Global Head of Legal Spend Management

About the role

Roche is looking for a Global Head of Legal Spend Management to lead its global legal department's approach to external legal services, aligning them with the company's digital ambitions. Reporting directly to the Head of Strategy & Operations, the role oversees a significant global budget and drives financial transparency, pricing modernization and tech-driven efficiency across divisions. The preferred location is South San Francisco; Basel or other European Roche locations may be considered depending on the candidate, and fully remote work is not possible.

Key responsibilities

• Establish centralized governance, real-time analytics and spend transparency across all global legal and compliance divisions.
• Lead commercial strategy, rate negotiations, global panel management and the integration of Alternative Legal Service Providers (ALSPs).
• Modernize pricing by moving from traditional hourly billing to structured Alternative Fee Arrangements (AFAs), capped fees and outcome-based pricing.
• Evaluate external counsel on legal expertise, technological maturity and their ability to pass AI-driven efficiency gains back to the organization.
• Oversee the global rollout, system controls and mandatory adoption of unified e-billing and matter management systems.
• Facilitate multi-party delivery models connecting internal legal teams, preferred external law firms and LegalTech/AI partners.
• Educate in-house teams on commercial management and matter budgeting to shift the culture toward data-driven vendor management.

Required profile

• 10+ years of experience leading legal procurement, legal operations or commercial management in a large corporate legal department or top-tier law firm, with deep knowledge of the US legal market.
• Proven track record managing large-scale global legal budgets and negotiating complex AFAs.
• Deep understanding of how AI, automation and LegalTech change the economics of legal work.
• Experienced leader able to drive behavioral shifts, build international teams and influence senior stakeholders.
• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Finance, Economics, Legal Studies, Data Analytics or a related field; an MBA, Master's or Law degree is an advantage.

What we offer

• Expected salary range of $185,200 to $343,900 based on the California location; actual pay depends on experience, qualifications and location.
• A discretionary annual bonus may be available based on individual and company performance.
• The position qualifies for the benefits described in the original posting.