Legal Counsel

Job Summary

Reporting directly to the gategroup General Counsel, Northern and Western Europe (NWE), the Legal Counsel, Europe provides substantive legal support across all legal matters and supports all functions of the organization in the NWE Region, the Retail Center of Excellence and the Food Services Business Line.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

Business Support

• Responsible for legal support to Regional Directors and Functional leaders including HR, Commercial, Procurement, Finance and Tax;
• Identify risks and propose solutions and guidance to support the reduction of risks and avoidance of disruptions to the business;
• Stays on top of key regulatory changes impacting the region/business and assists the business as required in implementing them;
• Supports HR in all employment claims and all labor matters;
• Manages disputes, dispute resolutions and litigations and/or investigations;

Contracts

• Independently draft, negotiate and manage different type of contracts (with customers, suppliers, services providers, etc.);
• Responsible for maintaining contract database for NWE, Retail and Food Services.

M&A

• Manage M&A due diligence, support the preparation of transaction documents and support integration;

Corporate Maintenance

• Responsible for corporate records administration including, maintenance of NWE corporate calendar including regular BoD meetings and AGMs, drafting BoD minutes for numerous entities (with General Counsel NWE and Senior Counsel, NWE) maintaining BoD/AGM minutes, coordinating and supporting entity updates (e.g., director changes, capital increases, other resolutions) and other corporate administration and housekeeping matters as directed by the General Counsel NWE.
• Supports development of policies and procedures that drive corporate governance;
• Prepares and provides governance and compliancy trainings;

General

• Supports, works collaboratively and maintains close contact with Senior Counsel, NWE
• Generate matter briefings and reports for General Counsel, NWE
• Other duties as assigned by the General Counsel, NWE

Qualifications

Education:

• Law Degree

Work Experience:

• Substantial number of years’ experience in a law firm (after being admitted to the Bar as an attorney at law) and/or as a legal counsel in multi-national corporation.
• Experience of working in a team within a fast-paced and high-performance cultured company of similar size

Technical Skills: (Certification, Licenses and Registration)

• License/Certification in at least one jurisdiction (Western Europe preferred)
• Superior analytic and problem-solving skills
• Strong business and operational acumen and ability to effectively and pragmatically balance legal requirements against commercial and operational needs
• Outstanding attention to detail
• Ability to handle multiple tasks, prioritize and deliver under pressure
• Excellent time management skills required
• Spearheads legal projects and manages them through to conclusion
• Strong technical legal and business pragmatic writing skills
• Effective negotiation skills
• Must be able to communicate effectively with internal and external customers

Language / Communication Skills:

• Fluency in English required; knowledge of at least one other European language preferred

About us

gategroup is the global leader in airline catering, retail-on-board and hospitality products and services. gategroup provides passengers with superior culinary and retail experiences, leveraging innovation and advanced technology solutions. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, gategroup delivers operational excellence through the most extensive catering network in the aviation industry, serving passengers from over 200 operating units in over 60 countries/territories across all continents.

Other information:

All applicants must have the right to work in the UK, Ireland or Switzerland and ideally currently reside in one of these countries. Undertake a CRC (Criminal Record Check) and provide 5 years of checkable referencing history. For anytime spent outside the uk exceeding 6 months, you must be able to provide a CRC (Criminal Record Check) for that country. If you share our values of excellence, passion, respect and responsibility, don’t miss out on this opportunity to join our team.