At Roche you can show up as yourself, embraced for the unique qualities you bring. Our culture encourages personal expression, open dialogue, and genuine connections, where you are valued, accepted and respected for who you are, allowing you to thrive both personally and professionally. This is how we aim to prevent, stop and cure diseases and ensure everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Join Roche, where every voice matters.
The Position
At Roche, we believe the "business of legal and compliance" should be as innovative as our science. As the Head of L&C Business Operations, you will act as the "Operational Architect". Your mission is to transform the global Legal & Compliance (L&C) function into a high-performance, data-driven, and tech-enabled strategic partner. L&C at Roche includes Legal, Compliance, Patents, Group Audit and Risk Advisory. You will co-lead the transition to an "Augmented L&C" ecosystem together with the Chief of Staff and Head of Strategy and your team of experts, ensuring our operating model reflects the business needs of Roche’s Digital & Data Ambitions.
Your opportunities
Digital Innovation & AI Leadership:
Together with the new “ Head of L&C Digital Innovation and AI” who will report to you, you will
- Define and evolve the L&C functional AI strategy, prioritizing use cases for maximum business impact
- Lead the development of Agentic Workflows and self-service solutions to automate routine legal tasks and embed compliance guardrails directly into business systems
- Govern the framework for Citizen Development, empowering legal professionals to build their own tech tools safely
Data Strategy & Governance (Domain Lead):
- Own L&C data strategy and governance, driving data readiness, quality, and curation across global systems
- Shift the function from retrospective reporting to Predictive Analytics, using data to forecast legal risks before they materialize and ensure the budget trends are reflecting the real-time data
Strategic Operations & Financials:
- Execute the "Smart Sourcing" framework, leading the rigorous "make or buy" decision process to determine the optimal mix of in-house expertise, external counsel, and Alternative Legal Service Providers
- Oversee Outside Counsel and Vendor Management, managing the global panel hierarchy and driving strategic sourcing to optimize the external legal fee budget
- Execute the operational strategy required to meet the L&C financial ambition and maintain operational data and forecasts for external legal fees to ensure the budget reflects real-world L&C needs.
Operational Risk, Control & Business Process Management:
- Ensure the effectiveness of the L&C risk management framework and oversee remediation of key control deficiencies
- Support Risk Control Self-Assessments and ensure rules are embedded "agentically" into business processes to maintain a robust "license to operate."
- Lead the end-to-end redesign and optimization of L&C processes to eliminate friction and ensure they are "digital-ready”. Serve as the primary interface to Roche Digital Technology (RDT), translating complex legal requirements into tangible technical specifications
Strategic Collaboration:
- Work in a high-intensity "triad" with the Chief of Staff and Head of Strategy, who focuses on strategy, change management, cross-functional coordination, community engagement, talent and leadership, and the Head of Digital Technology at RDT, who provides the underlying tech platforms, architecture, and technical frameworks for initiatives like citizen development
Who you are
You are a Senior Leader in Legal Operations, Finance or Digital Transformation with a minimum of 8 years of leadership experience, ideally in a complex and highly regulated global environment.
On top you bring the following expertise:
- Digital Fluency: Practical experience implementing Large Language Models (LLMs) and AI agents within a corporate environment. Deep understanding of the Legal Tech ecosystem, data architecture, and "Domain Lead" responsibilities
- Financial Fluency: Expertise in legal spend architecture, high-stakes vendor management and complex commercial models designed to drive cost predictability and operational data integrity required for budgeting and forecasting
- Systems Thinking: Proven ability to map complex business processes and redesign them for a human empowered and AI-enabled world
- Interpersonal and Negotiation Skills: Proven track record of successful partnership with senior level stakeholders to achieve results
- Change Leadership: Proven track record of leading large-scale cultural and workforce transformations, upskilling professionals to adopt new technologies and focus on strategic judgment
- Collaborative Partnering: Skilled at aligning Legal, Finance, and IT functions, speaking "Lawyer," "CFO”, and "IT" fluently
We look forward to your application!
Where pay transparency applies, details are provided based on the primary posting location. For this role, the primary location is Basel. If you are interested in additional locations where the role may be available, we will provide the relevant compensation details later in the hiring process.
Who we are
A healthier future drives us to innovate. Together, more than 100’000 employees across the globe are dedicated to advance science, ensuring everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Our efforts result in more than 26 million people treated with our medicines and over 30 billion tests conducted using our Diagnostics products. We empower each other to explore new possibilities, foster creativity, and keep our ambitions high, so we can deliver life-changing healthcare solutions that make a global impact.
Let’s build a healthier future, together.
Roche is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
