Julie Pender is General Counsel & Company Secretary of On. In her role since 2023, she leads all legal affairs, manages board governance and facilitates seamless coordination between executive management and the Board of Directors, ensuring regulatory compliance and supporting the company’s strategic ambitions.
Prior to joining On, Julie held senior legal roles across companies in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. From 2020 to 2023, she was European Legal Lead at Aimmune Therapeutics, advancing treatments for food allergies. Before, she served as Vice President of Legal Strategic Projects at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, supporting business development and M&A during Takeda’s integration of the biopharmaceutical company Shire. This followed her role at Shire as Vice President and Head of Legal for Europe and International Transactions where she led the international team on the $2.4 billion divestment of its Oncology division and played a key role in the $62 billion acquisition by Takeda. Earlier, Julie spent nearly six years at Novartis Pharma AG leading global legal affairs and transactions for the Ophthalmology Franchise, a $5b+ business unit that included Alcon. She began her career in private practice at the American law firm Covington & Burling LLP, specializing in M&A and licensing transactions.
Julie holds a master’s degree in law from the University of Cambridge in addition to her bachelor’s in political science from Simon Fraser University and her post graduate diploma in commercial intellectual property law from the University of Nottingham. Julie is a qualified solicitor in England and Wales. Outside of the office, Julie enjoys spending time thinking about design and spaces and has a particular passion for collecting mid-century modern furniture and objects. She is also an enthusiastic padel player.