The Associate Senior Counsel – Innovations & Procurement Law Team position provides enterprise wide support and guidance for global commercial contracting activities, with an emphasis on health, wellness and digital related contracts and international matters. The position will work closely with Legal, Compliance, and business colleagues and will report directly to the Senior Managing Counsel for Innovations & Procurement.The position requires an ability to negotiate and draft contract terms across a wide area of contracts, ensure that contracts meet compliance/governance requirements and work with clients at all level on a daily basis. Candidates must have knowledge and expertise in contract drafting, compliance, risk evaluation and management of third-party relationships and disputes.The role will involve the following:
Contract Drafting and Negotiations: Lead in drafting and negotiating contract terms, templates and guidelines for contracting, including standard alternative clauses
Understanding of Privacy Laws: Deep understanding of the intersection of global privacy laws in healthcare, pharmacy and health digital services related industries
International Contracting: Ability and experience in work with international Legal colleagues on contracting and related issues
Collaboration: Work collaboratively with clients, Legal colleagues and matrix partners to advance contracting work
Innovation and Intellectual Property: Strong focus on working on contracts involving innovations and associated intellectual property issues
Risk Management and Compliance : Identification, evaluation and reporting on potential risk risks in connection with commercial contracting; meeting with senior management concerning key risk issues
Training, Education and Presentations : Ability to develop and provide training to all levels of the organization; strong presentation skills, including the ability to present to senior management
Responsibilities :
Negotiate various types of licensing and services transactions with domestic and international suppliers with a focus on limiting Cigna’s liability, protecting Cigna’s confidentiality and intellectual property rights and protecting Cigna members’ and employees’ privacy rights.
Negotiate resolutions to disputed vendor license and contract matters consistent with Cigna’s objectives.
Maintain and update a set of approved contract templates for use by Cigna Global Procurement operations
Create and present training materials on contracting and related matters to the Global Procurement team and other contracting staff, product development professionals
Routinely look for creative interpretations or application of law
Effectively matrix with critical business partners, including Compliance, Privacy, Information Technology, operations and Corporate/Business Development
Manage outside counsel on discrete matters as may be required
Share knowledge and skills in areas of subject matter expertise with other Cigna legal counsel as requested, in keeping with our collaborative environment.
Lead discussions of stakeholders to gather information and input to achieve goals
Working with Legal, Compliance and business clients in developing, implementing, and coordinating contracting and governance strategies
Proactively identify risks of non-compliance applicable to third-party contracts
Required Skills
J.D., bar membership with minimum 8+ years’ experience
Exceptional integrity, critical thinking, and ability to lead
Prior in-house experience preferred
Strong preference for deep experience in healthcare and digital services contracts, including cloud agreements
Strong knowledge of regulatory environment affecting business, including HIPAA and related health care and pharmacy regulations
Demonstrated contract drafting experience
Comfortable working with ambiguity. Flexible with the ability to adapt to change quickly and lead others through the change management process
Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to tailor written and verbal communication across a variety of audiences, including demonstrated ability to provide leadership level reporting
Proven track record of program management, including effective leadership and on time execution of strategic and tactical objective
Demonstrated ability to work independently while managing multiple projects and priorities
Demonstrated ability to identify issues, explain impacts and propose solutions for process improvement
A highly collaborative self-starter with strong worth ethic, sense of urgency and a willingness to learn new areas and regulatory needs
Organizational agility including ability to foster and manage positive and influential working relationships in a matrix environment at all levels of management
This is a Hybrid role aligned to an office 50% of the time.
If you will be working at home occasionally or permanently, the internet connection must be obtained through a cable broadband or fiber optic internet service provider with speeds of at least 10Mbps download/5Mbps upload.About The Cigna GroupDoing something meaningful starts with a simple decision, a commitment to changing lives. At The Cigna Group, we’re dedicated to improving the health and vitality of those we serve. Through our divisions Cigna Healthcare and Evernorth Health Services, we are committed to enhancing the lives of our clients, customers and patients. Join us in driving growth and improving lives.Qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, age, disability, sex, childbirth (including pregnancy) or related medical conditions including but not limited to lactation, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran or military status, religion, national origin, ancestry, marital or familial status, genetic information, status with regard to public assistance, citizenship status or any other characteristic protected by applicable equal employment opportunity laws.If you require reasonable accommodation in completing the online application process, please email: SeeYourself@cigna.com for support. Do not email SeeYourself@cigna.com for an update on your application or to provide your resume as you will not receive a response.Qualified applicants with criminal histories will be considered for employment in a mannerconsistent with all federal, state and local ordinances.The Cigna Group has a tobacco-free policy and reserves the right not to hire tobacco/nicotine users in states where that is legally permissible. Candidates in such states who use tobacco/nicotine will not be considered for employment unless they enter a qualifying smoking cessation program prior to the start of their employment. These states include: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Washington State.