Back to jobs

Director, Contracts and Transactions Counsel (Princeton, NJ)

Princeton, New Jersey, United States

About Us 

Kardigan is a heart health company working to make cardiovascular disease preventable, curable and no longer the leading cause of death in the world.

It is Kardigan’s mission to develop multiple targeted treatments in parallel that bring people with cardiovascular diseases to the cures they deserve.
 
Led by Tassos Giannakakos, Jay Edelberg, M.D. and Bob McDowell, Ph.D., Kardigan’s co-founders have reunited after leading MyoKardia to discover and develop mavacamten, the first cardiac myosin inhibitor, resulting in an acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb in 2020.
 
We have a cutting-edge discovery and translational research platform, a pipeline of late-stage candidates, and an industry-leading team that is driven to improve the lives of patients.
 
At Kardigan, we are motivated by our values which guide how we work, interact, and achieve our goals. Driven by patients and their families, we are deeply committed to improving the lives of patients and prioritizing their needs above all else. We believe in being authentic—leading with truth to bring out the best in others by creating an environment where every person knows they will be fully accepted. With an eagerness to learn, we encourage the highest levels of curiosity and are open to changing our minds. We are committed to winning as a team with urgency, excellence, and intention, and support each other no matter what role we play or where we sit. Lastly, we strive to enable the impossible because patients are counting on us. We are not afraid to take risks to unlock innovation and advance scientific discoveries.
 
These values are the foundation of our work, empowering us to make a real difference, every day.
 
 

Position Title: Director, Contracts and Transactions Counsel

Department: Legal 

Reports To: Vice President, Corporate Law

Location: South San Francisco, CA or Princeton, NJ – On-site 4 days per week (Mon to Thurs)

 

Job Overview 

Kardigan is seeking an experienced Director, Contracts and Transactions Counsel. This will be a strategic legal role responsible for providing comprehensive legal guidance on commercial transactions and contracts management. This person will serve as a key legal advisor to support business leaders in navigating complex commercial relationships while supporting the company to meet its objectives.

This single role can be based in either Princeton, NJ or South San Francisco, CA, and reports to the Vice President, Corporate Law in South San Francisco.

 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities  

Contract Negotiations

  • Draft, review and negotiate a wide range of agreements, including master services agreements, license agreements, supply agreements, manufacturing agreements, quality agreements, sponsored research agreements, clinical trial agreements, material transfer agreements, and other agreements.
  • Provide strategic guidance on transaction structure and contract terms to optimize business outcomes while managing legal risk.
  • Develop and maintain contract templates, playbooks, and standardized contract terms.

Risk Management & Compliance

  • Identify and mitigate legal risks in business operations and commercial relationships.
  • Update and improve contract policies and procedures.
  • Train business teams on contract policies, procedures, risk management, and other legal practices.

Legal Operations and Technology

  • Evaluate and implement legal technology solutions to improve efficiency and effectiveness such as contract lifecycle management system.
  • Establish metrics and reporting systems to track efficiencies and effectiveness of contracting procedures and other legal practices.
  • Manage outside legal consultants and counsels for specialized matters and overflow work.

Stakeholder Management

  • Collaborate with and support business development, research, and other functions to identify and address legal considerations in new business opportunities.
  • Provide strategic advice and counseling in connection with management of collaborations with collaborators, licensees, and other external partners.
  • Serve as a legal liaison to the company.

 

Qualifications 

  • JD degree from an accredited law school with admission to practice law.
  • A minimum of 7 years of legal experience with a mix of law firm and in-house experience at pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or medical device companies with a focus on contracts and commercial transactions.
  • Expertise in drafting and negotiating complex agreements.
  • Experience providing legal counsel for managing external business relationships and collaborations.
  • Solid understanding of intellectual property and privacy and data protection laws as they relaet to commercial agreements.
  • Knowledge of healthcare, FDA regulations, and other relevant laws applicable to life science business transactions.
  • Demonstrated ability to connect the dots across functional areas, identifying how legal issues in one domain may impact other business operations.
  • Strong systems thinking approach to understand complex interdependencies and anticipated downstream effects of legal or business decisions.
  • Proven track record of translating complex legal concepts into practical business implications.
  • Skill in facilitating cross functional dialogue to ensure alignment between legal strategies and business objectives.
  •  Experience serving as a bridge between technical, business and legal stakeholders to drive to solutions.
  • Strong organizational and planning skills, ability to manage changing priorities and workflow, and the ability to effectively advance multiple simultaneous projects.
  • Strong interpersonal and written and verbal communication skills, with an ability to communicate and collaborate with individuals at all levels inside and outside of the organization in a positive and effective manner.
  • Ability to operate in a fast-paced, rapidly growing workplace, with a keen interest in providing a consistently high level of service.
  • Able to work independently while exercising initiative and good judgment.
  • Motivated and enthusiastic, with a proactive approach to solving complete legal and business challenges.
  • Assist and support with any special projects and initiatives.
  • Perform other duties as directed by the manager.

Apply for this job

*

indicates a required field

Resume/CV*

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Cover Letter

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Education

Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Kardigan’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Select...
Select...
Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305
Page 1 of 1
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury
Select...

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.