House Legal Counsel Wanted In Taiwan

Pharmaceutical legal counsel roles that genuinely combine strategic business partnership, commercial contract complexity, regulatory depth, and direct executive leadership engagement at this level are rare in the Twin Cities market, and Upsher-Smith Laboratories is offering exactly that. Upsher-Smith Laboratories, LLC is currently hiring a Legal Counsel to provide strategic, proactive legal guidance across the full commercial, compliance, and risk management spectrum of their pharmaceutical business operations, enabling the organization to execute commercial strategies confidently while meeting all applicable United States and global regulatory requirements. This is an onsite and hybrid position requiring residency in the Twin Cities metropolitan area and covers an exceptionally broad and high-impact legal portfolio including commercial and supply chain contract drafting and negotiation, promotional and advertising legal review, pharmaceutical compliance and ethics program support, pricing and market access legal oversight, internal investigations and outside counsel management, governance and training program delivery, and senior leadership strategic partnership on emerging legal risks and business opportunities. A Juris Doctor with active Minnesota bar admission, ten years of pharmaceutical, healthcare, or medical device legal experience, and three years of in-house counsel experience are the firm minimum qualifications, with prior generics and branded pharmaceutical experience, pre-launch commercialization exposure, and familiarity with global regulatory frameworks strongly preferred. With a compensation range of $196,304.00 to $294,455.00, an onsite and hybrid work arrangement in the Twin Cities, and the organizational depth and collaborative culture of an established pharmaceutical company with a Taiwan-based parent organization and a growing specialty and generic pharmaceutical portfolio, this senior pharmaceutical legal counsel job at Upsher-Smith Laboratories in Minnesota is a professionally exceptional and financially strong opportunity for a highly experienced, business-oriented, and regulatory-fluent pharmaceutical attorney who is ready to serve as a genuine strategic partner to commercial leadership in a company where in-house legal counsel has a direct and meaningful seat at the table.

Company Overview

Upsher-Smith Laboratories, LLC is an established United States pharmaceutical company operating within a global organizational structure with a Taiwan-based headquarters, focused on the development, manufacturing, and commercialization of generic and branded specialty pharmaceutical products across a growing and strategically evolving product portfolio. The company operates with a strong commitment to compliant commercial growth, responsible risk management, and the kind of business-oriented legal partnership that empowers commercial teams to execute strategies confidently within a well-governed regulatory and ethical framework. Upsher-Smith Laboratories is committed to providing equal employment opportunity to all applicants and employees in full accordance with all applicable federal, state, and local equal opportunity and affirmative action laws, directives, and regulations, and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, familial status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, public assistance status, employment status, protected veteran status, genetic information, or any other protected category under applicable law. The company offers a collaborative and cross-functionally integrated working environment where the Legal Counsel role is positioned as a true strategic partner to commercial, compliance, finance, and executive leadership, with meaningful visibility into business strategy, product launches, and organizational risk management at the highest levels of the company.

Key Responsibilities

Commercial, Supply Chain, Licensing, and Distribution Contracts:

Draft, review, and negotiate a comprehensive portfolio of commercial agreements including sales and distribution agreements with wholesalers, group purchasing organizations, drug chains, specialty distributors, and third-party logistics providers, ensuring all commercial contracts are legally sound, commercially balanced, and fully compliant with applicable federal and state pharmaceutical distribution and trade regulations
Draft, review, and negotiate market access agreements including rebate structures, chargeback frameworks, and payer contracting arrangements, applying technical expertise in pharmaceutical pricing and market access legal requirements to support commercial access strategy across all relevant payer and channel segments
Draft, review, and negotiate promotional services agreements including agency contracts, speaker bureau arrangements, and medical science liaison collaboration boundary documentation, vendor master service agreements and statements of work, HCP consulting and advisory agreements, event sponsorship contracts, and patient support program agreements covering hubs, copay vendors, and affordability program partners
Draft, review, and negotiate supply chain agreements including supply and manufacturing contracts, purchase agreements covering acquisitions and divestitures, licensing and development agreements including external drug development and co-development structures, and strategic partnership agreements supporting the company’s pipeline and commercial portfolio management objectives
Manage confidentiality and disclosure agreements for Upsher-Smith Laboratories and third-party confidential information throughout all commercial and business development transactions and interactions
Maintain and continuously improve contract playbooks and clause libraries across all major commercial agreement categories, aligning with Finance and Compliance stakeholders to ensure contractual standards reflect current regulatory requirements, organizational risk tolerance, and commercial operational needs

Promotional and Advertising Legal Review:

Serve as legal reviewer on Upsher-Smith’s Drug Promotion Review Team, providing legal assessment of promotional and advertising materials across all channels for claims substantiation accuracy, fair balance compliance, appropriate use of real-world evidence, social and digital campaign regulatory alignment, and field tool compliance with FDA and FTC guidelines, product labeling requirements, and applicable risk communication standards
Ensure all promotional and advertising content across traditional, digital, and field channels meets the legal and regulatory requirements applicable to pharmaceutical promotion under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, FTC advertising standards, and any other relevant federal or state promotional regulation applicable to the company’s branded and generic product portfolio

Compliance, Ethics, and Commercial Risk Management:

Provide training and ongoing legal guidance to assure organizational compliance with antitrust law, domestic and foreign anti-corruption legislation, government healthcare program requirements including Medicare and Medicaid, the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act, the Drug Supply Chain Security Act, the Prescription Drug Marketing Act, the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, and all other applicable federal and state laws, regulations, and industry guidelines affecting the company and its affiliates
Interpret and operationalize the False Claims Act, Sunshine Act and Open Payments requirements, state marketing codes, and privacy regulations impacting commercial activities, ensuring that every commercially relevant policy, process, and business activity across the organization reflects current legal compliance requirements and organizational ethical standards
Partner with the Director of Compliance to provide legal guidance on all HCP interaction structures including meals, sponsorships, grants and donations, speaker programs, and field force conduct, and to update policies, standard operating procedures, and compliance monitoring plans as regulatory requirements and organizational needs evolve
Oversee and coordinate the work of the Legal Affairs function as applicable to the commercial compliance responsibilities of this role

Pricing, Market Access, and Distribution Legal Support:

Review and provide legal guidance on pricing strategies, rebate structures, patient affordability program designs, and value-based contracting arrangements, ensuring all pricing and market access activities comply with applicable federal and state price reporting, anti-kickback, and Medicaid best price requirements
Support trade strategy legal needs across GPO and integrated delivery network contracting, retail and wholesale GPO agreements, specialty pharmacy contracting structures, and chargeback and reconciliation framework documentation, providing commercially practical legal guidance that enables the trade and market access team to execute distribution strategy within a properly governed legal framework

Investigations, Disputes, and Outside Counsel Management:

Lead internal fact-finding activities for commercial incidents and compliance concerns, coordinating outside counsel engagement for disputes, general litigation matters, and regulatory inquiries in a manner that balances cost management with strategic legal effectiveness
Oversee and manage all general litigation activities assigned to this role including outside counsel selection, legal budget management, litigation strategy development, document production coordination, and ongoing interaction with outside counsel throughout the lifecycle of each matter
Manage legal hold implementation, document preservation protocols, and remediation plan development and execution across all matters requiring formal preservation and discovery management under applicable legal standards

Training, Governance, and Organizational Enablement:

Deliver onboarding and periodic legal training programs for Commercial teams covering all relevant legal and compliance topics applicable to their commercial activities, promotional conduct, HCP interactions, and business development functions
Establish and maintain a governance cadence with Commercial leadership including monthly risk review sessions and quarterly policy update processes that keep the organization’s legal risk awareness, compliance posture, and policy currency aligned with the evolving regulatory and business environment

Strategic Legal Partnership with Executive Leadership:

Recognize and proactively anticipate a broad range of legal issues and business risks across the commercial, regulatory, compliance, and transactional landscape, communicating the nature, significance, and remediation options for identified risks to company leadership in clear, business-relevant terms that enable informed and timely decision-making
Develop legal and business strategies in response to proposed business opportunities, significant legal developments, proposed legislation, and evolving regulatory requirements, contributing the kind of commercially oriented legal judgment that positions the legal function as a genuine driver of business value rather than a transactional service provider
Stay current with pharmaceutical industry laws, legal developments, and regulatory changes that affect Upsher-Smith’s commercial strategy and business operations, proactively communicating relevant developments to leadership and recommending appropriate organizational responses
Maintain a positive corporate legal posture and advise the leadership team on risk management with the strategic clarity, business credibility, and professional authority that a senior in-house pharmaceutical counsel role at this level requires

Qualifications

Required Education and Experience:

A Juris Doctor from an accredited law school is required along with current admission to practice law in the State of Minnesota, which must be maintained in good standing throughout the entire period of employment
A minimum of ten years of legal experience within the pharmaceutical, healthcare, or medical device industry is required, with candidates who bring experience across both branded and generic pharmaceutical legal environments being given particularly strong consideration
A minimum of three years of in-house counsel experience within a pharmaceutical, healthcare, or related regulated industry organization is required, reflecting the organizational navigation skills, cross-functional relationship management capabilities, and business judgment orientation that in-house pharmaceutical legal work develops and demands
Demonstrated experience with commercial litigation and litigation strategy including outside counsel management, document preservation, legal hold administration, and litigation budget oversight within a pharmaceutical or healthcare organizational context
Deep technical expertise across pharmaceutical commercial contracts, promotional review and FDA advertising compliance, pharmaceutical pricing and market access legal requirements, HCP engagement regulatory frameworks, distribution and trade contracting structures, and commercial compliance program design and implementation
Business-oriented legal judgment with the ability to translate complex legal and regulatory requirements into commercially practical guidance that enables rather than unnecessarily restricts business activity
Negotiation excellence and the confidence, preparation, and commercial awareness to negotiate effectively across a wide range of pharmaceutical commercial agreement types and counterparty relationships
Strong stakeholder management skills with the executive presence, collaborative approach, and cross-functional relationship credibility to serve as a genuine strategic partner to commercial, compliance, finance, and executive leadership
Crisp written and oral communication skills with the ability to convey complex legal and regulatory analysis in clear, concise, and business-relevant terms for both legal and non-legal audiences across the organization
A demonstrated track record of strong cross-functional collaboration with commercial, medical, regulatory, finance, and compliance colleagues in a pharmaceutical or healthcare organizational environment

Preferred Experience:

Prior legal experience with both generic and branded pharmaceutical products, including familiarity with the distinct regulatory, promotional, and commercial legal considerations applicable to each product category
Experience supporting pre-launch commercialization activities for generic, rare disease, and specialty pharmaceutical products, including legal support for launch readiness reviews, promotional material approval, distribution agreement finalization, and compliance program implementation ahead of commercial launch
Familiarity with global regulatory and privacy frameworks including HIPAA, international transparency reporting regimes, and other cross-border compliance requirements applicable to a pharmaceutical company operating within a global organizational structure with a Taiwan-based parent entity
Exposure to digital and field sales promotion legal review including social media promotional compliance, field CRM enablement legal assessment, speaker program governance, and medical congress sponsorship legal support within the constraints of applicable pharmaceutical promotional regulations
Experience with supply chain, distribution, and third-party logistics agreement negotiation and management within a pharmaceutical commercial operations context
Experience working within a global pharmaceutical organization with international parent company relationships, cross-border legal coordination responsibilities, and occasional international meeting participation requirements

Work Details:

Employment type: Full-time, permanent
Work arrangement: Onsite and hybrid, requiring residency in the Twin Cities metropolitan area
Travel: Minimal, less than ten percent, for sales meetings, national conferences, and vendor audits as needed
Work hours: Aligned to commercial team cadence with occasional evening and quarter-end workloads for contracting or product launches, and occasional evening meetings to coordinate activities with Taiwan-based headquarters
Compensation range: $196,304.00 to $294,455.00

Benefits and Perks

Upsher-Smith Laboratories offers a compensation and benefits structure appropriate for a senior in-house pharmaceutical legal counsel role of this scope, seniority, and strategic importance within their Twin Cities-based organization. Here is what comes with this position:

A compensation range of $196,304.00 to $294,455.00 reflecting the seniority, technical expertise, regulatory depth, and strategic leadership contribution that this Legal Counsel role represents within Upsher-Smith Laboratories, with actual compensation determined based on experience, qualifications, and demonstrated expertise across the full range of pharmaceutical commercial legal competencies the role requires
An onsite and hybrid work arrangement with Twin Cities metropolitan area residency required, providing the flexibility of a hybrid schedule combined with the organizational access, cross-functional relationship depth, and leadership visibility that in-house pharmaceutical legal work at this level genuinely benefits from and requires
A strategically positioned and organizationally respected legal role with direct partnership access to commercial, compliance, finance, and executive leadership, providing the kind of genuine business influence and organizational impact that senior pharmaceutical in-house counsel professionals seek and that Upsher-Smith’s collaborative and commercially oriented culture actively supports
Exposure to a broad and professionally rich commercial legal portfolio spanning branded and generic pharmaceutical commercialization, pre-launch legal readiness, specialty pharmaceutical market access, global supply chain contracting, international parent company coordination, and digital and field promotional compliance within a single in-house role
Work within a global pharmaceutical organization with a Taiwan-based parent company and growing United States commercial operations, providing international organizational exposure and cross-border legal coordination experience that adds meaningful professional breadth to a senior in-house pharmaceutical legal career
An equal opportunity and affirmative action employment environment that evaluates every candidate and team member on the basis of professional qualification and contribution without regard to any protected personal characteristic, reflecting Upsher-Smith Laboratories’ genuine organizational commitment to a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace across all job titles and functions
Reasonable accommodations provided for individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position in accordance with applicable federal and state disability accommodation requirements

How to Apply

Upsher-Smith Laboratories, LLC is actively recruiting a Legal Counsel for their Twin Cities metropolitan area operations and welcomes applications from highly experienced, Minnesota-admitted, and pharmaceutical-industry-credentialed attorneys who bring the commercial contract expertise, promotional review experience, compliance program knowledge, litigation management capability, and strategic business partnership orientation this senior in-house pharmaceutical legal role demands.

To apply, submit your resume and a brief cover letter through the active Upsher-Smith Laboratories job listing, clearly reflecting your JD and Minnesota bar admission status, your years of pharmaceutical or healthcare legal experience, your in-house counsel background, your technical expertise across the commercial legal competencies the role requires, and your Twin Cities metropolitan area residency or relocation readiness. Please also address any relevant experience with generic and branded pharmaceutical commercialization, pre-launch legal support, global regulatory frameworks, and digital or field promotional compliance as these preferred qualifications will meaningfully strengthen your application during the candidate review process.

Compensation within the $196,304.00 to $294,455.00 range will be determined based on experience and qualifications at the offer stage, and Upsher-Smith Laboratories is committed to pay transparency and competitive compensation for all roles across the organization.

Pharmaceutical companies grow, launch products, and manage risk at the speed and complexity their commercial ambitions demand, and the Legal Counsel who enables that growth by being genuinely ahead of the issues, commercially fluent in the solutions, and strategically credible with the leadership team is not just a cost center but a genuine competitive advantage. If you are a Minnesota-admitted pharmaceutical attorney with the depth of experience, the business orientation, and the strategic leadership presence this role requires, apply to Upsher-Smith Laboratories today and bring your legal expertise to a Twin Cities pharmaceutical organization that will give it the scope, the visibility, and the organizational respect it deserves.