Senior Counsel Legal, R&D and Supply Chain

Nearly 37 million Americans are currently affected by Chronic Kidney Disease. 37 million. At Akebia we take that number very seriously and every day we come to work, with the purpose of bettering the lives of each person impacted by kidney disease and the renal community that serves them.

Our tenacious, passionate employees’ challenge the status quo and work to develop unique therapeutics that have the potential to set new standards of care for people living with kidney disease.

This is life-changing work, and we are all in, are you?

This position is currently based in our Cambridge, MA office. Please note that our offices will be relocating to Waltham, MA later this year, and this role will transition accordingly. We follow a flexible, “magnet not mandate” approach to in-office work, encouraging collaboration and onsite engagement while supporting hybrid flexibility based on role and business needs.

Job Description

Akebia is looking for a Senior Counsel (Sr. Director) Legal, R&D and Supply Chain to join its fast-paced and collaborative legal and compliance team. The individual in this role will report to the SVP, Legal & Chief Compliance Officer and serve as the business partner and contracting lead for the following functions at Akebia: research and development, manufacturing and supply chain. As a member of the Legal and Compliance team, this role will put you in a position to work closely with leaders across the company in executing the company's R&D strategy, providing strategic insights and negotiation support on contracting, and leading discussions with senior stakeholders to drive towards risk-appropriate agreements and strategies. The Senior Counsel Legal, R&D and Supply Chain will be responsible for identifying and resolving complex legal issues, clearly communicating legal and business risk, negotiating important contracts with research and development and supply chain partners, and advising on appropriate, practical strategies to manage risk and maximize business benefit to achieve business objectives. This is an exciting opportunity to work with other members of the legal and compliance team and across the organization and gain exposure to a wide variety of business and legal issues at a commercial stage biopharmaceutical company with a robust development pipeline.

Essential Functions & Duties

• Serve as the strategic business partner for and provide solution-oriented legal advice to designated business areas, such as Research & Development, Manufacturing and Supply Chain, including the senior leaders of those teams.
• Responsible for drafting, negotiating, reviewing and interpreting a broad range of agreements, including supply agreements, quality agreements, clinical trial agreements, and license agreements.
• Liaise with internal team and collaboration partners to ensure alignment around shared business initiatives and resolve any disputes.
• Manage and mentor direct report(s) and other members of the legal team.
• Serve on program teams for clinical stage assets and participate in research and development and supply strategic planning.
• Review research and development related decks and disclosures for investors, including securities filings.
• Adopts a business oriented and creative approach to problem solving.
• Coordinate with procurement team and other cross-functional partners on updates to contracting process and policies as needed.
• Stay abreast of industry law changes and inform business of the
• Build strong relationships across functions and work collaboratively to tackle complex issues.
• Work with and manage successful delivery of services by outside counsel as needed.

Skills & Experience

Basic Qualifications

• D. from an accredited law school and admitted to practice in good standing in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
• At least 10 years’ experience working with life science companies with a mix of large law firm and in-house life science company experience.
• Experience working with research and development teams and executing collaborations and other strategic transactions.
• Experience in drafting and negotiating a range of agreements, such as license agreements, clinical trial agreements, supply agreements, master service agreements and consulting agreements.
• Experience and comfort with making pragmatic risk-based recommendations to research and development, and manufacturing teams regarding contract terms and conditions, and strategies, and leading discussions with senior stakeholders to drive towards risk-appropriate agreements and strategies.

Preferred Qualifications

• Business focused and solution oriented.
• Excellent problem solving and analytical skills.
• Ability to cultivate strong stakeholder relationships and communicate complex concepts in ways that are understood and actionable by cross-functional teams (e.g., translate complex requirements into practical suggestions and real-world solutions).
• Self-motivated and able to perform role independently, with a minimum level of supervision.
• Excellent document drafting and proofreading skills, with high attention to detail and ability to identify business, legal and compliance issues.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong organizational and project management skills with an ability to work in a fast-paced, innovative and collaborative environment.
• Management skills and working within a team

Base Compensation for this role will depend on a number of factors including a candidate’s qualifications, skills, competencies, and experience, and may fall outside of the range shown. Base pay is only one component of the company’s total rewards package, all regular employees are also eligible for the corporate bonus program or the incentive compensation program (if applicable), as well as equity. Additional benefits include health care, vision, dental, retirement, PTO, etc.

Targeted Base Salary

$248,305—$306,730 USD

Are you an Akebian?

An Akebian is curious, empathetic, and values making connections to people and ideas. Akebian’s aren’t afraid of diving in and owning a process or a problem, because we all want to deliver a great solution. Akebian’s believe that we are better together because we are all working toward a common purpose – to better the life of each person impacted by kidney disease. Want to learn more about what it means to be an Akebian? Visit our website:

Akebia is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes all job applicants. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other factors prohibited by law.