The Legal Director, Global Corporate has overall global responsibility for the group’s legal affairs relating to corporate matters, M&A and strategic projects, finance, and procurement. The role encompasses day-to-day operational responsibility for legal matters, supervisory responsibility for a range of legal projects, and proactive management of legal risks within the group.

Responsibilities:

• Negotiate with financial institutions on banking facilities and other banking arrangements.
• Advise the group on strategic M&A projects, acting as principal legal adviser with or without external counsel.
• Where appropriate, instruct and oversee external counsel, including as to budgeting, according to project requirements.
• Monitor corporate legal compliance, proactively identify legal risks, lead and shape group policy and process.
• Structure, document, and execute intra-group corporate actions, such as capital increases, dividend distributions, and internal re-organizations. Work closely with corporate secretariat, finance, and other functions as required.
• Oversee the execution by regional teams of regional corporate projects such as M&A deals or corporate re-structuring exercises. Accountable towards group management for securing the outcomes.
• Participate in group management working groups to asses major operational and strategic proposals in the global business.
• Collaborate with the sustainability department on sustainability initiatives including in the areas of financing, public reporting, regulatory compliance, and operational risk.
• Negotiate commercial contracts, e.g. for corporate procurement, advising stakeholders on the legal and business implications of contracts and find business-oriented solutions
• Occasional need to travel.
• Work in our Geneva office in line with our hybrid working arrangements.

What does it take to be successful in this role:

• Bar admission in at least one jurisdiction
• Substantial experience (typically 15+ years) in multinational law firms and in leadership roles of legal departments of a multinational companies, including some experience in the agricultural commodities industry.
• Fluent in English (spoken and written); additional languages an asset. 
• Demonstrable experience in corporate law, banking law, and commercial law. Experience in competition law, tax law, and labor law will be an advantage.
• Demonstrable experience in strategic business leadership and ability to look beyond a purely legal perspective to the wider commercial implications.
• Experience with working in an international environment and the language, cultural, and legal complications posed by it.
• Qualification or other demonstrable expertise in a common-law legal system
• Strong aptitude for processing information, making effective judgements, and formulating defensible legal positions on novel issues.
• Ability to review and redraft documents quickly and accurately.
• Context-switching without loss of depth and focus.

• Ability to get information from people without direct supervision.

   

• Sound critical thought, ownership of outcomes, willingness to dissent from consensus and convey well reasoned perspectives.

   

• Comfortable working in a team or alone and managing legal matters with/without guidance, as required.