About this opportunity
Company Description
About AbbVie
AbbVie's mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines and solutions that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on people's lives across several key therapeutic areas including immunology, oncology and neuroscience - and products and services in our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at www.abbvie.com . Follow @abbvie on LinkedIn, Facebook , Instagram , X and YouTube.
Job Description
The Legal Counsel, Clinical R&D, China, will be responsible for providing dedicated legal support for AbbVie's growing R&D activities in China, including advising on key legal and regulatory requirements such as related Chinese laws and regulations including the Drug Administration Laws and regulations, Human Genetic Resource Regulations, and GCP, the U.S. BIOSECURE Act, and the Bulk Data Transfer Rule etc. The responsibilities of the Legal Counsel, Clinical R&D, China, will include:
Serving as a recognized source on Chinese regulations governing AbbVie's pipeline and drug development, with working knowledge of the U.S. BIOSECURE Act, Bulk Data Transfer Rule, and related U.S. legal frameworks.
Advising, developing and clearly communicating legal guidance on clinical research in China, including Chinese and US law and regulatory requirements covering patient privacy and rights, data integrity, site and investigator non-compliance, bioethics, fraud and abuse matters, and digital health.
Providing end-to-end R&D legal support for assigned TA(s), from early development and clinical trial design through regulatory filing and pre-commercialization.
Acting as a business partner for the assigned R&D functions in China
Collaborating with legal cross-functions (legal teams covering IP, transaction, privacy, commercial, alliance etc.) and R&D stakeholders to empower AbbVie's growing R&D activities in China.
Counselling on health authority engagement to accelerate drug development
Drafting agreement templates and reviewing a broad range of agreements, including clinical study agreements, collaborative research agreements, service provider agreements supporting clinical trial operations, and other complex R&D and transactional agreements with research partners, while developing reusable legal solutions for recurring business needs
Developing and advising on patient informed consent forms for clinical research, incorporating feedback from regulatory authorities and ethics committees, and consolidating recurring issues into practical legal guidance.
Tracking regulatory developments and advising internal stakeholders on how changes in U.S.-China policy affect current and prospective collaborations and impact R&D strategies
Build and/or support guidance and training on key U.S.-China regulatory requirements.
Qualifications
Qualification as a PRC lawyer or equivalent is a must.
7 or more years of legal experience in law firms or MNCs, with a background in pharma/life sciences clinical development is preferred.
Working knowledge of U.S.-China regulatory frameworks (HGR Regulations, BIOSECURE Act, Bulk Data Transfer Rule, FCPA etc.)
Experience with Chinese health authority engagement and the framework around drug development; familiarity with requirements for FDA approval of drugs developed in China is preferred.
Demonstrate excellent legal analytical skills, with the ability to communicate complex issues clearly and concisely and to identify and address critical matters with speed and precision
Proven ability to work across legal, business, regulatory, and operational teams
Quick learner, able to rapidly pick up new legal and business domain knowledge, and able to gather and synthesize business context to provide practical, actionable legal advice
Ability to work well independently and on a team and can prioritize multiple matters
Professional proficiency in English, with strong written and verbal communication skills
Mandarin language proficiency required
Additional Information
AbbVie is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to operating with integrity, driving innovation, transforming lives and serving our community. Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled.
US & Puerto Rico only - to learn more, visit https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/equal-employment-opportunity-employer.html
US & Puerto Rico applicants seeking a reasonable accommodation, click here to learn more:
https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/reasonable-accommodations.html
Job details
How this role compares
Computed from every other active Clinical Development role in our database, not just this employer's listings.
We currently track 1411 comparable Clinical Development roles across 104 biopharma companies.
Salary context
420 of 1411 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)
Peers share this role's job function. This posting doesn't list a seniority level, so peers aren't narrowed by seniority either -- the range below may span more levels than usual.
Where these roles are based
Top locations among the 1411 comparable roles
+ 45 more countries
Seniority mix
975 of 1411 peers have a known seniority level
Therapeutic area mix
208 of 1411 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden
Similar opportunities
The closest matches from our peer group, ranked by how similar they are, not how well you'd qualify for them -- treat this as market context, not a guaranteed shortlist; a weak match is labeled as one below.
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How we calculate "similar"
No black box, no LLM guesswork: a deterministic score built from four normalized attributes. Here's this role's own peer group at different match levels, so you can see the mechanism, not just the result.
Every comparison starts from the same 100-point budget: 25 for working in the same function, 40 for the same therapeutic area, 20 for the same or adjacent seniority, 15 for the same country. A dimension we can't confirm on both sides contributes nothing, never a guess, never a free pass.
0 points, never a partial guess. A role we know almost nothing about beyond its function bottoms out at 25%; it never inflates to 100% just because there's little to compare against. Seniority uses a defined ladder (Associate → Manager → Associate Director → Senior → Principal → Director → Senior Director → Executive/VP) so "Director" and "Senior Director" count as adjacent, but "Director" and "Executive/VP" do not.