Legal Counsel Europe & Africa

Purpose of Role:

As member of Group Legal & Compliance to ensure the prompt delivery of accurate legal advice in the fields of corporate, contract and general commercial law as well as on compliance and litigation related matters.

Key responsibilities

To manage the corporate housekeeping of a number of the group’s European and African subsidiaries and to ensure their overall compliance with all legal and regulatory requirements. Review of the group’s commercial contracts in Europe and Africa, with a focus on procurement and renewable energy contracts.  To provide legal advice to the business in relation to claims and litigation matters of the group’s subsidiaries in Europe.

Most important result areas

Preparation and review of commercial agreements, in particular procurement and renewable energy agreements in Europe & Africa;

Management of litigation and support in claims handling in Europe and supervising the external counsel;

Legal advice to specific projects including financing, acquisitions as well as set up and closure of plants.

Overall objective: continuous control of the costs for legal function/external counsels and continuous improvement of the quality of the legal advice rendered by Group Legal & Compliance;

Corporate housekeeping of the group’s European subsidiaries, including the UK (glass) and Nordics (country split subject to change as may be required);

Dawn raid trainings in the concerned jurisdictions;

Nature and size of the job area

The job requires a team player generalist who is able to provide legal advice in various jurisdictions on a broad area of different fields of law. In addition, the position requires an expert on contract law, ideally familiar with the packaging industry and renewable energy contracts.

The position reports to the Senior Legal Counsel Europe & Africa responsible for procurement matters;

The position will closely coordinate with the (Senior) Legal Counsels Europe & Africa/NA/Brazil on contract related matters.

Assessment standards

Continuous control of the overall costs for legal function;

Satisfaction of colleagues with a focus on the commercial teams with quality and time for the rendered legal advice;

General compliance of all concerned subsidiaries with legal and regulatory requirements (“legal health”).

Business contacts

Management including Finance Director, operational and commercial team in the concerned jurisdictions that the position is responsible for;

Ardagh commercial teams of the Glass and Metal operating businesses in Europe & Africa;

Members of the group’s treasury and tax & treasury department;

External lawyers in concerned jurisdictions;

Representatives of customers and their in-house lawyers and external advisers.

Flexibility and decision making

On contractual and general commercial matters, the position takes independent decisions after coordination with the involved procurement manager and the Senior Legal Counsel Europe & Africa. On corporate matters, the position submits proposals to the Senior Legal Counsel Europe & Africa to get final sign off for implementation.  

Education

English law degree; additional degree in a continental European jurisdiction a distinct plus;

Experience

Min 7 years of professional work experience in an international environment and working on commercial matters

Experience with renewable energy contracts and/or real property law is a distinct plus;

Competencies

Speaks English (working language);

Legal generalist with capacity to adapt quickly to new fields of law/jurisdictions;

Expert knowledge in contract law;

Strong intercultural competences to interact with a team of lawyers of different jurisdictions;

Strong communication skills to interact with commercial and operational teams;

Reliable, transparent, discreet, persistent, rigorous, sense of humour and can do attitude, mobility.

Able to juggle multiple tasks and prioritize accordingly while maintaining a sense of composure and calm. 

Ability to manage negotiations and demands of business contacts.

Strong communication skills to interact with business contacts of all levels

Commercial and business law generalist.

The job will require occasional travelling.

About Ardagh Group

Ardagh Group is a global leader in metal and glass packaging solutions, producing packaging for the world’s leading brands. We trace our roots all the way back to the Irish Glass Bottle Company, founded in 1932. Since then we have grown rapidly to a team of more than 20,000 people with revenues of almost $10 billion. Today we have a presence across Europe, Africa and the Americas.

• Did you know that Ardagh produce many of the beverage cans and bottles you drink your favourite beverages from?
• Did you know we produce metal and glass packaging which are permanent materials, meaning they can be infinitely recycled without any loss of quality?
• Did you know we produce more than 160 million containers per day?

Ardagh is passionate about sustainability and have a reputation for innovation. We push the boundaries of what’s possible, pioneering new production methods, new design techniques and new ways to recycle and save energy. Our aim is to reduce any negative environmental impact whilst remaining economically sustainable and socially responsible.

We believe that the success of our business depends on the success of our people. We strive to create working environments where our employees feel valued, can work to their full potential, and where their achievements are celebrated.

Here at Ardagh, we offer exciting and rewarding opportunities for talented and creative people. If you have ambition and want to make an impact with your career, come and join our team, you’ll enjoy the journey!

Click here for more information about our careers or click here for more information about Ardagh Group.