Senior Legal Counsel
aqemia.com · Paris ·
- Work mode
- Hybrid
- Seniority
- Senior
- Employment
- Full time
- Category
- Legal
- Experience
- 5+ years
About AQEMIA
AQEMIA is a drug invention company dedicated to creating entirely new medicines to address major unmet medical needs. At the core of our mission is QEMI, our proprietary molecule-invention platform, which uniquely combines cutting-edge science with advanced technology. Powered by physics-based modeling, statistical mechanics, and generative AI, QEMI allows our teams to design novel drug candidates from first principles.
What makes AQEMIA different is our commitment to true innovation: our research is dedicated to the invention of new molecular entities, not the refinement of existing ones. We focus on inventing never-before-seen molecules, without relying on experimental data, and advancing them into a growing pipeline of proprietary programs and strategic partnerships with leading pharmaceutical companies.
Our most advanced preclinical programs are currently in vivo optimization, targeting diseases still waiting for effective treatments, offering our teams the opportunity to work on science that can make a real difference in people’s lives.
For more information, visit AQEMIA.com, our WTTJ Page, and our LinkedIn.
About our Team
AQEMIA brings together a diverse, multidisciplinary team of 80+ professionals based in Paris and London. Our scientists and engineers, including chemists, physicists, machine learning experts, and software engineers, work side by side to push the boundaries of early-stage drug discovery.
This close collaboration across disciplines is central to our approach, enabling us to tackle complex scientific challenges from first principles and translate cutting-edge ideas into novel therapeutic candidates. At AQEMIA, team members are encouraged to contribute their expertise, learn from one another, and play an active role in shaping the future of drug invention.
The role
AQEMIA's drug discovery programs and AI platform increasingly create value through licensing deals and strategic partnerships with pharma and biotech companies.
As our first in-house Legal Counsel, you will lead the legal work on these deals from term sheet to signing. You'll make sure each licensing agreement maximises value creation for Aqemia, protects our IP, and the platform behind every program. Beyond licensing, you will become the trusted legal partner for CEO, founders, leadership and teams across the company, covering IP and patents, operational contracts, data and AI, compliance and corporate matters alongside specialist external counsel. Within a year, you will have shaped how legal works at AQEMIA: issues will be mapped and anticipated, processes will be practical, and leadership will rely on you for well-judged legal advice. Reporting to the Corporate Finance Manager, you’ll have a rare chance to sit at the centre of the deals that bring AI-discovered drug candidates to partners, and to grow well beyond licensing into a broad in-house role.
Responsibilities
- Licensing & partnerships: lead the legal work on licensing and collaboration deals, drafting and negotiating agreements from term sheet to signing.
- Deal strategy: work with BD, Finance and Leadership to turn commercial goals into contract terms, while protecting AQEMIA's platform and other programs.
- IP & patents: support IP protection and patent-related decisions with scientific teams and external patent counsel.
- Operational contracts: draft and negotiate NDAs, MTAs, CRO, vendor, software and data agreements, including contractual questions on data use and AI.
- Corporate & compliance: adresss GDPR, regulatory, compliance and dispute-related matters with specialist support where needed, and support corporate and fundraising matters in coordination with Finance and external advisors.
- Legal processes: own templates and approval workflows, highlight key contract obligations and deadlines to relevant teams, and manage external counsel.
Qualifications
- Law degree or equivalent professional legal qualification.
- 5+ years of legal experience, including time at a law firm in a life sciences practice. In-house experience at a biotech or pharma company is a strong plus.
- Licensing: hands-on experience drafting and negotiating biotech or pharma licensing agreements yourself, not only coordinating external counsel.
- Deal knowledge: strong understanding of licensing mechanics and IP ownership in drug discovery (scope, exclusivity, financials, termination).
- Communication: excellent English drafting and negotiation skills, and you can explain legal points clearly to non-lawyers.
- Mindset: autonomous, pragmatic and eager to learn legal topics beyond your current expertise.
Nice‑to‑Have
- In-house experience at a biotech, pharma or TechBio company, ideally a startup or lean legal team.
- Exposure to AI, data or technology platform agreements (data rights, model training, ownership of outputs).
- Experience building legal processes, templates or contract management from scratch.
- Business development or commercial experience alongside your legal background.
- Professional French.
Our recruitment process
- 1 - Hiring Manager’s interview: you’ll meet directly with your future manager (45 mins)
- 2 - Technical assessment of your skills through a Business Case (60 mins)
- 3 - Cultural fit interview with our co-founder and COO Emmanuelle (45 mins)
- 4 - Final interview with our co-founder and CEO Maximilien (45 mins)
Why Join Us ?
At AQEMIA, we work for a mission: joining us means having your own impact on changing the way drugs are discovered, and helping to shape the direction of our fast-growing company and team.
Expanding Drug Discovery Pipeline : Focused on critical therapeutic areas like Oncology, CNS, Immuno-inflammation... with in vivo proof of concept/patent stage programs. Collaborations with top Pharma, including a $140M Sanofi deal.
World-Class Interdisciplinary Team : work alongside exceptional talent at the intersection of technology and life sciences. Our teams combine deep expertise in AI, physics-based modeling, biology, and medicinal chemistry to push the boundaries of innovation.
DeepTech Recognition: AQEMIA is proud to be part of the French Tech 40 and France 2030, highlighting our role as a key player in Europe’s DeepTech ecosystem.
Prime Location with Flexibility : Our offices are located in the heart of Paris and London (King’s Cross), with flexible work arrangements including up to two remote days per week.
Strong Financial Backing : $100M raised from leading European and International investors