Legal Counsel (Corporate) - Zaventem
19/05/2022

Ideal Standard is a leading manufacturer of bathroom products in Europe and the Middle-East, providing a broad range of branded products for residential and non-residential markets in more than 20 countries. The Ideal Standard Group has an annual turnover of around €750m and enjoys leading market positions in many of the largest bathroom products markets in Europe and the Middle-East. 

They sell their products under a series of well-known international and national brands including Ideal Standard, Porcher, Armitage Shanks, Ceramica Dolomite and Vidima. They operate several manufacturing plants across Europe and in Egypt, and they employ almost 8,700 people across our organisation.

Ideal Standard International NV (the Company) is seeking to reinforce the Group’s central legal department with a legal counsel that, reporting to the General Counsel,  will mainly be in support of the Group’s corporate and financial matters but from time to time also of commercial matters.

The Group seeks to establish a robust and efficient function that will provide sound legal support, advice, guidance and safeguards across the business as a true value-add for the Group’s central and local management and finance teams.

Mission and responsibilities

The candidate will take up a broad and diverse role supporting the businesses’ day-to-day legal needs, mainly in the area of corporate and financial law. In addition, the candidate will co-support the Group’s commercial interests and activities, alongside the Legal Counsel Commercial.

The responsibilities include:

• Generally, take ownership of all corporate and financial legal mattersacross the Group
   
• Provide for all corporate law advice (including corporate housekeeping) for Ideal Standard International N.V. (headquarters)
   
• Execute on complex corporate transactions together with outside counsel and shareholder representatives
   
• Establish relations with, manage and control the Group’s outside counsels in the corporate law area, their scope of work, fees and performance
   
• Own group legal entity management for Ideal Standard International N.V. and all of its affiliates
   
• Deliver comprehensive and qualitative advice and reports to and entertain effective legal discussions with the CFO, CEO, other members of the Executive Committee and occasionally shareholder representatives
   
• Work on corporate governance and policy matters (Delegation of Authority, Board Reserved Matters, etc.)
   
• Drafting corporate approval documents 
   
• Manage corporate and financial matters between the European and the Middle-East and Northern Africa Joint Venture (MENA) organisation
   
• Work in close cooperation with central and local finance teams on financial and non-financial matters including internal and external funding and intercompany arrangements (negotiating/amending new loans, transfer pricing, etc.)
   
• Advise on governance questions, shareholder and loan/ other debt agreements
   
• Assist in managing Group litigation
   
• Review of all sorts of commercial contracts (workload allowing)
   
• Follow up on changes in laws and regulations, assess their impact on the Group and recommend frameworks to comply
   
• Contribute to internal procedures and contract management.

The candidate:

• has a Master’s degree in Law, potentially with an additional degree or specialization in a relevant field
   
• has a minimum of 5 years professional experience, either as a lawyer in a reputable (international) business law firm and/or as in-house counsel in a multinational company 
   
• can handle any type of corporate legal matter and demonstrates tangible experience in advising on corporate law and the most common types of financial and business law
   
• has a plus if acquainted with corporate tax matters 
   
• has impeccable English language skills. Dutch, French, German and/or Italian (spoken and written) are a plus
   
• has strong project management skills with natural drive to challenge and able to initiate change
   
• is a gatekeeper protecting the company while striving for the best commercial result for the company
   
• has as plus if familiar with an industrial and/or third party manufacturing environment
   
• has the ability to manage and prioritise workload to ensure appropriate controls while driving forward strategic initiatives
   
• has good interpersonal and communication skills

In this function, you’ll be offered :

• an opportunity to join a small sized legal team within a private equity owned company with a long standing history and renewed focus on the future. 
   
• a place where you can deploy the best of yourselves within an international organization, giving you space for initiative and responsibility in an open, ‘down-to-earth’ culture that encourages employees to be themselves and gives their ideas a chance to flourish. 
   
• a permanent contract offering competitive benefits and compensation.