Senior Legal Counsel

The Position

Do you have a keen sense for navigating complex legal matters and want to contribute to securing freedom to operate and defending market exclusivity for highly innovative pharmaceuticals?

Are you excited by the prospect of taking on responsibility and working in a highly dynamic environment as part of the Corporate Department of Boehringer Ingelheim being responsible for intellectual property?

In this exciting position located in Ingelheim, you will play a key role in supporting our human pharma and animal health business in bringing innovative products to the patients in need.
Join us to shape the future of Boehringer Ingelheim! 

Tasks & responsibilities

• In this role, you will leverage your extensive legal expertise to mitigate launch risks from third party patents for our newly developed products as well as to enforce and defend our patents to defend our products against patent infringement.  


• With a strategic mindset, you will develop complex launch risk mitigation strategies in a cross functional set up and provide tailored advice to the business how to leverage upside potential from our existing patent portfolios.  


• Managing and instructing our network of external lawyers and patent attorneys in disputes including in-court infringement and nullity proceedings will be a key part of your responsibilities. 


• In addition, you will support the negotiation and drafting of complex agreements to find the best possible solutions for Boehringer Ingelheim.  

Requirements

• Fully qualified lawyer, preferably with honors in the second state examination. An additional qualification (LL.M. or comparable degree with a focus on IP law) is desirable


• Longterm specialization in the field of intellectual property and the pharmaceutical industry at an international level as well as extensive experience in managing large international IP portfolios


• Longterm relevant professional experience in external law firms specialized on patent litigation or in a comparable in-house position as a corporate counsel


• Experience in leading, coordinating, and managing patent litigation


• Knowledge and experience in the pharmaceutical industry


• Strong strategic understanding and the ability to quickly grasp and clearly present legally and technically complex matters 


• High level of teamwork and excellent communication skills in English and German  

As part of our commitment to transparency and fairness, salary information will be shared during the recruitment process. We also offer a comprehensive benefits and wellbeing package.  Applications from persons with severe disabilities are warmly welcomed. In cases of equal qualifications, such applicants will be given preferential consideration in the selection process.   

Ready to contact us? 

If you have any questions about the job posting or process - please contact our HR Direct Team, Tel: +49 (0) 6132 77-3330 or via mail: [email protected] 

Recruitment process: 

Step 1: Online application - The job posting is presumably online until July 20th, 2026. We reserve the right to take the posting offline beforehand.
Step 2: Virtual meeting till mid of August
Step 3: On-site interviews are planned for end of August 

Please include the following documents when applying for this position: References (e.g. high school diploma, university degree certificate and employment references)