Senior Legal Counsel - India

John Cockerill, enablers of opportunity

Driven since 1817 by the entrepreneurial spirit and thirst for innovation of its founder, the John Cockerill Group develops large-scale technological solutions to meet the needs of its time: facilitating access to fossil free energies, enabling sustainable industrial production, preserving natural resources, contributing to greener mobility, enhancing security and installing essential infrastructures. 

Its offer to businesses, governments and communities consists of services and associated equipment for the sectors of energy, defence, industry, the environment, transports, and infrastructures. With over 6,500 employees, John Cockerill achieved a turnover of € 1,046 billion in 2022 in 24 countries, on 5 continents.

www.johncockerill.com 

Location - Mumbai, India

Job Purpose

Within the Legal Department, the Senior Legal Counsel supports the Business of the John Cockerill Group, providing expertise on the legal aspects of any case, in particular sales projects. The person plays an essential role in the formalization and conclusion of contracts, by ensuring that the risks incurred by the John Cockerill Group entities in the defined territories are as much as possible under control.

Key Responsibilities

• The analysis, elaboration, drafting and/or negotiation of all types of contracts (sale, association, consortium, collaboration, license, commercial agency, purchase, JV, etc.) concluded by John Cockerill and its subsidiaries.

• The analysis of the T&C’s issued by the client and the identification of the related risks, in particular on the contractual and insurance aspects;

• Analysis of the risks and constraints inherent in the countries where contracts are executed in coordination with the Tax Department, in tax matters (permanent establishments, various taxes, etc.) and, in coordination with the HR Department, in terms of local administrative procedures (obtaining adequate work permits, etc.), turning to local experts if necessary.

• The search for solutions and the development of recommendations to cover or reduce all the risks identified and, if necessary, their implementation (development of specific structures and agreements, etc.);

• Management of legal conflicts and/or disputes and, if necessary, support from an external law firm.

• Legal monitoring, in particular by ensuring that the regulations applicable in the territory. (Including internal procedures) are known and respected by internal stakeholders, if necessary by organizing and/or participating (possibly as a speaker) in training;

• Ensure that the corporate group policies on contract essentials are implemented and negotiated.  If impossible to implement work with the commitment committee and the group to find intelligent solutions.

• Ensure business mindset, while staying firm on legal principles. Respectful for others and act as a role model for the group as far as ethics are concerned.

• Assist with the implementation of the group policies on ethics and compliance.

• Assist with global tasks relating to the corporate housekeeping of the group companies.

In order to carry out the assignments, the Senior Legal Counsel:

• Participates regularly in the Commitment Committee and Project Reviews.
• Communicates and raises awareness of legal risks among operational staff. To this end, the right candidate provides in-house training in the field of expertise through knowledge sharing.

In addition to the main missions/ assignments, the Senior Legal Counsel also provides support to the rest of the activities of the Legal Department.

This role reports directly to Group Head of Legal.

Context and Scope:  

Functional Lead:

Group Head of Legal

Links - interactions - proximity to other missions – Functions

Legal Department and various Corporate services such as Tax, Finance, Insurance, HR, etc.

Permanent member of the Commitment Committee.

Clients (internal and/or external)):

Internal: All the sales / Purchasing / Project managers / Operational management teams of all the Group's sectors and subsidiaries in the country/ region.

External: Negotiations with external clients mainly for major projects in the country/ region.

Mobility (in scope and frequency of travel):

Group scope: all subsidiaries or JVs of the group in the .

Possibility of short-term assignments abroad (average: once a month).

Key figures of the function (budget, size of the BU, size of the team, etc.)

Any commercial contract of less than €2 million for which a legal support would be needed by the Business.

Education & Experience

• Hold a bachelor’s degree in law from a reputed institute and have a minimum of 10 to 12 years' experience in this field or similar.

• Commercial and contractual experience

• Have a good knowledge of the Group and its various entities, as well as its activities and products.

• Understand the operating and decision-making methods, the global vision, the constraints of the company.

Background, Skills and Competencies

• Drafting and analytical skills of all types of legal documents and in particular contracts (sale, purchase, JV, consortium, etc.);

• Negotiation Strategist: Ability to give inputs to the business to ensure the contracts are negotiated to safeguard John Cockerill’s interest at all times.

• Analytical and synthesis mind, ability to formalize, structured and great rigor in work.

• Ability to arbitrate conflicting interests and to demonstrate impartiality and firmness from a perspective of the general interest of the Group.

• Solution orientation and creativity to offer innovative solutions.

• Ability to work in complete autonomy and to take the necessary initiatives for the smooth running of files. 

• Interpersonal skills with high-level interlocutors; internal or external, from different cultures, etc.

• Exemplary discretion in view of the sensitive information made available.

• Fluency in English oral and written.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office suite tools

• Availability for occasional travel abroad

Equal Opportunity Employer                  

John Cockerill and all John Cockerill Companies are equal opportunity employers that evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, ancestry, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions), age, marital status, disability, veteran status, citizenship status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and other characteristics protected by law.

John Cockerill offers you career and development opportunities within its various sectors in a friendly working environment. 
Do you want to work for an innovative company that will allow you to take up technical challenges on a daily basis?
We look forward to receiving your application and to meeting you!

Discover our job opportunities in details on www.johncockerill.com