Senior Legal Counsel

About the role

The Senior Legal Counsel serves as a trusted business partner to the organization in Europe, Middle East and Africa, providing pragmatic, solution-oriented legal advice across a broad range of commercial, corporate, compliance, and operational matters. The role supports business growth while ensuring legal compliance and managing risk in a fast-paced international environment.

Key responsibilities include

Commercial Legal Support

• Draft, review, negotiate, and advise on a broad range of commercial agreements.

• Provide practical legal guidance to commercial teams during contract negotiations.

• Develop and maintain standard contract templates and legal playbooks.

Corporate and Business Advisory

• Advise management and business stakeholders on legal matters affecting operations across Europe, Middle East and Africa.

• Support corporate governance activities and ensure compliance with applicable company policies.

• Participate in strategic business projects, acquisitions, integrations, restructurings, and transformation initiatives.

• Identify legal risks and propose commercially viable mitigation strategies.

Compliance and Risk Management

• Promote adherence to company policies, ethical standards, and applicable laws and regulations.

• Provide legal support on compliance matters.

• Deliver legal training and awareness programs to business stakeholders

. - Support investigations and internal compliance reviews when required.

Dispute Resolution and Litigation Management

• Manage pre-litigation and litigation matters in collaboration with external counsel.

• Advise on disputes involving commercial contracts, customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders.

• Coordinate legal strategies and oversee external legal spending.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner closely with Sales, Procurement, Supply Chain, Operations, Finance, HR, Sustainability, and Digital teams.

• Act as a key legal contact for regional leadership.

• Collaborate with the broader global legal network to ensure consistency and sharing of best practices.

About you

• Master's degree in law

• Fluency in English, French and Dutch

• Qualified lawyer in Belgium or another European jurisdiction preferred

• Minimum 8-12 years of relevant legal experience.

• Experience gained in a leading international law firm and/or multinational corporation.

• Strong background in commercial contract law and business advisory.

• Experience supporting manufacturing, food industry, FMCG, B2B, or industrial environments is highly desirable.

• Experience working in a matrixed, international organization.

• Deep expertise in commercial and contract law.

• Sound understanding of corporate and compliance matters.

• Strong business acumen and ability to translate legal concepts into practical business solutions.