Director, Employment and Litigation Counsel

Overview

The Director, Employment & Litigation Counsel will serve as a key legal advisor to Human Resources, Business Leaders, and cross-functional partners across the organization. Reporting directly to the Assistant General Counsel, this role is responsible for providing practical, solution-oriented legal advice on a broad range of employment matters, managing general commercial and employment litigation, directly engaging with adverse parties, overseeing workplace investigations, and supporting global workforce growth in the biopharmaceutical sector. This role will offer preventive advice and solutions to the HR team for a range of topics from employee relations (“ER”) perspective, including, but not limited to, recruitment, compensation and benefits, retention, discrimination, harassment, performance, discipline and separations. This role will also provide advice on employee data-related matters. The geographic coverage of this role is primarily U.S. and may be expanded with the growth of the business.

Responsibilities

Employment Law Advice & HR Partnership

• Serve as a primary Legal Business Partner to HR, Talent Acquisition, and Total Rewards teams on employment compliance, worker classification (FLSA), performance management, accommodations, leaves of absence, executive compensation, and separations     
• Draft, review, and update employment-related agreements, restrictive covenants, separation packages, and workforce policies to align with federal, state, and local laws     
• Provide strategic counsel on immigration, OFCCP/EEOC compliance, global mobility, and contingent workforce management     
• Monitor evolving employment legislation and industry trends in the biotech/pharma space to proactively implement risk mitigation strategies     

 

Workplace Investigations & Compliance

• Lead or supervise complex internal investigations into whistleblower allegations, harassment, discrimination, and code-of-conduct violations     
• Formulate standardized investigation workflows, ensure objective documentation, and partner with HR to implement corrective actions and remediations     
• Design and deliver interactive legal training programs for managers and HR professionals on employment compliance, internal investigations, and anti-harassment standards     
• Engage external counsel support as needed     

 

Commercial & General Litigation Management

• Act as a primary legal point of contact for external disputes, directly communicating and negotiating with adverse parties, opposing counsel, regulatory agencies, and third-party claimants across a variety of pre-litigation and active dispute matters     
• Direct and manage strategy for general commercial litigation, breach of contract claims, vendor disputes, IP-adjacent matters, and employment-related administrative charges (EEOC/state agencies)     
• Select, manage, and supervise outside counsel to ensure high-quality, cost-effective representation and strategic alignment on litigation proceedings     
• Oversee e-discovery, litigation holds, document collection, subpoena responses, and witness preparation for depositions and hearings     

Qualifications

Skills/Knowledge

• J.D. is required
• Active license to practice law in at least one US State
• Minimum of 7 years HR experience in the US experience in private practice and/or in-house at high growth companies
• Substantial hands-on experience directly negotiating and communicating with adverse parties, opposing counsel, and agency investigators to resolve pre-litigation disputes and commercial claims     
• Comprehensive knowledge of federal, state, and local employment laws (e.g., Title VII, ADA, FMLA, FLSA, ADEA, state wage-and-hour laws), as well as general civil procedure     
• Demonstrated experience managing workplace investigations, administrative agency charges, and commercial disputes     
• Experience      advising on employee data collection, process and protection     
• Hands-on, solution-oriented, and ability to provide actionable solutions     
• Strategic thinker, knowledgeable on best practices          
• Ability to recognize trends and identify systemic approaches to solving problems     
• Excellent interpersonal skills to communicate with teams of all levels with different culture and education backgrounds     
• Proficient multi-tasking, with strong attention to detail     
• Team-oriented person with excellent follow-up skills     
• Passion for learning, self-motivated, energetic, and enthusiastic     
• A proactive, entrepreneurial mindset     
• Global experience a plus, but not required

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Please note: this position is classified as a corporate office position. In accordance with the New York employer convenience rule, Stemline will withhold New York state income taxes for all corporate office employees, regardless of whether these employees work in New York or remotely. 

Base Salary Range of  $220,000 - $277,843. Menarini Stemline offers generous compensation and benefits packages, including Short-Term and Long-Term Incentive Programs, Fidelity 401(k) (with company match of 6%), Anthem Premier PPO and HDHP insurance plans, Company paid Basic Life & AD&D insurance and pre-tax FSA/HSA programs.

Menarini Stemline is committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.

The Company

Founded in 1886 in Naples under the name of Farmacia Internazionale, Menarini moved in 1915 to Florence where the Group’s headquarters are still located today. High quality therapeutics and diagnostics solutions for patients, ethics as our underlying principle, dedication to innovation and advancement, strong people centricity and environmental sustainability. These five pillars form the foundation of the Menarini Group, an Italian pharmaceutical company with nearly 135 years of history. 

 

The Menarini Group is present in 70 countries and our products are sold in 140 locations around the world. Its companies span from Europe to Asia, to Africa and the Middle East, to Central America and to the United States where with the acquisition of Stemline Therapeutics, a NASDAQ-listed biopharmaceutical company, the company marked its entry into the US oncology market.

 

Thanks to the valuable contribution of around 18,000 employees, every year more than 500 million packs of drugs are produced at the Group's 18 manufacturing sites including a biotech plant for the manufacturing of monoclonal antibodies that also serves external clients distributed across 6 continents.

 

Menarini has made a strong commitment to oncology, investing in a pipeline of five investigational compounds for the treatment of a variety of haematological and solid tumours. The acquisition of Stemline Therapeutics in June 2020, further strengthened Menarini’s oncology portfolio, adding both commercial and clinical-stage assets. Tagraxofusp is a novel, first in class targeted therapy for patients with blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) and to date, the only approved treatment for BPDCN in the U.S. and EU, and the first and only approved CD123-targeted therapy. Tagraxofusp is also being evaluated as both a single agent and in combination, in other CD123+ indications, including acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia (CMML), and myelofibrosis (MF). 

 

Additionally, Menarini received exclusive rights to commercialise Selinexor for the treatment of oncology indications in the European Union and other European countries (including the United Kingdom), Latin America and other key countries. Menarini has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Karyopharm Therapeutics for the rights to commercialise an innovative therapeutic option in Europe, Latin America, Turkey, Russia, and CIS countries. Selinexor is a first-in-class, oral Selective Inhibitor of Nuclear export compound for the treatment of hematologic cancers and solid tumours. It is already marketed in the US for multiple myeloma and is under development for solid tumour indications. Selinexor is registered in the EU for both early and late lines.

 

Menarini entered into a global licence agreement with Radius Health to complete the development of Elacestrant, an oral SERD in late-stage Phase 3 development for hormone receptor-positive advanced breast cancer. Following a successful phase 3 study, Menarini Stemline received FDA approval in January 2023 under priority review and successfully oversaw a strong launch in February to the US market with the EMA review process concluded positively in September 2023. 

 

Menarini’s commitment to oncology is also reflected in the investments made in the liquid biopsy diagnostic field through its affiliate Menarini Silicon Biosystems (MSB), a pioneer in rare cell analysis and non-invasive, advanced diagnostic solutions. MSB’s CELLSEARCH Circulating Tumour Cell (CTC) Test is the first and only clinically validated blood test cleared by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for detecting and counting CTCs in metastatic breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer when used in conjunction with other clinical monitoring methods.

 

Since 2021, MSB has offered in the US a menu of non-invasive Laboratory Developed Tests (LDTs) provided through its CLIA/CAP accredited US-based Lab. The services include CMC enumeration, CTC enumeration and PDL-1/HER2 biomarker and offer a minimally invasive approach to follow cancer patient’s therapeutic journey. 

 

In 2022, the company launched the CELLSEARCH® Circulating Multiple Myeloma Cell (CMMC) Enumeration LDT, the first-of-its-kind, which directly measures levels of plasma cells in the blood of patients. This test provides new, complementary information to that of the bone marrow biopsy and other standard-of-care measures. Due to its minimally invasive nature, it can be performed serially to assess plasma cell burden without requiring repeated bone marrow biopsies.

 

Menarini's vision and uniqueness in oncology is to bring together innovative therapeutic solutions and advanced liquid biopsy-based diagnostics for faster, more effective and precise patient management. 

 

It is an exciting time in the company’s development and an excellent opportunity for individuals joining us to contribute to building and shaping Menarini Stemline’s Oncology business.