About Adcendo

Adcendo is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing first- and best-in-class antibody-drug conjugates for cancers of high unmet need. We are headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, with operations in Boston, Massachusetts.

The opportunity

Adcendo is entering a defining period. We are scaling a portfolio of three clinical stage ADC programs, building out our US presence, and preparing the corporate, governance and compliance infrastructure for our next stage of growth.

The General Counsel will be our first dedicated in-house legal hire and will build the function from the ground up. This is a role with broad remit: corporate governance and board support, corporate finance support, cross-border corporate structuring, strategic transactions, clinical and commercial contracting, intellectual property strategy, compliance and privacy.

You will report to the Chief Executive Officer, sit on the executive leadership team, work directly with our Board, and partner closely with the CFO.

What you will do

Corporate finance and securities

• Lead the legal workstream for corporate financing and capital strategy, managing external counsel and coordinating with auditors.
• Own the disclosure record - drafting and internal sign-off across risk factors, business, legal proceedings, related-party and governance disclosure.
• Build a robust corporate infrastructure: disclosure controls and procedures, insider trading policies, and corporate equity administration.

Governance and Corporate Secretary

• Serve as Corporate Secretary: board and committee calendars, agendas, materials, resolutions and minutes.
• Build the governance architecture - constitutional documents, committee charters, code of conduct, related-party transaction and clawback policies, corporate governance guidelines and the full board policy suite.
• Support board composition, independence determinations, committee formation and director onboarding.
• Management of the corporate equity program.

Strategic transactions and business development

• Lead the legal workstream on licensing, collaboration, and asset transactions across the pipeline.
• Negotiate clinical collaboration and supply agreements with pharmaceutical partners.
• Run diligence, structuring and documentation on in-licensing, out-licensing, divestitures and M&A.

Clinical, regulatory, IP and contracting

• With external counsel support, oversee contracting function across CROs, CDMOs, clinical sites, investigators and vendors - templates, playbooks, approval thresholds, intake, and the contract management tooling to run it.
• With external counsel support, oversee intellectual property strategy with external patent counsel and R&D: portfolio management across three clinical programs and the underlying ADC platform, freedom-to-operate, and in-licensed technology obligations.

Compliance, privacy, employment and risk

• Build the corporate compliance program - policies, training, monitoring and board-level reporting - anticipating the move from research-stage to commercial-stage obligations.
• Partner with QA on data privacy across GDPR and Danish implementing law on one side, HIPAA and US state privacy law on the other, including clinical data and transfers between our Danish and US entities.
• Partner with People/HR on Danish and US employment law and on executive compensation and equity matters.
• Own litigation, disputes, insurance including D&O, and enterprise legal risk reporting to the Board.

Building the function

• Set the in-house versus outside-counsel strategy, hold the legal budget, and consolidate the external panel across Denmark, the US and the EU.

What you will bring

Required

• J.D. from an accredited law school and active membership in good standing of at least one US state bar.
• 12+ years of relevant legal experience combining a leading law firm with meaningful in-house time; 15+ preferred.
• Experience as General Counsel, Chief Legal Officer, Deputy General Counsel or head of a legal function at a life sciences company
• Biotechnology or pharmaceutical industry experience preferred
• Substantive cross-border experience - comfort operating across US and European legal systems, instructing non-US counsel, and working across time zones and legal cultures.
• A track record of building a legal function

Preferred

• Experience taking a venture-backed company through the transition through late-stage growth and scaling corporate governance.
• Scandinavian corporate law exposure, or prior experience managing external Scandinavian counsel.

Who thrives here

• You make decisions under time pressure and imperfect information, and you are comfortable being the one who decides.
• You have credibility with a board, an audit committee and sophisticated investors.
• You are financially literate enough to work on complex corporate and financial documents.
• You have experience working across cultures
• You are hands-on
• You are discreet, without exception.

Location, travel and what we offer

This role is based in Boston, Massachusetts, on a hybrid schedule. Candidates elsewhere on the US East Coast will be considered. Periodic travel to Copenhagen is required.

We offer a competitive executive base salary, an annual performance bonus, a meaningful equity grant, comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage, a 401(k), and paid time off.

How to apply

Please submit a resume and a short note on why this role interests you. We review every application. Candidates who progress will speak with the CEO, the CFO and members of the Board.

Equal opportunity

Adcendo is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We are committed to an inclusive hiring process and will provide reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities - please let us know if you need one at any stage.

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States.

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