For 75 years, Charles River employees have worked together to assist in the discovery, development and safe manufacture of new drug therapies. When you join our family, you will have a significant impact on the health and well-being of people across the globe. Whether your background is in life sciences, finance, IT, sales or another area, your skills will play an important role in the work we perform. In return, we’ll help you build a career that you can feel passionate about.
Job Overview
The Head of Legal and Compliance, UK and EMEA will serve as the senior legal and compliance leader for Charles River Laboratories across the United Kingdom and Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Reporting to the Deputy Head of Global Business, this role will provide practical, business-oriented legal and compliance support to regional leadership, commercial and operational teams, and functional partners across a complex, highly regulated multinational environment.
The role requires a UK qualified lawyer with substantial law firm and in-house experience, strong commercial and compliance judgment, and the ability to manage other legal professionals while operating effectively across jurisdictions, cultures, business units, and legal systems. This leader will be expected to balance commercial execution, regulatory expectations, ethical business conduct, enterprise risk management, and Charles River’s mission, values, and reputation.
Job Description
| Essential Duty / Responsibility | Representative Activities | Estimated Time Allocation |
| Regional legal leadership and business counseling | Serve as senior Legal and Compliance advisor for the UK and EMEA; support regional leadership, commercial and operational teams; advise on legal risk, governance, regulatory expectations, and business strategy. | 25% |
| Commercial contracting and strategic business support | Lead or oversee support for customer agreements, RFPs, contract negotiations, strategic collaborations, supply arrangements, partnership matters, and other regional commercial priorities. | 25% |
| Compliance, ethics, and risk management | Partner with Global Compliance on program implementation, anti-bribery and anti-corruption, third-party risk, investigations, training, monitoring, controls, risk assessments, and remediation. | 20% |
| People leadership and legal function management | Manage, develop, mentor, and provide direction to legal professionals supporting the UK and EMEA; promote consistency, efficiency, accountability, and practical service delivery. | 15% |
| Cross-functional partnership and outside counsel management | Coordinate with global Legal, Compliance, Finance, HR, Quality, Regulatory, Privacy, Trade Compliance, Procurement, and business teams; manage regional outside counsel and external advisors. | 10% |
| Regional legal and regulatory monitoring | Monitor legal, enforcement, market, and regulatory developments across the UK and EMEA and translate emerging requirements into practical business guidance. | 5% |
| Total | 100% |
Regional Legal Leadership and Business Support
- Serve as the senior Legal and Compliance representative for the UK and EMEA region, providing practical, timely, and business-oriented advice to regional, commercial, operational, and functional leaders.
- Advise on legal issues affecting business strategy, customer relationships, commercial execution, regulatory compliance, market access, operations, and enterprise risk.
- Partner closely with global Legal and Compliance leaders to ensure alignment with Company standards, policies, risk tolerances, and strategic priorities.
- Monitor legal, regulatory, enforcement, industry, and market developments across the UK and EMEA and translate emerging requirements into practical guidance for the business.
Job Description (cont.)
Commercial Contracting and Strategic Business Matters
- Lead or oversee regional commercial legal support, including customer agreements, requests for proposals, contract interpretation, negotiation strategy, escalation management, template use, and alignment with global contracting standards.
- Provide legal support for complex commercial initiatives, strategic collaborations, customer programs, supply arrangements, procurement-adjacent matters, and other regional business priorities.
- Support M&A diligence, integration, divestitures, partnerships, and other strategic transactions affecting the UK and EMEA region, coordinating with global subject matter experts as needed.
- Help business stakeholders achieve commercial objectives while appropriately managing legal, compliance, operational, financial, and reputational risk.
Compliance, Ethics, and Risk Management
- Partner with the global Compliance function to implement, reinforce, and continuously improve Charles River’s ethics and compliance program across the UK and EMEA.
- Provide guidance on anti-bribery and anti-corruption, third-party risk management, government interactions, conflicts of interest, competition law, trade compliance, privacy, investigations, training, monitoring, and other business-integrity matters.
- Support regional compliance risk assessments, mitigation plans, controls, remediation, and reporting in coordination with global Legal, Compliance, Internal Audit, Finance, Human Resources, Quality, Regulatory Affairs, and business stakeholders.
- Promote a culture of integrity, accountability, responsible escalation, and ethical decision-making across the region.
Team Leadership and Cross-Functional Partnership
- Manage, develop, mentor, and provide practical leadership to legal professionals supporting the UK and EMEA region, including direct and indirect reports as assigned.
- Build strong working relationships across Legal, Compliance, commercial, operational, finance, procurement, HR, quality, regulatory, privacy, trade compliance, and other functional teams.
- Promote consistency, efficiency, accountability, and collaboration in legal and compliance service delivery across the region, while preserving appropriate flexibility for local legal and business requirements.
- Manage regional outside counsel and external advisors with a focus on quality, responsiveness, business practicality, cost discipline, and alignment with Company objectives.
Job Qualifications
- UK qualified lawyer in good standing, with authorization to practice law in the United Kingdom.
- At least 12 years of progressive legal experience, including meaningful experience practicing at law firms and in-house with multinational companies.
- Substantial commercial legal experience, including complex contracting, customer-facing business support, negotiation strategy, risk allocation, and support for commercial and operational leadership.
- Strong compliance experience, including anti-bribery and anti-corruption, third-party risk, investigations, training, monitoring, policy implementation, and business ethics in a multinational environment.
- Experience supporting government-facing matters, distributor and third-party relationships, regulatory inspections, import/export matters, data protection, privacy, employment, disputes, and internal investigations.
- Demonstrated experience managing, developing, and mentoring lawyers or other legal professionals.
- Strong understanding of legal and regulatory issues affecting multinational life sciences, pharmaceutical services, biotechnology, CRO/CDMO, research services, manufacturing, or other highly regulated global businesses.
- Excellent drafting, negotiation, analytical, issue-spotting, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to provide clear, practical, and business-oriented legal advice.
- Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a matrixed global organization and influence stakeholders across functions, geographies, cultures, and levels of seniority.
- High integrity, sound judgment, discretion, executive presence, and ability to manage sensitive matters independently while escalating appropriately.
Preferred Qualifications
- Prior experience serving as a regional or country legal lead for the UK, Europe, or broader EMEA region within a U.S.-listed or other global multinational company.
- Experience in life sciences, pharmaceutical services, biotechnology, CRO/CDMO, research services, laboratory services, healthcare, manufacturing, or another regulated global business.
- Experience supporting government-facing matters, distributor and third-party relationships, regulatory inspections, import/export matters, data protection, privacy, employment, disputes, and internal investigations.
- Experience improving legal and compliance processes, templates, playbooks, training, intake models, contract management practices, and scalable service delivery in a regional or global legal function.
Professional Attributes
- Trusted advisor with excellent judgment, integrity, discretion, and credibility with senior leaders.
- Pragmatic, proactive, and solutions-oriented lawyer who understands business objectives and provides clear, actionable guidance.
- Strong commercial acumen and ability to balance legal requirements, regulatory expectations, operational realities, compliance obligations, and business priorities.
- Collaborative, low-ego partner who builds trust across global, regional, and local teams.
- Clear and concise communicator who can distill complex legal and compliance issues for business and functional stakeholders.
- Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, global, highly regulated environment with ambiguity, competing priorities, and sensitive matters.
- Committed to Charles River’s mission, values, ethical standards, and reputation for scientific and operational excellence.
Workplace Requirements
The role operates in a general office or remote work environment. Occasional domestic and international travel may be required to support regional business needs, leadership meetings, investigations, transactions, and other Company priorities.
Compensation Data
The hiring range for this position in the United Kingdom is 120,000/yr – 165,000/yr GBP. Please note that salaries vary within the range based on factors including, but not limited to, experience, skills, education, certifications, location and any collective agreements, if applicable. Remote candidates located outside the United Kingdom should be aware that the relevant pay range varies based on country and location.
About Corporate Functions
The Corporate Functions provide operational support across Charles River in areas such as Human Resources, Finance, IT, Legal, Sales, Quality Assurance, Marketing, and Corporate Development. They partner with their colleagues across the company to develop and drive strategies and to set global standards. The functions are essential to providing a bridge between strategic vision and operational readiness, to ensure ongoing functional innovation and capability improvement.
About Charles River
Charles River is an early-stage contract research organization (CRO). We have built upon our foundation of laboratory animal medicine and science to develop a diverse portfolio of discovery and safety assessment services, both Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and non-GLP, to support clients from target identification through preclinical development. Charles River also provides a suite of products and services to support our clients’ clinical laboratory testing needs and manufacturing activities. Utilizing this broad portfolio of products and services enables our clients to create a more flexible drug development model, which reduces their costs, enhances their productivity and effectiveness to increase speed to market.
With over 20,000 employees within 110 facilities in over 20 countries around the globe, we are strategically positioned to coordinate worldwide resources and apply multidisciplinary perspectives in resolving our client’s unique challenges. Our client base includes global pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, government agencies and hospitals and academic institutions around the world.
At Charles River, we are passionate about our role in improving the quality of people’s lives. Our mission, our excellent science and our strong sense of purpose guide us in all that we do, and we approach each day with the knowledge that our work helps to improve the health and well-being of many across the globe. We have proudly supported the development of 80% of the drugs approved by the FDA in the last five years.
At Charles River Laboratories, we recognize and recruit all talent. We are a company committed to fostering a sense of belonging and work daily in this direction.
Helping you find your moment
You take great care and effort when you apply for a job with us. Rest assured that we’ll be just as diligent in finding the role that’s right for you. Here’s how our hiring process works:
Job Search
Learn about CRL, our culture, and why we do the work we do while also searching for roles that match your interests and expertise.
Application
Create a profile and apply to as many roles as you have an interest.
Note: Depending on the role, you may be required to include a resume in your application.
Assessment and application review
Complete assessments, if requested, to determine whether the role is likely to be a good fit for you – and vice versa. The recruiter will review your resume and qualifications against the requirements of the role and will determine next steps.
Note: At any point in the process, you can log into your profile to review the status of your application.
Interview
Engage in our interview process by meeting with a group of interviewers who will provide information on the company, culture, and your role while also asking you questions to assess your skills, interests, and expertise. This is also a great time for you to ask questions and better understand how we foster a sense of belonging at Charles River.
Note: Charles River leverages technical and behavioral-based interview questions based on our DNA (Care, Lead, Own, and Collaborate). Please familiarize yourself with the DNA and be prepared to relate your experiences to them.
Job offer and onboarding
Receive a competitive offer either by phone or email from a Charles River recruiter or hiring manager. The offer will include your title, salary, location, and other relevant information.
Note: Upon acceptance, you will work with your recruiter to confirm a start date and will receive paperwork to electronically complete prior to your start. For US-based roles, upon your acceptance, you will be required to take a pre-employment drug screen and pass a criminal background check.
Job Search
Learn about CRL, our culture, and why we do the work we do while also searching for roles that match your interests and expertise.
Application
Create a profile and apply to as many roles as you have an interest. Note: Depending on the role, you may be required to include a resume in your application.
Assessment and Application Review
Complete assessments, if requested, to determine whether the role is likely to be a good fit for you – and vice versa. The recruiter will review your resume and qualifications against the requirements of the role and will determine next steps.
Note: At any point in the process, you can log into your profile to review the status of your application.
Interview
Engage in our interview process by meeting with a group of interviewers who will provide information on the company, culture, and your role while also asking you questions to assess your skills, interests, and expertise. This is also a great time for you to ask questions and better understand how we foster a sense of belonging at Charles River. Note: Charles River leverages technical and behavioral-based interview questions based on our DNA (Care, Lead, Own, and Collaborate). Please familiarize yourself with the DNA and be prepared to relate your experiences to them.
Job offer and onboarding
Receive a competitive offer either by phone or email from a Charles River recruiter or hiring manager. The offer will include your title, salary, location, and other relevant information. Note: Upon acceptance, you will work with your recruiter to confirm a start date and will receive paperwork to electronically complete prior to your start. For US-based roles, upon your acceptance, you will be required to take a pre-employment drug screen and pass a criminal background check.
Featured jobs
Important things are happening every moment at Charles River. This means exciting new career opportunities for you to explore. Take a look and apply today!
Looking for something else? Search all jobs.
Moment by moment
At Charles River, you’ll be able to contribute to incredible breakthroughs while experiencing exciting opportunities for growth and development.
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UX/UI Designer
Advocate for user-centered design solutions. Create distinctive, consistent, branded digital experiences across multiple platforms, devices, and channels.
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Sr. UX/UI Designer
Define and drive UX/UI strategies and interaction designs – from scratch and for scale – that solve business and user problems.
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Associate Director
Work with Sr. UX/IX Designers and developers to assess problems and develop solutions. Execute on plan by building coding standardisations and automating processes.
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Director, Digital Data Enablement
Lead UX management and operational teams across business units and technical teams. Identify and define fit-for-purpose strategies to integrate best practices.
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Sr. Director UX/UI Design
Mentor, coach, and guide designer teams on design strategy related to research insights, execution, continuous integration, and automated deployment.
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Animal Care Technician I-IV
Maintain the well-being of our animals by providing food, water, and a clean environment.
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Animal Care Technologist I-IV
Provide specialised care to maintain and monitor our animal's health and physical environment.
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Veterinary Technician
Help monitor, document, and triage all laboratory animal health cases.
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Team Leader / Supervisor
Supervise, train, mobilise, empower, and develop a high-performing team.
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Research Associate
Coordinate and plan activities according to study plan guidelines.
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Intern Level I
Support process/procedure improvement based on site and department needs. Gain knowledge of our corporate environment to navigate cross-functional department collaboration.
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Intern Level II
Complete comprehensive departmental projects incorporating mentorship of Level I interns as a professional development component.
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Biomanufacturing Technician I-III
Oversee the production, formulation, and banking of cellular products while maintaining compliance with GMP, GDP, and aseptic guidelines.
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Biomanufacturing Lead / Specialist
Maintain in-depth knowledge of specialised equipment to address questions as a Subject Matter Expert for the required equipment.
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Clinical Veterinarian I-III
Responsible for delivering professional veterinary services and helping to manage all phases of health care for the animal colony.
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Senior Clinical Veterinarian
Utlise knowledge of laboratory animal medicine to optimise the scientific objectives of animal research protocols.
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Principal Veterinarian / Associate Director
Conduct veterinary consultations, make treatment recommendations, communicate with study directors, and follow cases through to resolution.
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Director, Laboratory Animal Medicine
Provide technical and professional oversight of all animal care and use functions involving site laboratory animals.
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Technician I-III
Follow SOP and protocols in the areas of animal handling, husbandry, and blood/urine collection.
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Technician IV-V
Handle advanced technician duties, including anesthesia, leadership and specialised sample collections.
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Project Leader (Scientific)
Serve as a scientific expert for the Lab with responsibility for staff-conducted studies.
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Team Leader (People Leader)
Oversee team activities and gain leadership skills on the path to becoming a Team Supervisor.
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Team Supervisor (People Leader)
Responsible for overall employee supervision, staff development, and team success.
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Financial Analyst
Help analyse financial data, extract/define relevant information, and interpret data.
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Financial Analyst II
Responsible for analysis, forecasting, budgeting, accounting administration, and reporting of projects.
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Senior Financial Analyst
Handle weekly and monthly forecasting and annual budget preparation. Prepare financials and key indicators for business reviews.
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Manager, Business Finance
Partner with operating businesses to raise standards in key decision areas. Present a dynamic industry, competitor, and economic context.
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Finance Director, Operation
Support all business aspects, working with site teams to direct weekly/monthly forecasting and annual budget preparation.
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Biomanufacturing Technician I
Support the production, formulation, and banking of novel cellular products (including cGMP, GDP, and aseptic processing).
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Biomanufacturing Technician II
Perform specialised activities in the production, formulation, and banking of novel cellular products (including cGMP, GDP, and aseptic processing). Train Biomanufacturing Technician 1.
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Biomanufacturing Technician III
Help advance the production, formulation, and banking of novel cellular products (including cGMP, GDP, and aseptic processing) while interacting with clients.
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Biomanufacturing Lead / Specialist
Maintain in-depth knowledge of specialised equipment to address questions as a Subject Matter Expert for the required equipment.
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Biomanufacturing Supervisor
Oversee biomanufacturing personnel, ensuring compliance with cGMP’s, CRL quality systems, and process documents in biomanufacturing.
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Biomanufacturing Manager
Lead biomanufacturing activities in the start-up and cGMP production of novel cellular products. Schedule and manage staff, ensuring a safe and compliant working environment.
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Client Manager
Ensures high-quality customer service through multi-site coordination. Deliver timely, accurate, and comprehensive responses to sponsor requests.
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Business Development Director
Deliver profitable sales growth by targeting and visiting clients to build strong relationships and customer loyalty.
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Senior Business Development Director
Plan and execute a territory-based field sales strategy. Drive growth through targeted long- and short-term account plans.
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Regional Sales Manager
Manage sales team within North America's Safety Assessment sales region to achieve sales and profit goals.
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Director
Partner with site leadership to achieve performance goals, develop staff, and deliver succession planning.
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Senior Director / General Manager
Lead a multi-functional team to ensure integrated operations. Collaborate with senior leadership to form plans, objectives, and policies.
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Executive Director
Lead a global, mutidisciplinary team. Develop short and long-term strategic plans tp maximise growth and profitability.
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Corporate Vice President
Provide leadership, direction, and advice to leadership and finance teams. Accountable for financial planning, directing, and controlling.
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About Charles River
Charles River is an early-stage Contract Research Organisation (CRO). Here, we are passionate about our role in improving the quality of people’s lives. With 100 sites around the globe, we are strategically positioned to coordinate worldwide resources and apply multidisciplinary perspectives in resolving our clients’ unique challenges. Our client base includes global pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, government agencies, hospitals, and academic institutions around the world.
Supporting your well-being
Your dedication and passion make a life-saving difference in lives around the world. We’re committed to providing you with benefits that elevate your quality of life.
Financial
- Earnings + incentives
- Retirement benefits
- Holidays + time away
- Recognition
- Employee Assistance
Career
- Professional development opportunities
- Career development
- Awards
- Educational support
Health & wellness provision
- Employee well-being support
- Family Support Assistance
- Parental benefits + family formation benefits
- Work-life balance flexibility
Social and Community
- Culture of inclusion
- 11 employee resource groups (ERGs) with >3,000 members
- Opportunities for paid volunteer time off
- Community outreach + matching gift + engagement activities
About Charles River
Charles River is an early-stage Contract Research Organisation (CRO). Here, we are passionate about our role in improving the quality of people’s lives. With 100 sites around the globe, we are strategically positioned to coordinate worldwide resources and apply multidisciplinary perspectives in resolving our clients’ unique challenges. Our client base includes global pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, government agencies, hospitals, and academic institutions around the world.