Head - Legal - FMCG - LLB/LLM

Legal Head-FMCG

- The position broadly requires proactive business partnering with different functions inter alia Operations (Factory, Depots, Third Party Operations, and Regional Offices), Finance, Sales & Marketing, HR, Company Secretary team, IT, Procurement & Packaging Development, EHS (environment, Health, and Safety) function while managing core legal responsibilities of litigation & dispute management, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), Having good relationship/networking/communication/liaison with State level and Central Government authorities affecting organization Business, Regulatory compliance to support in growth for the Organization.

- The candidate must act as a Strategist (i.e., Align legal and business strategies to enable value creation and in compliance with laws of the land), Catalyst (i.e., Provide critical legal guidance and innovative solutions that drive the organization forward), Guardian (i.e., Guide legal and regulatory matters for the business, mitigate risk and protect brand and reputation), and Operator (i.e., Optimize legal efficiency and effectiveness to best serve the business).

Areas of Law expertise:

- The leading edge in laws related to FMCG business such as FSSAI, Legal Metrology, Consumer Protection, Civil and Criminal Laws, Arbitration Laws, Negotiable Instruments cases, Essential Commodities Laws of Central and State, APMC state laws, eCommerce regulations, FDI Regulations, Competition laws, Advertising & Marketing laws (ASCI), Land Laws of various states, Factory Laws, Labor laws, Environmental Laws with a special focus on pollution control laws, Plastic Waste compliances etc., Regulatory compliances related to factory, Depot, and Distribution.

- Working knowledge of financial and tax-related laws. The incumbent is required to travel to different units (Factory/Depot/Regional Officer) of the company across India and to attend court proceedings as and when required.

Experience: 12 + years in an In-house legal team having exposure in manufacturing, and distribution of FMCG products mainly Edible Oils, Fats and Agriculture-based food products preferably from Large Corporations.

Educational Qualifications: LL.B., LL.M. (Any other specialization and Company Secretary preferable)

KPI (INDICATIVE):

A) Litigation & Dispute Management:

1) Developing a Litigation and Dispute Resolution strategy for the cost-effective resolution of disputes and litigations, including out-of-court settlements for litigations related to AWL business.

2) Managing Cases in areas of IPR (includes counterfeit raid actions through police, disparagement suits, passing-off civil suits etc.,), Money Recovery, FSSAI, Negotiable Instruments Act, Legal Metrology, Criminal, Consumer and Advertising cases before courts, quasi-judicial bodies, and self-regulatory bodies- Ensuring that litigations are initiated in a time-bound manner for cases.

3) Advising on IPR registration, protection, and related matters

4) Review Meetings:

i. Ensure effective participation in IPR and recovery matters.

ii. Conduct review meetings with internal team and external legal partners on the progress and processes, identify areas needing improvement in compliance and ensure execution of action plans for achieving targets.

5) Managing External Layers & Law firms, Sr Counsel.

B) Legal Compliance for Operations:

1) Ensuring Legal Compliance in all areas of company business operations on an ongoing basis.

2) Ensuring compliance with law relating to manufacturing & distribution operations.

3) Managing the Online Compliance Tool and periodic auditing/reporting to Sr Management regarding compliance by different units (factory/depot/RO).

4) Identifying gaps and opportunities to ensure that remedial actions are taken in a time-bound and collaborative manner.

5) Proactively awareness building among internal stakeholders about the applicable areas of laws, compliance requirements given best practices and changes of law.

6) Act as a custodian of the consolidated list of laws, and regulations applicable to company business in India and other international jurisdictions where the company has its operation,

7) the incumbent is to update and monitor new legislations, notifications, on change of laws and regulations from time to time, determine their relevance to company's business and ensure 100% compliances thereof.

C) Business Partnering & Legal Advisory:

1) As an enabler to business, reach out to different divisions, identify the issues, and proactively advise to ensure business continuity.

2) Advising Business on a day-to-day basis on different areas of operations (Factory, Depot and RO's), sales and marketing, advertising & sales promotions, IT, HR etc., as may be required to ensure business continuity.

3) Developing & Implementing Processes on Legal clearance for different activities.

4)Resolving legal queries/advising internal customers for allocated business divisions and functions

5) Proactive visits to units to identify legal issues & opportunities and advise on the way forward.

6) Representing legal in cross-functional projects and corporate initiatives.

7) Developing expertise in emerging legal areas, as per the business needs,

8) Supporting the land team in due diligence and purchase of lands, supporting in due diligence.

9) Supporting finance and business team in business acquisition and merger activities,

10) Establish SOP/systems in the organization such as Contract Management tool for the organization for a proper repository of contracts, notice trackers for government and other notices received in factory units, Regional Offices, warehouses, TPO etc., and ensuring proper reply to such notices to avoid any legal issue.

D) Regulatory affairs: Developing relationship/networking/communication/liaison/follow-up with different central, state, and quasi-judicial authorities related to Food laws, Essential Commodities laws, laws affecting factories (such as Labor laws, other local legislation, and rules). Also maintain the relationship with associations such as FICCI, CII, SEA, IVPA etc., involving edible oils and food business to apprise management of upcoming changes in laws or driving change in-laws beneficial to the business as per the law of land.

E) Team & Talent Management:

- Incumbent is to manage 2 in-house legal resources and external lawyers as needed.

- The incumbent is expected to take transformational initiatives for the function and focus on process and people issues including IT enablement.

- Nurturing talent in the Legal team and taking initiatives for their capacity building. Arrange for training, and workshops on new laws and amendments affecting different stakeholders and keep management regularly updated on the same for making future discussions.