Legal Counsel

Job Summary

Bridgestone Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., a subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation, a global leader in sustainable mobility and advanced solutions, is based in Singapore as the regional headquarters and strategic business unit (SBU) of the Bridgestone Group in the China and Asia Pacific region (BSCAP). Overseeing operations of 12 sales and manufacturing companies, while producing at 11 tyre manufacturing plants and supplying its products across more than 20 countries in the region, BSCAP plays a key role in facilitating this large and growing market which contributes significantly to the entire Bridgestone Group. The Global Law Department of the Bridgestone Group provides legal and compliance support and services to all aspects of the company's business, including to both tyre and diversified business (DB) companies within the Group.

This position will be a member of the Global Law Department based in BSCAP (Singapore) handling a variety of legal & compliance related matters relating to Bridgestone companies as assigned, including contract review, legal advisory, day to day legal support and support of on-going compliance initiatives. This position is expected to be able to handle work independently with moderate supervision / guidance as necessary.

Key responsibilities include, without limitation:

• Management and Strategic Support
  • Lead counsel for legal & compliance, trusted advisor and strategic business partner to group companies, providing sound and strategic legal advice to senior management and management teams, including legal implications and legal aspects of business practices, corporate strategies and legal trends. Responsible for support in all legal matters and for overseeing and supporting all compliance matters and activities.
  • Be the member of the management team in group companies with involvement in management meetings and strategic decision making.
  • Establishing strong business relationships, trust and rapport with management of group companies, as well as diverse corporate and business stakeholders in the broader organization, and be able to navigate through and manage uncertainty and different levels of complex stakeholder relationships.
  • Providing ad-hoc risk management support for group companies, as may be necessary for time to time, including identification of and mitigation of risks
  • Providing ad-hoc review or input in company secretarial matters, where appropriate, and corporate governance related areas.

Responsibilities

• Legal Support
  • Providing pro-active legal services to the business teams in BSCAP regional headquarters (including senior management) and group companies in both Singapore and Malaysia with a primary focus on the delivery of commercial/corporate support, which will include general contract review, drafting and negotiation of a broad range of contracts, including but not limited to commercial contracts such as purchase/sale & supply, distributorship, marketing, logistics and supply chain, and vendor and service agreements etc.
  • Providing on-going strategic legal advice and support to BSCAP regional headquarters (including senior management) and group companies in both Singapore and Malaysia on a wide variety of legal and compliance issues which may arise in the usual course of business, including but not limited to commercial disputes & dispute resolution, HR & employment, debt collection, logistics, supply chain, intellectual property, data privacy, corporate governance, compliance matters, M&A and strategic transactions etc.
  • Reviewing marketing and promotional material prior to its launch, including new product launch, social media posts etc. and various external facing documents
  • Drafting and/or reviewing existing company policies, internal procedures and/or other policy related documents
  • Developing and/or improving existing contract review processes to work towards greater automation and higher efficiency
  • Providing regular updates on relevant legal developments and conduct of legal trainings for relevant teammates and stakeholders
  • Interacting with key business stakeholders on any legal matters
  • Liaising with internal parties, including key business stakeholders, and external parties in multiple jurisdictions, including but not limited to external counsel, government offices, translation firms, third party vendors etc., on legal and related administrative matters.

• Cluster / Regional Support
  • Initiating and leading project-based improvements relating to legal processes and/or new legal developments for BSCAP regional headquarters and other group companies across the region. This will involve working with local legal counsel across BSCAP, as necessary
  • Coordinating and executing regional contracts or related legal initiatives by BSCAP regional headquarters. This will involve working with local legal counsel across BSCAP
  • Supporting the launch or execution of regional legal projects, initiatives or improvement.

• Compliance Support
  • Supporting the development, implementation and execution of regional and global compliance initiatives, including conducting and coordinating trainings
  • Reviewing compliance and other policies, in particular for legal risks, if any
  • Supporting on-going implementation of existing compliance policies and initiatives, including facilitating operation of existing compliance policies, conducting refresher trainings and launching of initiatives to reinforce key messages
  • Assist and/or independently conduct, where appropriate, compliance investigations for cases in both Singapore and Malaysia
  • Interacting with key business stakeholders on any compliance matters
  • Tracking and managing progress of on-going compliance initiatives

• General Support
  • Providing general support for all aspects of legal and compliance work and other matters or projects with which the BSCAP legal team may require assistance from time to time

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in Law, with minimum seven (7) years of relevant post-qualification experience, either with a reputable law firm or a suitable in-house position in a corporate law department (MNC preferred).
• Excellent academic record from a recognized law school.
• Substantial experience in structuring, negotiating documenting and closing commercial contracts and transactions both externally and within related companies.
• Excellent communication, drafting and negotiating skills; superior analytical ability and a strong general commercial background, creativity, vision, sound judgement in developing and implementing legal solutions and responding to trends in the law.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to communicate effectively with various stakeholders is a must. Experience working with persons from varied cultural backgrounds is advantageous.
• Ability to work both independently and in a team is a must.
• Ability to handle multiple priorities and assignments in a time pressure environment is a must.
• Ability to develop process driven solutions to reoccurring issues is advantageous.
• Excellent written and spoken English language skills. Proficiency in Mandarin, Japanese and/or any South-East Asian language would be advantageous but not essential.

Skills

Local contract terms only