Legal Director

At Roche you can show up as yourself, embraced for the unique qualities you bring. Our culture encourages personal expression, open dialogue, and genuine connections,  where you are valued, accepted and respected for who you are, allowing you to thrive both personally and professionally. This is how we aim to prevent, stop and cure diseases and ensure everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Join Roche, where every voice matters.

The Position

As Legal Director Roche Pharmaceuticals Brazil,  you are the most senior legal authority for the Brazilian affiliate and  act as a strategic partner to the General Manager and the Executive Committee. In line with the Corporate company guidelines, you oversee all legal affairs, advise C-level executives on a wide range of strategic and operational matters, and enable business growth while mitigating risks related to commercial operations, antitrust risks, intellectual property, and government relations. As a member of the Leadership Team, you will also align strategic priorities, and drive the development of integrated business strategies.

The Opportunity: 

• Team & Business Leadership: Oversee the Legal Chapter, working closely with Strategy, Access, Customer-Facing, and Regulatory Affairs teams. Foster collaboration across enabling functions to unlock legal barriers, accelerate patient access to innovation, and provide sound strategic advice. Bridges local operations with Global Legal Pharma and other divisions to leverage synergies and protect IP

• Risk Management: Navigates complex laws (Antitrust, Healthcare Fraud, and Product Liability) to protect the company; while evaluating impact and risk appetite. Implements monitoring, audits, and training to build a risk-aware mindset across the organization. Evaluates key business challenges within the market and directs the development of new or innovative solutions to mitigate legal risk 

• Commercial & Contractual Oversight: Oversees the drafting and negotiation of distribution, licensing, clinical trials, divestment, risk-sharing, RPMs, PDPs, partnership agreements, among others. Ensures commercial and strategic activities comply with strict pharmaceutical regulations and public procurement laws

• Litigation & External Counsel: Manages all administrative and judicial litigation, ensuring the best defense for the company, including business and labor issues. Coordinates external law firms to ensure high-quality support while controlling costs

• Stakeholder Engagement: Build and sustain trustable, long-term relationships with industry associations, healthcare organizations and legal spheres. Represent the company in a broad range of public and industry forums, positioning the company as a trusted and collaborative partner in healthcare discussions

• People Leadership: Lead, manage, and continuously develop an in-house team of attorneys and legal professionals, fostering a culture of high performance, innovation, and collaboration 

• Throughout, you will act as a role-model leader - demonstrating courage, integrity, inclusiveness, and VACC leadership. You will cultivate a culture of transparency, trust, and collaboration across the affiliate and the broader network.

Who you are: 

• Master of Law degree (OAB number) and comprehensive past experience in law firm or in-house counsel—ideally within pharmaceutical, biotech or related industries

• Solid understanding of Brazilian healthcare regulations, policy-making processes, and the political landscape

• Acts with honesty, transparency and ethical principles in all decisions; serves as a role model and builds trust across the organization

• Synthesizes diverse inputs to solve problems and steer effectively

• Proven leadership experience with cross-functional teams and people management

• Exercises exceptional legal and business judgment, quickly assessing complex risks and developing practical, outcome-driven strategies that align with business objectives

• Excellent interpersonal, negotiation, and influencing capabilities

• Willingness to travel domestically and internationally

• Fluency in Portuguese and English, with the ability to convey messages clearly, convincingly and diplomatically.

• Availability to work in a hybrid model based on São Paulo

Relocation benefits are not available for this position.

Who we are

A healthier future drives us to innovate. Together, more than 100’000 employees across the globe are dedicated to advance science, ensuring everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Our efforts result in more than 26 million people treated with our medicines and over 30 billion tests conducted using our Diagnostics products. We empower each other to explore new possibilities, foster creativity, and keep our ambitions high, so we can deliver life-changing healthcare solutions that make a global impact.

Let’s build a healthier future, together.

Roche is an Equal Opportunity Employer.