General Counsel

About the role

GenePlanet, a fast-growing genomics company headquartered in Ljubljana and active in more than 50 countries, is looking for a General Counsel to lead all legal, compliance and regulatory-legal workstreams across the Group and support its strategic roadmap. The role reports to the CEO and works closely with the CFO and the Head of Strategy, and leads a legal/compliance team of 3 FTEs.

Key responsibilities

• M&A and financing: support and negotiate acquisitions and debt and equity financings, including legal and tax due diligence and key legal negotiations, and help screen, source and discuss deal terms with the CFO and Head of Strategy
• Commercial and partnerships: lead the legal side of business development, including tech transfers, supplier and distribution agreements and strategic partnerships, and draft, review and negotiate contracts, NDAs and partnership agreements
• Compliance and regulatory: build and improve the compliance framework, ensure compliance with laws such as IVDR, GDPR (genetic and health data), ISO 15189 and other ISO requirements, healthcare rules, and where needed FDA clearance or US laboratory requirements, and identify and mitigate legal and compliance risks
• Corporate, tax and IP: manage corporate and contractual matters, support the Finance team on tax workstreams needing legal input, and coordinate IP strategy including patent filings and in- and out-licensing
• Team and stakeholders: lead and develop the legal team, coordinate external counsel, certification bodies and regulators, and advise cross-functional teams

Required profile

• Law degree (LL.B., LL.M., J.D. or equivalent); a UK or US university degree and/or experience at a global law firm is a strong advantage
• 10+ years of legal experience, including significant M&A, financing and due diligence work, ideally partly in biotech, pharma, MedTech, diagnostics, life sciences or healthcare
• Professional fluency in English; Slovenian is a strong advantage

Required skills

• Commercial and corporate law, IVDR, GDPR, ISO-related compliance standards and IP/patents
• Experience with the US market is a plus
• Drafting, negotiation, communication and stakeholder management skills

What we offer

• A key leadership role in an investor-backed genomics company in an active international M&A phase
• Direct work with the founder, CEO, CFO and Head of Strategy
• A competitive, individually tailored package
• An office in Ljubljana and international travel