Director Legal - EM South at adidas Group

Purpose & Overall Relevance for the Organization

• Act as “Strategic Business Partner”, “Advisor” and “Leader” to the organisation in all relevant legal issues.  Manage and lead to ensure the best advice, solutions and challenges to enable strategic initiatives and protect and enhance our assets, reputation and interests.  Act as Local Compliance Officer. At all times ensuring a consistent and high standard of all Global Legal standards and principles throughout the Cluster.

Key Responsibilities     

Business Partnering

• Take a pro-active role as member of the Emerging Markets Legal senior team in the design and implementation of the Legal strategic plan.
• Maintain a high level of interaction with the Emerging Market SLT and Cluster Management Team and contribute to the decision-making process of structuring and developing the local organization. Actively help develop business strategy & initiatives with effective legal and compliance advice, measures, solutions and challenges.
• Ensure and promote cross-functional collaboration and support the ‘One Global Legal team’ philosophy.

Leadership 

• Strategically lead and be responsible for the provision of legal services and compliance requirements for the Cluster in accordance with global and local strategies.
• Define the team’s and legal operational and organizational structure, set objectives, and manage workloads and results to achieve goals while adopting best practices and achieving continuous process improvement.
• Ensure high team engagement at every level through effective motivation, coaching, training, and development of personnel.

Legal Role

• Lead the management, negotiation and resolution of key, complex and high value legal and business issues for client groups within the Cluster.
• Lead selected legal projects and co-ordinate their rollout across all relevant markets.
• Provide expert guidance and advice on key, complex and high value contract law matters.
• Oversea the continual development of proactive and reactive training and learning materials that are applicable and relevant to stakeholders.
• Drive initiatives and efficient legal and compliance processes, in close co-ordination with the MD, management team and in close alignment with the wider Global Legal & Compliance function.
• Drive innovative and value-adding business processes, policies and solutions.
• In conjunction with the Trade Marks team, take a pro-active role in combating counterfeits in the Cluster, including lobbying efforts with the brandholders forum.

Compliance

• Perform all activities of a dedicated Local Compliance Officer (with a minimum capacity commitment of 20%), in particular:
• Prevent – Drive culture of compliance and integrity, risk assessments, compliance communications, policy implementation, trainings, etc.
• Detect – Administer compliance controls and other detection processes
• Respond – Manage compliance incidents, investigations, consequences, etc.
• Collaborate closely with Regional Compliance Managers and Group Compliance Management to ensure the effective implementation and continuous improvement of the compliance management system.  
• Acting as the recognized Compliance Officer drive an ethics and compliance culture and ensure all related matters are appropriately handled, including all aspects of communication, education, and the implementation of the Compliance program.

People

• Create an environment which promotes and sets the foundation for excellence in execution.
• Create opportunities to act as a coach/mentor for legal and non-legal stakeholders.

Key Relationships

Internal

• General Counsel Global Functions, Emerging Markets & Global Legal Solutions
• Legal Directors & Legal Counsels – Emerging Markets
• Managing Director – market
• Cluster Management Team and other senior members of Cluster
• Global Legal functions including IP, Compliance Management, Corporate etc.

External

• Establish, maintain and develop key relationships with external legal advisors to ensure timely and cost effective legal advice and services are delivered as required.  Define procedural and budget requirements in respect of use of external legal support.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Proven commercial and strategic thinker with confidence and speed in execution.
• Ability to develop and implement strategy.
• Comprehensive business understanding of processes and structure.
• Must have the ability to interact at the highest levels of the Cluster, Emerging Markets and the Global Legal function.
• An acute sense and experience of legal business management and administration with an ability to make practical evaluations of risk.
• Expert in contract law, drafting, negotiation and business counselling.
• Ability to work both independently and to manage and prioritise substantial and diverse workloads.  
• Ability to effectively communicate complex issues in a comprehensible manner.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills required.
• Must be fluent in English.

Requisite Education and Experience / Minimum Qualifications

• Law degree with local legal professional admission in good standing. 
• 10+ years of law firm or corporate counsel experience in general corporate, transactional and commercial law.
• Experience within a multinational company with multi-market teams.