With its top lawyer poised to step down at the end of the year, global mining company Rio Tinto has tapped Barbara Levi Mager to take the reins of the London-based firm's legal department.

Mager is a longtime in-house leader for Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis International AG and Sandoz, a division of Novartis. She begins her new job at Rio Tinto on Jan. 1, 2020, following the retirement of the company's current chief lawyer, Philip Richards. 

Barbara Levi Mager of Sandoz.

Rio Tinto is among the world's largest mining and metal companies. Its major products include aluminium, copper, diamonds, gold, industrial minerals, iron ore and uranium.

CEO Jean-Sébastien Jacques said in a prepared statement that Richards, who joined the Rio Tinto in April 2017, “has driven some significant improvements across governance and compliance which have strengthened our business.”

Jacques also trumpeted Mager's “extensive legal experience across corporate, commercial and compliance matters gained within a complex multinational organisation,” which he said “makes her an ideal choice to lead Rio Tinto's legal and compliance team.”

Following a stint at several New York law firms, Mager in 2004 joined Sandoz, a division of Novartis headquartered in Vienna, as legal counsel and deputy global compliance officer, according to her LinkedIn profile. 

She ascended the firm's ranks and was named general counsel and global head of legal for Sandoz in 2016, and group legal head of mergers and acquisitions and strategic transactions for Novartis International in February. As GC of Sandoz, she oversees general legal affairs, intellectual property and compliance issues, along with more than 250 legal associates throughout the world. 

In a Q&A published last year by The American Lawyer, Mager revealed that she experienced gender bias early in her career when she was in private practice. After having spent weeks preparing for an important meeting, she said she entered the room and was asked to get coffee for the “most senior guy.” 

“I got him the coffee but I felt so humiliated that the only thing I knew was that it would never happen again. What that meeting taught me is confidence and not to allow anyone to put me into a box,” she said. 

When asked to give advice to young lawyers aspiring to become in-house leaders, she said: “Love what you do. Work hard. Don't put limits on yourself.”