Senior Counsel, Employment & Labor Law

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 Opportunity

• Responsible for advising Roche relative to potential legal violations, employee relations issues, and/or violations of Code of Conduct or other policies.

• Provide counseling to People & Culture (HR) on a variety of employment-related matters, including but not limited to disability accommodations, leaves of absence, employment discrimination and harassment claims and charges, discipline and termination matters, reductions-in-force, wage and hour compliance, incentive compensation, restrictive covenants, personnel policies and procedures.

• Provide expert legal advice on principal employment laws, including but not limited to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, ADA, ADEA, FMLA, FLSA, and state-specific employment statutes and regulations.

• Collaborate effectively with key business stakeholders, such as the People & Culture, People Relations, Benefits, and other business teams to provide proactive legal guidance, mitigate risks, and support strategic initiatives.

• Direct, coordinate and/or advise relative to workplace investigations into allegations such as harassment, discrimination, retaliation, misconduct, fraud, security, ethics, code of conduct, corporate integrity, compliance, whistleblower, and policy violations, ensuring a thorough, objective, and legally compliant process.

• Working cross-functionally to triage, assign, track, and address concerns raised via the hotline and internally.

• Own protocols and frameworks, identifying and implementing improvements to enhance consistency, efficiency, and compliance.

• Stay current on healthcare, compliance and employment laws and workplace investigation trends to ensure compliance and integrate new developments into company practices.

• Contribute to broader compliance initiatives, including audits, policy development, and risk mitigation strategies.

• Play a critical role in safeguarding company reputation and compliance.

• Work closely with other members of the legal and compliance team, the privacy team and business and operational stakeholders on a wide variety of internal investigations, subpoenas responses, and enforcement matters, working collaboratively with stakeholders across the company.

• Remain current on relevant laws and regulations to ensure our compliance efforts in the employment law space remain current.

• Keep abreast of legislation, regulations, and case law developments that affect the company.

• Develop strategy and assess legal risk posed by matters, managing factual development and preparing reports to senior leaders within the lines of business, risk organization, compliance, and finance.

• Identify the need for and, when necessary in collaboration with leadership, select, engage, and supervise outside counsel on matters, including information gathering, strategy, and budget management in compliance with outside counsel guidelines.

• Provide cross-functional support and counseling to line of business clients and other attorneys within the Legal Department on efforts to mitigate legal risk for the company.

• Actively support national and global employment and labor law initiatives, programs and efforts.

• Analyze and advise on emerging risks, conducting training, and working to improve policies, procedures, and internal practices.

• Develop an in-depth working knowledge of the products, pipeline, market and business model and apply this knowledge in the delivery of sound and practical legal advice.

• Support the company's compliance program ensuring compliance with laws, regulations, and industry standards.

• Foster cross-functional and business unit collaboration across the company's product portfolio and affiliated entities.

• Work as a liaison between in-house clients and in-house subject matter expert attorneys to ensure effective mitigation of risk in specialized areas of law.

• Draft, review, and negotiate a wide range of commercial agreements and other legal documents.

• Work with global company affiliate business partners and affiliate attorneys as necessary to assist company in achieving business goals.

• Support the priorities for the Legal department and actively engage as a lawyer and leader within the Legal department and across the organization.

Who You Are:

• Education: Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD) degree from an ABA-accredited law school, licensed to practice law in one or more of the 50 states.

• Professional Experience: 8 years experience practicing law at a large-to-medium-sized law firm or within a corporate law department; practice must include comprehensive work experience in the employment and labor space.

  • Experience providing advice and counsel on a broad range of employment issues, and experience in employment litigation.

  • Experience in litigation and investigations, compliance and risk assessment counseling.

  • Prior experience in government and/or biotech and/or healthcare organizations.

  • Experience managing employment litigation, and class actions.

  • Experience in litigation, including trial defense and appeals.

  • Experience working with cross-functional teams, both legal and non-legal.

Specific Skills/Expertise:

• Excellent communication skills (oral and written), including ability to communicate complex information in a short, easy-to-understand format.

• Excellent interpersonal skills, including a friendly and professional demeanor, cooperative partnership approach, and an ability to effectively work both independently and in a team environment with people of many countries and cultures, and at all levels of the organization.

• Highly organized self-starter proficient at multi-tasking and managing multiple priorities and projects simultaneously.

• Have a practical, business-oriented, risk-based approach to problem-solving.

• Ability to timely and effectively counsel internal clients by providing them with clear, concise, and practical advice, and creative solutions.

• Ability to maintain strict confidence and discretion.

• Ability to apply sound, principled, and consistent judgment in a fast-moving and challenging legal and business environment.

• Ability to analyze complex legal issues and communicate them in a clear and concise fashion.

• Knowledge of healthcare and life sciences industries and relevant laws and regulations (Anti-Kickback Statute, False Claims Act, FDCA, HIPAA, FTC, etc.) strongly preferred.

• Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain open, candid and trusting work relationships.

• Excellent analytical, problem solving skills, and the ability to manage ambiguous situations and issues.

• Willingness and ability to deliver a consistent message in the face of pressure or adversity.

• Ability to encourage transparent and connected culture between the Legal department and business stakeholders.

This position is based in Indianapolis, IN and has an in office requirement.

Relocation benefits are not available for this posting.

The expected salary range for this position based on the primary location of Indiana is$163,200 to $303,200. Actual pay will be determined based on experience, qualifications, geographic location, and other job-related factors permitted by law. A discretionary annual bonus may be available based on individual and Company performance. This position also qualifies for the benefits detailed at the link provided below.

Benefits

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. It is our policy and practice to employ, promote, and otherwise treat any and all employees and applicants on the basis of merit, qualifications, and competence. The company's policy prohibits unlawful discrimination, including but not limited to, discrimination on the basis of Protected Veteran status, individuals with disabilities status, and consistent with all federal, state, or local laws.

If you have a disability and need an accommodation in relation to the online application process, please contact us by completing this form Accommodations for Applicants.