Group Legal Counsel

To reinforce the legal department of the Group Headquarters in Brussels, Spadel is currently looking for a Group Legal Counsel, who will act as a single point of contact for the European business.

The key markets of Spadel are Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France and Bulgaria. The Spadel group employs approximately 1.300 people and is searching for a Group Legal Counsel (m/f) to join the legal team based in the headquarters in Brussels (Woluwé-Saint-Lambert) on a full-time basis.

Your main responsibilities as a Group Legal Counsel will include:

• General commercial advice to sales and marketing departments (market practices, advertisements, promotions, labelling, distribution);
• Drafting, reviewing and advising on customer and supplier agreements affecting all the entities of the Spadel group;
• Providing practical legal advice on a wide variety of legal issues relating to the business of Spadel;
• Monitoring of the regulatory environment a.o. through several industry associations (FEVIA, FIEB,..);
• Following-up on new or changes in the legislations that affect the Spadel business;
• Monitoring national and international disputes involving the affiliates of the Spadel group;
• Managing external legal support in a cost-efficient way (a.o. litigation and external legal advice);
• Managing the intellectual property portfolio of Spadel with the external support of dedicated intellectual property lawyers;
• Counselling and training relevant internal clients on legal matters that are major for the business or represent a particular risk for the organization;
• Become a natural “Go to” lawyer for all internal clients.

You will directly report to the General Counsel

• You hold a Master degree in law;
• You have at least 6 years’ experience as a lawyer registered at the Bar or as an in-house lawyer in a comparable company (having experience in both is a plus);
• You have demonstrable experience in commercial law and general contract law. Having an experience in competition law is a plus;
• You are eager to discover and practice other areas of law, such as competition law, intellectual property law, food regulatory, GDPR, etc.;
• You have the ability to solve problems by presenting alternatives and propose solutions to business risks;
• You have interest in and understanding of the non-legal aspects of a project: commercial, financial, strategic and technical aspects;
• You have strong communication and interpersonal skills;
• You are proactive, positive, pragmatic and have an open mind;
• You are assertive, self-confident and a real team player, with at the same time being able to work autonomously;
• You have experience in managing external legal support and related advisors;
• You have presentation skills including the ability to run internal training sessions;
• You are fluent in Dutch, French and English (professional working capacity);
• You are flexible and willing to travel occasionally.

As a Group Legal Counsel you will work from the headquarters in Woluwé-Saint-Lambert (with possibility to work from home), and you will occasionally need to travel to the Spadel offices in Spa (Belgium), Made (the Netherlands) and Alsace (France).

Spadel offers a challenging and diversified function within a recognized Belgian FMCG company. You will be able to integrate a company with strong values that emphasizes sustainable development. You will closely work together with the business and enjoy a high level of autonomy in organizing your work, whilst being able to seek the advice and counsel from the General Counsel to whom you report. You will be offered a full-time permanent contract with a attractive and competitive “full salary package”