General Counsel & Company Secretary | Research Organisation

• Executive leadership role
• Flexible work & collaborative culture
• Lead legal strategy for a purpose-driven organisation

About the Company
Our client is a nationally recognised, purpose-driven not-for-profit organisation dedicated to advancing world-leading research and delivering meaningful real-world impact. Bringing together world-class expertise, innovation and collaboration, the organisation works at the forefront of its field and partners with leading healthcare, education and research institutions.
With a values-led culture and a commitment to meaningful work, this is an opportunity to apply your legal expertise where it will have a genuine and lasting impact.

About the Role

Reporting to the Chief Operations & Engagement Officer, you will be the organisation's chief legal adviser and Company Secretary, providing practical legal advice and solutions across governance, assurance (risk), commercial contracts, regulatory matters, privacy, and strategic initiatives.

This is a broad and influential role where you will partner closely with executive leadership and the Board, lead a 5-person multidisciplinary legal, governance and risk function, and help shape the organisation's long-term strategy. You will work on significant commercial agreements, research collaborations and governance matters while balancing legal risk with practical, commercial business outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide strategic legal advice to the executive team and Board across commercial, governance and regulatory matters.
• Lead the drafting and negotiation of complex commercial, funding, procurement and collaboration agreements.
• Act as Company Secretary, supporting Board and committee governance and decision-making.
• Lead the legal, governance, risk, compliance and assurance functions.
• Oversee disputes, litigation and external legal advisers where required.
• Partner with senior stakeholders to deliver practical, commercially focused legal solutions.
• Drive continuous improvement across governance, compliance and risk frameworks.

About You

You are an experienced senior lawyer with strong commercial judgement and the confidence to advise executives and Boards on complex, high-profile matters.

You will ideally bring:

• An Australian practising certificate with substantial post-admission experience.
• Experience across commercial contracts, corporate governance, regulatory compliance and organisational assurance (risk).
• A combination of private practice and in-house experience, particularly in the health, research, pharmaceutical or tertiary education sector, will be highly regarded.
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to build trusted relationships across all levels of an organisation.
• Excellent drafting, negotiation and stakeholder management skills.
• The ability to balance legal risk with commercial and operational objectives.

Benefits

• Flexible work environment including work from home options.
• Discounted parking close to the office.
• An opportunity to combine high-calibre legal work with genuine purpose.
• Executive-level influence, working closely with the Board and senior leadership.
• Broad and intellectually engaging work across commercial, governance, risk and strategic initiatives.
• A collaborative, values-led culture with flexibility and a strong commitment to professional growth.
• The chance to contribute to an organisation advancing world-leading research with real-world impact.
• Generous salary package including NFP salary packaging

Apply now or contact Jason Elias at [email protected] or 0411 151 860 for a confidential discussion.