Legal Director France & Belgium - all genders

​Job title: CHC Legal Director France & Belgium

• Location: France (Neuilly - 92)
• 50% Remote working
• Job type: Permanent, Full time

About the job

Opella, the Consumer Healthcare business unit of Sanofi, is the purest and third-largest player globally in the Over-The-Counter (OTC) & Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements (VMS) market.  

We have an unshakable belief in the power of self-care and the role it can play in creating a healthier society and a healthier planet.
That’s why we want to make self-care as simple as it should be by being consumer-led always, with science at our core. 
Through our unique and balanced portfolio of more than 100 loved brands, including 15 global and local high-growth challengers such as Allegra, Dulcolax and Buscopan, we deliver our mission: helping more than half a billion consumers worldwide take their health in their hands.  
This mission is brought to life by an 11,000-strong team, 13 best-in-class manufacturing sites, and 4 specialized science and innovation development centers. 
We are also proud to be the first major fast-moving consumer healthcare company to achieve B Corp certification. 

Join us on our mission. Health. In your hands.

Our Team:

This is once-in-a career opportunity to join a “Feel Good” global legal team!

The Global Opella Legal, Ethics & Business Integrity, & Global Security Team is a group of motivated, energetic and collaborative seasoned lawyers organized in different sub-teams according to regional and/or subject matter responsibilities and/or expertise with the common objective to deliver value by identifying opportunities and balancing risks at speed.

Within this global organization, you will be a key member of our Opella Legal Europe & Latin America (EULA) team, reporting to the Opella Senior Legal Director EULA.

Your Main responsibilities:

You will support the Opella France commercial organization. In this context, you will drive the legal strategy for the country, designing new ways of working within your geographical scope that enables to achieve your goals as single contributor.

You will be a member of the Opella France Leadership Team.

You will provide, among others, the following key activities:

• Render effective and thoughtful advice to Opella France leadership team.
• Provide effective, business-oriented legal support to all Opella France teams, to ensure the achievement of business goals while mitigating legal risk and keeping the interests of our company at the forefront.
• Advise and assist on a wide range of business law matters such as advertising of medical products (Rx, OTC,) but also medical devices and food supplements, commercial/distribution law (in particular annual commercial agreements), consumer rights, competition law, e-commerce regulation, supply and manufacturing, data privacy, among others.
• Support on authorities’ investigations and inspections (excluding compliance topics managed by the Ethics & Business Integrity team) relating to Opella operations.
• Manage third party claims, disputes and litigations.
• Ensure compliance with your local legal budget.

• Oversee outside counsels, including selecting, budgeting, managing and evaluation.
• Be a mentor and manage an Opella junior legal counsel France.
• Drive executional excellence through simplification initiatives, optimization of ways of working, leveraging on technology -if applicable- locally and potentially globally; to effectively and efficiently render legal services.
• Contribute and assist in drafting and implementing policies, providing relevant trainings to relevant country local Opella teams.
• Spot legal trends, update Opella business teams on changes in the regulation and industry codes that might impact the relevant country local Opella business operations.
• Shape the local legal environment, representing Opella in country local legal or industry forums.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with other legal peers, Ethics & Business Integrity, business functions and teams in priority projects stretching beyond your local role.

Your key contacts:

• Internal: business partners, Legal and Ethics and Business Integrity and Global Security team at global and local level.
• External: competent authorities, third parties -including public and private institutions-external law firms/counsellors and trade associations.

About you

• Education: J.D. or foreign equivalent

• Experience: 10+ years of relevant legal experience in similar roles in the pharmaceutical or FMCG industry.

• Soft skills: Strong communication, empathic and influencing skills; must be able to succinctly summarize and present complex legal concepts to business partners, to balance projects and prioritize quickly; intellectually curious, open-minded, adaptable, comfortable with ambiguity and risk and excited by dynamic change, high level of professional ethics and integrity; good sense of humour.
• Technical skills: Demonstrated ability to create legal defensive or proactive strategies, competent negotiator, thoughtful risk taker with sound judgement and ability to analyse situations and information, well-honed organizational and analytical skills, comfortable dealing with versatile regulatory landscape.
• Languages: Excellent written, oral communication and presentation skills in French and English. We take as a candy any additional EU language.

Pursue progress, discover extraordinary

Better is out there. Better medications, better outcomes, better science. But progress doesn’t happen without people – people from different backgrounds, in different locations, doing different roles, all united by one thing: a desire to make miracles happen. So, let’s be those people.

At Sanofi, we provide equal opportunities to all regardless of race, colour, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, or gender identity.

Watch our ALL IN video and check out our Diversity Equity and Inclusion actions at sanofi.com!