Head of Corporate Legal Affairs

Head of Corporate Legal Affairs

Department: Finance

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: UK

Description

The Head of Corporate Legal Affairs serves as the strategic legal advisor to senior leadership and the board, ensuring SYSPRO operates within a robust legal and governance framework. This includes leading legal risk management, overseeing compliance with domestic and international regulations, and managing external litigation and regulatory matters. The role is pivotal in safeguarding the company's legal interests through proactive counsel on corporate strategy, regulatory changes, and transactional activities such as mergers and acquisitions. Additionally, it involves maintaining strong relationships with external legal partners, managing internal legal documentation, and ensuring that all contractual and employment-related legal matters are thoroughly reviewed and compliant.

Key Responsibilities

• Advise senior leadership and the board of directors on corporate governance matters, including legal implications of strategic decisions.
• Develop, implement, and maintain the policies and procedures to ensure compliance with domestic and international regulations, including data privacy and labor laws.
• Lead the company's legal risk management efforts, identifying and mitigating legal risks in collaboration with other departments.
• Oversee and manage any external litigation, disputes, and regulatory investigations involving the company.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with external law firms and advisors, ensuring that the company has access to the right legal expertise when needed, and serve as the primary point of contact for external legal counsel across the organization.
• Oversee the development and maintenance of the company's legal documentation and archives, ensuring that all records are compliant and up to date.
• Monitor changes in relevant laws and regulations and proactively advise the leadership team on any potential impact to the business and mitigation strategies.
• Support the legal aspects of mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and other corporate restructuring activities, providing legal due diligence, strategic advice and implementation support.
• Oversee internal legal review and management of contracts that fall outside of the commercial domain, such as vendor agreements, non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), and employment-related legal documents.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• Law Degree
• Postgraduate Qualification: Such as an LLM in Corporate Law, International Law, or Compliance.
• Professional Certifications: Certifications in corporate governance
• 10 + years of legal experience
• Experience advising senior leadership and boards
• Hands on experience with M&As
• Familiarity with international legal frameworks
• Excellent drafting and negotiation skills.
• Risk analysis and mitigation.
• Effective communication and stakeholder management.
• Time management and goal orientation.
• Pragmatic problem solver who brings structure and legal rigor

Benefits

• Competitive rewards package
• Hybrid working arrangement
• Group Income Protection
• Life Assurance
• Employee Assistance Program