Senior Legal Counsel Antitrust in London

Senior Counsel Antitrust

Location: London, UK (Hybrid). This role is based in the UK; Novartis is unable to offer relocation support. Please only apply if the location is accessible. Closing date for applications: 2 weeks from initial posting.

At Novartis, we’re reimagining medicine—and we need trusted advisors who can help us do it the right way. Join our Legal Transactions team and bring your antitrust/competition expertise to high-impact, global work that accelerates innovation and protects patients, partners, and our business.

As a core member of the Antitrust team within Global Legal Transactions, you will act as a strategic partner to legal colleagues and the business, including senior stakeholders, providing practical, risk‑based antitrust/competition law advice on key global matters. From complex M&A and BD&L transactions to day‑to‑day counselling, you will help ensure consistent, high‑quality antitrust advice, strengthen compliance, and enable decision‑making in a fast‑paced, collaborative environment.

Responsibilities include:

• Partner with Corporate and Business Development on M&A and BD&L transactions: perform substantive antitrust analysis, evaluate filing and timing implications, support strategy, and help secure regulatory clearances in coordination with internal teams and external counsel.
• Advise colleagues across Legal and the business on antitrust risk management in the context of transactions, alliance models, supply and distribution arrangements, pricing and commercial strategies, information sharing, trade association activities, regulatory strategies, patent prosecution and IP enforcement including litigation and patent settlements.
• Collaborate with colleagues in antitrust litigation and investigations, responding to questionnaires and industry studies; provide stakeholders with proactive and pragmatic advice on strategy, reputation impact and risk mitigation; coordinate with other internal functions and external advisors.
• Strengthen enterprise antitrust compliance by embedding the Antitrust and Fair Competition Policy, design and deliver engaging training (in-person and digital), develop practical guidance, and build internal networks to raise awareness and capability.
• Monitor global antitrust developments and emerging risks, translating insights into pragmatic guidance, and support colleagues across functions on relevant policy and process initiatives.
• Manage external counsel effectively, including scope setting and budget management.

Requirements:

• A law degree or equivalent legal qualification.
• Extensive experience advising on global competition law in an international environment.
• Experience in a law firm; experience at a competition authority or in-house desirable.
• Prior experience in the life sciences sector preferable.
• Fluent written and spoken English.

You can find everything you need to know about our benefits and rewards in the Novartis Life Handbook.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion: Novartis is committed to building an outstanding, inclusive work environment and diverse teams representative of the patients and communities we serve.