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Director Legal Counsel Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Senior Director, Legal Counsel

San Diego, CA ยท On-site

$234.40 - $351.60/hr

... legal work, including leading negotiations, drafting, and counseling on a broad range of sales ... direct reports in a legal function.Demonstrated experience drafting and negotiating complex ...

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Director Legal Counsel information

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$76.5K

$139.4K

$225K

How much do director legal counsel jobs pay per year?

As of Jul 27, 2026, the average yearly pay for director legal counsel in the United States is $139,444.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $109,000.00 and $160,500.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are some of the main challenges a Director Legal Counsel faces when aligning legal strategy with business objectives?

A Director Legal Counsel often encounters the challenge of balancing rigorous legal compliance with the company's strategic goals. This involves interpreting complex regulations while supporting business initiatives, managing risk without stifling innovation, and ensuring clear communication between legal and non-legal stakeholders. Collaborating across departments, such as compliance, finance, and executive leadership, is essential to anticipate potential legal issues and proactively address them, all while maintaining a strategic perspective that supports organizational growth.

What does a Director Legal Counsel do?

A Director Legal Counsel is a senior legal professional responsible for overseeing a company's legal affairs and ensuring compliance with laws and regulations. They provide strategic legal advice to executive management, manage legal risk, and often oversee a team of in-house lawyers. Their duties typically include drafting and reviewing contracts, managing litigation, advising on corporate governance, and developing legal strategies that align with business objectives. They also collaborate with external law firms and represent the company in negotiations or legal proceedings. The role requires strong leadership, negotiation, and analytical skills, along with extensive legal experience.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Director Legal Counsel, and why are they important?

To thrive as a Director Legal Counsel, you need a Juris Doctor (JD) degree, active bar membership, and substantial experience in corporate or commercial law. Familiarity with contract management systems, regulatory compliance software, and legal research databases like Westlaw or LexisNexis is typically required. Strong leadership, negotiation, and communication skills set outstanding candidates apart, enabling effective guidance of legal teams and stakeholders. These competencies ensure sound legal risk management, strategic business support, and organizational compliance.
More about Director Legal Counsel jobs
What cities are hiring for Director Legal Counsel jobs? Cities with the most Director Legal Counsel job openings:
What are the most commonly searched types of Legal Counsel jobs? The most popular types of Legal Counsel jobs are:
What states have the most Director Legal Counsel jobs? States with the most job openings for Director Legal Counsel jobs include:
Infographic showing various Director Legal Counsel job openings in the United States as of July 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% As Needed, 87% Full Time, 11% Part Time, and 1% Contract. Highlights an 86% Physical, 6% Hybrid, and 8% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $139,444 per year, or $67 per hour.
Senior Director, Legal Counsel

Senior Director, Legal Counsel

Deciphera Pharmaceuticals

Waltham, MA โ€ข On-site

$224K - $308K/yr

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Retirement

Posted 3 days ago


Job description

Job Description

We are seeking a Senior Director, Legal Counsel to serve as a senior leader providing strategic advice in drafting, negotiating, and interpreting general and sophisticated corporate agreements across all functions, including Research & Discovery, Commercial, Licensing and Distribution, Supply Chain, Tech Ops, Clinical, IT and Facilities. The primary responsibilities of the Senior Director, Legal Counsel will be overseeing the Contracts Team and outside counsel and supporting the General Counsel in a variety of high-impact strategic legal projects and initiatives.

We are seeking a dynamic and collaborative life sciences attorney who wants to contribute to the growth of a thriving, fast-paced global organization. This role also includes collaboration with our European colleagues and Japanese parent company, requiring strong cross-cultural communication skills and the ability to manage strategic initiatives spanning multiple countries and affiliates.

Key Responsibilities:

Contracting Oversight and Negotiation (50%)

  • Develop, mentor, and motivate highly-skilled Contracts Team, and support career paths of team members
  • Serve as key legal advisor to business teams, including overseeing negotiation of routine and sophisticated contracts, in the context of cross functional and geographically and culturally diverse teams
  • Serve as lead negotiator on a range of critical and complex agreements

Drive Contracting Best Practices (20%)

  • Build, maintain, and enhance efficient contracts operations and infrastructure and drive continuous improvement
  • Cultivate collaborative partnerships with stakeholders and Contracts Team to effectively communicate challenges and opportunities and deliver solutions

Legal Strategy and Leadership (30%)

  • Provide legal support across the organization on a variety of matters, including legal aspects of development strategy, regulatory activities, and HR processes, and quickly and effectively identify complex legal and compliance issues and provide advice that integrates legal risk management with the company's business objectives
  • Proactively manage cross-border communication on legal operations and strategic projects, and cultivate collaborative relationships with Japanese counterparts
  • Maintain a positive team culture grounded in Deciphera's core values of PATHS
  • Manage and complete any additional projects or legal matters as needed

Other duties and responsibilities as assigned

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

  • JDย plus 10+ years of experience.
  • Ability to manage, coach and mentor high-functioning team members
  • Significant experience drafting and negotiation sophisticated life sciences contracts
  • Strong understanding of the drug development and commercialization lifecycle
  • License to practice Law in Massachusetts
  • Excellent interpersonal and client relations skills
  • Ability to work in a fast-paced environment leveraging internal and external resources to meet simultaneous deadlines/demands
  • Willingness to pitch-in and help on legal projects across the organization
  • Excellent research, writing, counselling and communication skills and a positive client service orientation
  • Ability to work independently, as a team member, and across the organization
  • Accountability, sound judgment, and the ability to take ownership of an issue and provide concise and timely advice

Preferred Capabilities

  • Experience being part of an international company a plus
  • Significant experience with global clinical trials and sophisticated technical operations
  • Prior experience participating on cross-functional cross-border program teams
  • Prior experience advising on non-contract matters such as HR or FDA regulatory issues
Additional Information

Deciphera is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. The base salary pay range for this role is $224,200 - $308,330. Actual compensation packages will depend on various factors, including, but not limited to depth of experience, education, skillset, overall performance and/or location.

Deciphera believes in providing a competitive compensation and benefits package to all employees. Our base salary is just one component of Deciphera's competitive total rewards strategy that also includes annual performance bonus, a long-term incentive plan, full range of benefits and other incentive compensation plans (if applicable)

Benefits:

  • Competitive salary and annual bonus.
  • Comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, vision insurance, 401(k) retirement plan with company match, and more.
  • Generous parental leave and family planning benefits.
  • Outstanding culture and opportunities for personal and professional growth.

Apply Now:ย Join us in our mission to improve the lives of people with cancer. Apply today to become a part of our dynamic team!

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY INFORMATION

Deciphera is committed to equal employment opportunity and values diversity. To ensure that we comply with reporting requirements, we invite you complete the confidential survey at the end of this application. Providing this information is optional. It will not be accessible or used in the hiring process, and has no effect on your opportunity for employment. This information will also be treated confidentially.ย  We are committed to make all hiring decisions and other employment decisions on a non-discriminatory basis.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY INFORMATION

Deciphera is committed to equal employment opportunity and values diversity. To ensure that we comply with reporting requirements, we invite you complete the confidential survey at the end of this application. Providing this information is optional. It will not be accessible or used in the hiring process, and has no effect on your opportunity for employment. This information will also be treated confidentially.ย  We are committed to make all hiring decisions and other employment decisions on a non-discriminatory basis.