Assistant General Counsel

Position Summary:

Responsible for employment and labor law advice in EMEA. This role is both operational and strategic.

This role needs a lawyer/senior associate with excellent English, trained at a reputable law firm/company, preferably with a bar exam and/or life science experience.

The Assistant General Counsel, HR Legal EMEA, must be able to work independently and collaborate comfortably and effectively in a global, cross-functional environment.

Responsibilities:

• Responsible at the regional level for advising the business stakeholders on employment and labor law matters. This includes a broad variety of legal questions, both on an individual contractual level as well as complex collective topics in the representation of the employer with employee representatives in EMEA.
• Serving as a subject matter expert and responsible for providing strategic and operational legal support to local leadership.
• Strong collaboration with other colleagues in the EMEA Legal Team to support ethics compliance and data privacy.
• Serving as a key point of contact for HR Business Partners and Directors.
• Monitoring and supervising external counsels and legal spending.
• Developing training plans and providing legal training on employment and labor law matters.

Basic Qualifications:

• Ability to work independently and be confident with decision-making.
• Ability to collaborate comfortably and effectively with people across different areas of the firm and various levels of seniority, of different national and cultural backgrounds.
• Excellent communication skills in English.
• Demonstrated skills in providing strategic advice to leadership, including the ability to persuade and influence decision‐making.
• Self-motivated, hard-working, detail-minded, clear thinker, quick learner.
• Strong team player skills and attitude.
• Sound business acumen and commercial awareness, good practical judgment, and the ability to identify and resolve legal issues quickly and effectively.
• Proven experience in taking a stand, constructive confrontation, and challenging leadership as appropriate.
• Computer literacy, familiar with all Microsoft applications.

Education/Experience minimum requirement:

• At least 8 years of experience as in-house counsel or lawyer in an international reputable law firm
• Trained in a reputable law firm/company.

Additional Skills & Preferences:

• Admitted to the Bar
• Experience in life science, animal health industry, food industry, or other consumer-oriented or regulated industry