pharma as our new Senior Legal Counsel.

Ascendis Pharma is a fast-growing global biopharmaceutical company committed to making a meaningful difference in patient’s lives. We have locations in Denmark, Germany, the United States, the UK, Italy, Spain, and France.

Guided by our core values of Patients, Science, and Passion, we use our TransCon® drug development platform to fulfill our mission of developing new therapies, selecting only those that demonstrate best-in-class potential to address unmet medical needs.

Today, we are advancing programs in Endocrinology Rare Disease and Oncology. In addition, we collaborate with partners around the world on the development of TransCon-based products for other therapeutic areas and markets.

We are seeking a passionate Senior Legal Counsel to join our growing team. As a key member of the R&D Legal team, you will play a crucial role in supporting Ascendis Pharma’s research and development (R&D) activities from early discovery through pre-clinical research, development, and clinical testing of Ascendis Pharma’s prodrug therapies. Ascendis Pharma contracts with a broad variety of service providers and vendors such as laboratories, manufacturers (CMOs), clinical research organizations (CROs), hospitals, universities, and health care professionals requiring many different types of contracts – with a wide range of legal considerations – but all with the same overall purpose of developing new and potentially best-in-class therapies to address unmet medical needs. This is an exciting opportunity to work in a fast-paced environment, collaborate with cross-functional, global teams working together to achieve extraordinary results.

You will be joining the R&D Legal team consisting of 4 colleagues, and report directly to Sara Weiss, Head of R&D Legal, who is based in Hellerup, Copenhagen. You will also be based in Hellerup, Copenhagen. The R&D Legal team works closely with other parts of Group Legal as well as Group Compliance and other stakeholders.

Your key responsibilities will be:

• Provide legal and contract support across departments within the R&D organization, including Research, Product Development, Product Supply and Quality, Medical Affairs, Regulatory Affairs, and more—based on your experience and interests.
• Draft, review, and negotiate a variety of contracts, such as confidentiality, service, supply, consultancy, research, license, collaboration, and material transfer agreements.
• Support global clinical trials and studies, including negotiating trial site agreements, reviewing informed consent forms, and managing vendor contracts (e.g., CROs).
• Support Ascendis Global Supply Chain, including negotiating development services agreements and commercial supply agreements.
• Contribute to data privacy compliance by reviewing and negotiating data processing agreements.
• Handle contracts with healthcare professionals, including consultancy, sponsorship, and donation agreements.
• Collaborate with stakeholders in 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.

Qualifications and Skills:

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.
• Experience with clinical trial agreements and a solid understanding of the regulatory landscape governing clinical research.
• Experience with manufacturing and supply agreements.
• Strong understanding of intellectual property law, including the handling of IP rights in contractual contexts.
• Familiarity with industry-specific legislation and regulatory frameworks relevant to the life sciences sector (e.g., FDA, EMA, ICH guidelines).
• Practical experience with data privacy regulations, including GDPR.
• Knowledge of global compliance standards governing interactions with healthcare professionals.

Key competencies:

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 the following skills:

• 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.

Travel: 2-5 days per year.

Office: Ascendis Pharma A/S (Headquarter), Tuborg Boulevard 12, Hellerup, Denmark 

Apply now.

Applications will be evaluated when received, so please apply as soon as possible.

All applications must be submitted in English and are treated confidentially.

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

You can learn more about Ascendis by visiting our website www.ascendispharma.com

Applications submitted via email or other channels will not be reviewed.