The Role:
- Legal Counsel with expertise in both band enforcement and anti-counterfeit action.
- This role involves a dynamic blend of legal proficiency and strategic enforcement, ensuring adherence to Nigerian laws and effective combat against counterfeit operations.
- It will have end-to-end responsibility for all legal and compliance matters for Commercial and Group Supply Chain operations in Nigeria.
- The successful candidate will report to the Senior Legal Counsel in WACA.
Key Responsibilities:
- Provide legal guidance on matters related to band enforcement and anti-counterfeit strategies.
- Draft, review, and oversee the execution of legal documents and settlement agreements.
- Assist in legal proceedings related to band enforcement and anti-counterfeit actions.
- Engage with law enforcement authorities and external partners.
- Develop and implement strategies to combat counterfeit activities effectively with the Group Head of the Anti-Counterfeit Department.
Legal Advisory
- With the guidance of Regional Senior Legal Counsel and/or external counsel (as applicable), give accurate and timely legal counsel to the business operations in Nigeria.
Contracting Excellence
- Draft, review and advise on a variety of legal documentation and contracts.
- Send out prompters for Agreement renewals and arrange for the proper and timely execution of Agreements.
- Negotiate with outside parties on specified contractual issues and legal disputes.
- Update the contract management tool in a timely manner and follow up with the relevant stakeholders in its life cycle.
Corporate Entity Management
- Responsible for keeping up to date Board Meetings, annual and periodic corporate filings,
- Prepare appropriate delegations of authority to business leaders and for business activities like bank account operations etc
Regulatory Compliance
- Working with the Regional Senior Legal Counsel and external counsel, ensure that current laws, regulations, rules, and legal materials/information likely to impact Business Partners operations are pre-emptively identified and develop materials to advise the business accordingly.
- Maintain a compliance calendar to track important deadlines, filings, and reporting requirements.
- Prepare regular reports and updates on the Company’s compliance status at the local level.
- Maintain accurate records of all legal and compliance-related documents, contracts, permits, and licenses specific to the local jurisdiction. Ensure that the organization is up-to-date with all necessary filings
Litigation Management
- Assist with reviewing new claims and collaborating with business teams to devise efficient defense, working with the Regional Senior Legal Counsel.
- Collate information and documents to aid the Litigation process and arrangements for Company witnesses and pre-trial briefings.
- Proactively liaise and collaborate with external counsel, including follow-up and obtaining feedback on cases.
Legal Risk Management
- Proactively research and evaluate different risk factors regarding business teams’ decisions and operations and advise accordingly.
- Perform initial due diligence in legal matters, where required.
Training and Awareness
- Prepare periodic articles, training materials, and updates on relevant legal issues for the business’ information.
Legal Operations
- Ensure timely payment of External counsel and other Legal Vendors.
- Prepare legal reports and slides as assigned by the Regional Senior Legal Counsel.
- Update and maintain online and physical legal files and documentation.
- Ensure monthly updates of templates and other legal departments on the Legal Sharepoint
- Ensure proper filing of the Legal Team’s documents.
- Projects/Programmes
- Support Legal Projects and/or other such programs within the Company.
- Carry out other legal-related tasks received from the Regional Senior Counsel.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in law and admitted to the Bar.
- 5 years of relevant experience, preferably in consumer goods business with exposure to the manufacturing environment
- Proficiency expected in spoken and written English
- Self-driven, result-oriented with Business partnering skills
- Excellent business communication skills with the ability to explain complex issues in layman’s terms without “lawyering” and driving business leaders to the informed decision-making process
- Creativity to propose alternative legal solutions that make business sense
- A combination of “project ownership” mentality, intellectual curiosity, roll up your sleeves “can do” attitude
- Courage and diplomacy to discard legally unviable options
- Computing proficiency to work with Group legal tools and MS Office
- Excellent organizing, planning, and prioritizing skills with the willingness to learn and grow professionally.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified? Go to BIC Nigeria on careers.bic.com to apply