Primary Purpose

Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) is the world’s largest advocacy association representing member companies, state biotechnology groups, academic and research institutions, and related organizations across the United States and in 30+ countries. BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial, and environmental biotechnology products. BIO also produces the BIO International Convention, the world’s largest gathering of the biotechnology industry, along with industry-leading investor and partnering meetings held around the world.

The primary purposes of this position are:

1. Administer or manage the Department’s budgeting, budget tracking (e.g. accruals and shadow budget) and expense reporting for every principal within the department, including the management of accounts payable invoices;
2. Support the contract review process for the organization, and lead the contract administrative process for the department in coordination with the Deputy General Counsel;
3. Support the organization’s compliance reporting system in coordination with the Director of Compliance & Board Services;
4. Support the Intellectual Property (IP) Board Standing Committee and the Full BIO Board;
5. Administer or manage processes and other tasks to support the Legal Department and the Deputy General Counsels (DGC’s) for Healthcare and IP;
6. Support improvement and automation of information flow for the Legal Department and its operations (e.g. CLE accreditation, and Tech Transfer support); and
7. Support or manage BIO’s functions and logistical activities relating to BIO IP Counsels Committee and Biopharmaceutical Law Committee.

Responsibilities

Specifically, the Coordinator shall perform the roles and responsibilities detailed below, in addition to any other projects that may be assigned by the Chief Legal Officer (CLO) from time to time.

Key responsibilities would include:

Budget & Administration -- Support GC in administering or managing the Department’s budget & expense controls:

• Assist in the preparation of the annual budget, oversee, and track monthly expenditures and revenues of the Department’s financial performance against approved budget using Microsoft Forecaster, SQL reports, shadow budgets, and other online accounting tools.
• Review monthly financial reports from Finance and prepare reports and analyses of annual budget, as requested by the CLO.
• Ensure the Legal Department’s vendor contracts are updated and processed in accordance with BIO policy, and process contractor and vendor invoices in a timely manner. 
• Support and secure CLO’s approval for all Legal Department expenses, travel requests, and provide accruals/estimates to the Finance Department five business days after the end of each month. 
• Prepare monthly/quarterly expense tracking reports for individual staff in the Legal Department with budget responsibilities, or as requested.
• Responsible for the subscription renewals for the Legal Department and maintaining relevant passwords.  

Support contract preparation and review for the organization and the legal department in coordination with the Deputy General Counsel; Support the organization’s compliance reporting system in coordination with the Director of Compliance & Board Services

• Assist in contract document preparation in compliance with standard operating procedures, and under supervision by the Deputy General Counsel (DGC).
• Assist in report development for the organization’s compliance processes under the supervision of the Director of Compliance & Board Services

Support or Manage BIO Board Standing Committee on IP and Full BIO Board:

• Help prepare, collect, organize, edit, and retain materials pertaining to meetings of the Board Standing Committee on IP
• Coordinate the distribution of Board-related materials to the Board Standing IP Committee
• Assist Legal Department Staff with general planning, distribution, and management of Full BIO Board of Directors and coordination with BIO Board staff.

Provide administrative support to the Legal Department:

• Help manage the calendars of the DGC and the attorneys in the department, while maintaining updated traveler profiles and assisting with all aspects of travel and completion of expense reports.
• Schedule departmental meetings and conference calls, and handle all logistical aspects relating thereto, including reserving meeting space and room set-up/clean-up.
• Maintain well-organized physical and electronic files for the CLO and the Legal Department
• Help support and coordinate compliance responsibilities for the Legal Department and overall organization, and coordinate the logistics for BIO’s Annual Compliance Day.
• Serve (in coordination and cooperation with other Legal Department Staff) as primary trainer and point-of-contact for Legal Department staff on BIO’s administrative procedures and business processes by, among other things, developing and updating training modules for the organization and a listing of the roles and responsibilities of each Legal Department team member.
• Handle sensitive and highly confidential information in a professional manner, and as requested by CLO.

Information flow and operational improvements for Legal Department (e.g. BIO CLE Services and Accreditation, and BIO Tech Transfer Committee):

• Assist the relevant Legal Department attorney with strategy, coordination, and implementation of BIO’s Technology Transfer Work Plan priorities
• As appropriate, work with tech transfer community members, particularly the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) to develop long term priorities and engagement
• Support the administrative functions of this and other Committees (and important Department functions) by collecting, organizing, editing, distributing, and retaining materials pertaining to meetings and conference calls
• Support, sustain and manage if appropriate, the administrative and operational needs for BIO to obtain and maintain its CLE accreditation for its events.
• Administer CLE Credits for the IP Track at the BIO International Convention, the IP Counsels Committee Meeting, the General Counsels Committee (GCC) meetings, and other BIO events

Support or Manage BIO Staff Committees (BIO Biopharmaceutical Law Committee and IP Counsels Committee):

• Support and/or manage the administrative functions of these staff Committees by collecting, organizing, editing, distributing, and retaining materials pertaining to meetings and conference calls of the IP Counsels Committee (IPCC) and Biopharmaceutical Law Committee (BLC). 
• Responsible for ensuring Personify, website, and distribution lists are and remain current for Committee members, their executive assistants, and their shadows.
• Prepare meeting agendas and related e-mail communications as requested, and assist with minute taking, formatting and/or editing as requested. 
• Responsible for scheduling and logistical aspects of Committee meetings and conference calls. 
• As needed, provide program support and work with Event Ops, Marketing, Sponsorship, and Registration teams to develop educational content for biannual in-person IP Counsels Committee Meetings, or other committee meetings as needed

Required Background and skills

• Bachelor’s degree (B.S.) from a four-year college or university required
• 2 or more years of experience supporting Executives and/or Boards of Directors desired
• 2 or more years of experience in project management, and general office and budget management desired
• Candidate must possess the ability to communicate and interact well with all departments within the organization and with BIO senior management and Board Directors. 
• Candidate must be capable of representing the CLO / DGC / Staff Attorneys in a highly professional manner and maintaining confidentiality. 
• Candidate must have the ability to multi-task, must possess excellent administrative and organizational skills, and must demonstrate impeccable attention to detail, consistent formatting, and proofreading skills. 
• Candidate must possess excellent knowledge of technology systems, including Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access, Forecaster, and various accounting software packages. 
• Candidate also should have experience working with relational database systems including systems, and have the ability to use technology in order to improve the use and possible development of information management systems.
• Some travel for Board meetings and events required.

Candidates should be aware that BIO currently maintains a policy requiring all US-based employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and receive a booster shot once eligible. Newly hired employees must be vaccinated and boosted prior to their employment start date BIO is an equal opportunity employer and will provide a reasonable accommodation to those unable to be vaccinated or receive a booster where it is not an undue hardship to the company to do so as provided under federal, state, and local law.