About

At Novartis Romania, we are committed to improving the wellbeing of Romanians and aim to add value to the healthcare system as a whole.

From my role, I am supporting the business units in Romania to work towards achieving this commitment while making sure we stay compliant with all the rules and regulations, and that we are doing business in a transparent and sustainable way, guiding our activity based on high ethical standards.

What changes have you made to the workings of the legal department during your time in your current role? How has that affected the wider company?

I have been in this role since January 2018, and ever since, I have been consolidating the position of the legal department as a business partner with a broad business perspective and seeing legal considerations in the context of business outcomes.

How important have “soft skills” or personal attributes outside of technical legal skill been to the team’s success, and which “soft skills” do you feel are most important for an in-house lawyer to possess?

As in-house lawyers, we have a personal commitment to provide service to others. Primarily, our job is to help our colleagues to understand and mitigate risks. We need the ability to connect with our colleagues and inspire confidence in order to be seen as trusted advisors and business partners.

I believe that we need to be strategic and know where the company is going and why, and have the ability to make complex legal issues understandable, distinct, and crisp. Therefore, communication skills are also extremely important.

Also, considering that you are only as good as your people, it is important to develop your team, not only on technical skills but also on values and behaviours.

What are the most important considerations you have when recruiting new team members?

Besides technical skills as mentioned above, soft skills are very important for any potential team member. It’s very important that my team members have high personal integrity and demonstrate a deep commitment to be humble and sensitive, and to communicate in simple language with other colleagues, avoiding “legalese.” Also, it is very important to be an empathetic listener and have confidence and persistence and to be able to find the balance between being firm, respectful, and effective.

If you had to advise an aspiring in-house lawyer or GC, what would it be and why?

From my point of view, the most important technical attribute sought in or expected from a strong in-house lawyer or general counsel candidate is a good and tested judgment, solid expertise, and the desire to learn and improve legal knowledge each day.

In terms of non-technical attributes, I can only explain what drives me each day to come to work, and this is the passion for what I do and the feeling that we, at Novartis, work every day to improve the lives of our Romanian patients through innovation.