Pathos was founded to revolutionize precision medicine in cancer by harnessing the power of machine learning to transform drug development. Pathos aims to accelerate traditional oncology approaches based upon a comprehensive and integrated data-first strategy to discover and develop drugs for precise biological pathways. Pathos is currently pursuing co-development and in-licensing opportunities to build a portfolio of clinical stage oncology assets, applying its technology to find the right patients and indications, resulting in a highly improved probability of success and faster time to market.

The founding team built and scaled Tempus Labs, an AI-enabled diagnostics company that has built the world’s largest library of clinical and molecular data and an operating system to make sense of it. Through this experience, the founders have seen how precision medicine can transform lives, yet many patients remain who need better therapies. A new approach is needed to change the paradigm of drug development to rapidly serve these unmet needs, highlighting a unique opportunity for Pathos to pursue. We’re looking for other trailblazers who see the world differently and want to forge this new path with us.

While we still operate with the agility of a startup, we are scaling to advance our platform. 

About the role:

This role offers an uncommonly wide spectrum of transactional work, and will challenge you to produce both high quality but also efficient legal service across all client organizations of the company. You will own a large horizontal surface area of subject matter intended to be virtually everything with a signature on it. For some examples, 2024 included a licensing agreement for a brain penetrant PRMT5 inhibitor, an acquisition of a public company, a Series C, a Manhattan lease, a number of research collaborations with world-renowned institutions, a bunch of vendors for clinical trials, technology, operations, etc.

However, the role will also have substantial vertical depth from high-level structuring to critical minutiae. This individual will be expected to add value through thought partnership with the business on complex deals, but also by figuring out the solution for reverting NDAs the same day.

This role will be a generalist within the realm of transactions, who can both execute in the quick turns stage of a deal, but also create structure out of giant documents.

Legal is part of a centralized G&A org that maintains swiftness and efficiency as core deliverables, so process-orientation is a must.

Key Responsibilities:

• Structure and negotiate complex pharmaceutical licensing agreements and strategic partnerships
• Draft and negotiate high-value clinical trial vendor contracts and research collaboration agreements
• Oversee human tissue agreements and technology licensing deals
• Manage clinical trial agreements with leading oncology investigators
• Handle real estate transactions, including lease negotiations
• Streamline NDA processes and routine contract management
• Collaborate with outside counsel on complex deals while maintaining internal efficiency
• Ideate and drive M&A
• Support G&A operations as part of an integrated, efficient, and high-performing team

Who you are: 

Required Qualifications:

• J.D. from an accredited law school and active bar admission (New York preferred)
• 5-8+ years of transactional legal experience, ideally with exposure to life sciences, healthcare, and technology sectors
• Demonstrated experience with complex commercial agreements, licensing deals, and strategic transactions
• Strong drafting and negotiation skills with attention to both strategy and detail
• Ability to manage multiple high-priority matters simultaneously while maintaining quality
• Excellent communication skills to engage stakeholders across technical and business functions
• Thrives in ambiguity

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with pharmaceutical licensing, clinical trial agreements, or healthcare transactions
• Background in M&A, investment transactions, or public company acquisitions
• Previous in-house legal experience, particularly in high-growth technology or life sciences companies
• Understanding of regulatory frameworks in healthcare, clinical trials, or medical devices
• Experience working with research institutions or academic medical centers

Who Will Thrive: This role is designed for a legal professional who gets energized by intellectual challenges and wants to take on meaningful responsibility in shaping the future of precision medicine. You should be someone who thrives in a fast-paced environment where your legal expertise directly enables scientific breakthroughs. Whether you're an experienced transactional lawyer ready for broader impact or an ambitious up-and-comer eager to prove your capabilities on complex, cutting-edge deals, this position offers the opportunity to grow your skills while working on transactions that have real-world impact on patient outcomes.

We're looking for someone who sees opportunity where others see complexity—someone who can navigate the nuances of pharmaceutical partnerships, research collaborations, and strategic acquisitions while maintaining the operational efficiency that keeps our organization moving at startup speed.

This position is remote with regular collaboration across our distributed team. The role reports to the General Counsel and offers significant growth potential as we continue to scale our legal function.