Senior Legal Counsel

John Cockerill, enablers of opportunity

Driven since 1817 by the entrepreneurial spirit and thirst for innovation of its founder, the John Cockerill Group develops large-scale technological solutions to meet the needs of its time: facilitating access to fossil free energies, enabling sustainable industrial production, preserving natural resources, contributing to greener mobility, enhancing security and installing essential infrastructures. 

Its offer to businesses, governments and communities consists of services and associated equipment for the sectors of energy, defence, industry, the environment, transports, and infrastructures. With over 6,500 employees, John Cockerill achieved a turnover of € 1,046 billion in 2022 in 24 countries, on 5 continents.

Location - Mumbai, India

Job Purpose

Within the Legal Department, the Senior Legal Counsel supports the Business of the John Cockerill Group, providing expertise on the legal aspects of any case, in particular sales projects. The person plays an essential role in the formalization and conclusion of contracts, by ensuring that the risks incurred by the John Cockerill Group entities in the defined territories are as much as possible under control.

Key Responsibilities

• The analysis, elaboration, drafting and/or negotiation of all types of contracts (sale, association, consortium, collaboration, license, commercial agency, purchase, JV, etc.) concluded by John Cockerill and its subsidiaries.

• The analysis of the T&C’s issued by the client and the identification of the related risks, in particular on the contractual and insurance aspects;

• Analysis of the risks and constraints inherent in the countries where contracts are executed in coordination with the Tax Department, in tax matters (permanent establishments, various taxes, etc.) and, in coordination with the HR Department, in terms of local administrative procedures (obtaining adequate work permits, etc.), turning to local experts if necessary.

• The search for solutions and the development of recommendations to cover or reduce all the risks identified and, if necessary, their implementation (development of specific structures and agreements, etc.);

• Management of legal conflicts and/or disputes and, if necessary, support from an external law firm.

• Legal monitoring, in particular by ensuring that the regulations applicable in the territory. (Including internal procedures) are known and respected by internal stakeholders, if necessary by organizing and/or participating (possibly as a speaker) in training;

• Ensure that the corporate group policies on contract essentials are implemented and negotiated. If impossible to implement work with the commitment committee and the group to find intelligent solutions.

• Ensure business mindset, while staying firm on legal principles. Respectful for others and act as a role model for the group as far as ethics are concerned.

• Assist with the implementation of the group policies on ethics and compliance.

• Assist with global tasks relating to the corporate housekeeping of the group companies.

In order to carry out the assignments, the Senior Legal Counsel:

Participates regularly in the Commitment Committee and Project Reviews. Communicates and raises awareness of legal risks among operational staff. To this end, the right candidate provides in-house training in the field of expertise through knowledge sharing.

In addition to the main missions/ assignments, the Senior Legal Counsel also provides support to the rest of the activities of the Legal Department.

This role reports directly to Group Head of Legal.

Context and Scope:

Functional Lead:

Group Head of Legal

Links - interactions - proximity to other missions – Functions

Legal Department and various Corporate services such as Tax, Finance, Insurance, HR, etc.

Permanent member of the Commitment Committee.

Clients (internal and/or external)):

Internal: All the sales / Purchasing / Project managers / Operational management teams of all the Group's sectors and subsidiaries in the country/ region.

External: Negotiations with external clients mainly for major projects in the country/ region.

Mobility (in scope and frequency of travel):

Group scope: all subsidiaries or JVs of the group in the .

Possibility of short-term assignments abroad (average: once a month).

Key figures of the function (budget, size of the BU, size of the team, etc.)

Any commercial contract of less than €2 million for which a legal support would be needed by the Business.

Education & Experience

• Hold a bachelor’s degree in law from a reputed institute and have a minimum of 10 to 12 years' experience in this field or similar.

• Commercial and contractual experience

• Have a good knowledge of the Group and its various entities, as well as its activities and products.

• Understand the operating and decision-making methods, the global vision, the constraints of the company.

Background, Skills and Competencies

• Drafting and analytical skills of all types of legal documents and in particular contracts (sale, purchase, JV, consortium, etc.);

• Negotiation Strategist: Ability to give inputs to the business to ensure the contracts are negotiated to safeguard John Cockerill’s interest at all times.

• Analytical and synthesis mind, ability to formalize, structured and great rigor in work.

• Ability to arbitrate conflicting interests and to demonstrate impartiality and firmness from a perspective of the general interest of the Group.

• Solution orientation and creativity to offer innovative solutions.

• Ability to work in complete autonomy and to take the necessary initiatives for the smooth running of files.

• Interpersonal skills with high-level interlocutors; internal or external, from different cultures, etc.

• Exemplary discretion in view of the sensitive information made available.

• Fluency in English oral and written.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office suite tools

• Availability for occasional travel abroad

Who We Are

John Cockerill India Limited an ISO 9001:2015 engineering company – formerly CMI FPE Limited was incorporated on May 28, 1986. The Belgian group Cockerill Maintenance & Ingénierie (CMI) now known as John Cockerill completed the acquisition in June 2008. John Cockerill India is the Indian entity of John Cockerill Group.

‘John Cockerill India Limited.’ John Cockerill Industry’s Indian hub and center of excellence for cold rolling mill complexes, is the world leader in the conception, manufacture, and installation of reversible cold rolling mills. It has developed a wide range of technologies in the field of processing lines, rolling mills, thermal and chemical processes. It also supplies auxiliary steel treatment equipment. John Cockerill India offers the entire product portfolio of John Cockerill Industry and is coordinating the whole range of its activities including, but not limited to local engineering, sourcing and manufacturing. As an international specialist in industrial processes and technologies, John Cockerill Industry designs, supplies and modernizes cold rolling mills, processing lines, chemical and thermal treatment installations for the steel and the non-ferrous industry, as well as state-of-the-art heat treatment technologies for the aviation, forging and casting industry, and hydrometallurgical processes for the extraction of ores.

John Cockerill India complements John Cockerill’s strategy for growth with minimal overlaps in products and a versatile range of technology synergies. John Cockerill India is a preferred partner to supply thousands of innovative solutions for clean, reliable and efficient Equipments worldwide.

Based on decades of experience and successfully running references all over the world, John Cockerill Industry not only supplies greenfield and brownfield installations and equipment’s, but also provides the related services, as well as training and technical assistance. John Cockerill India's reliable and cost-effective, yet innovative solutions are always adapted to the specific needs of each and every customer.

The Company's workshop in Taloja is equipped with state-of-the-artwork centers and ensures in-house equipment production, assembly and fabrication activities that conform to the most stringent international quality and safety standards.

John Cockerill India has at its helm, a team of professional managers with international experience who are committed to taking the Indian subsidiary to new heights of excellence. John Cockerill India has a global footprint across Asia, Africa, Middle East, Europe, North America, and South America, Russia and therefore complements John Cockerill’s global presence. John Cockerill India has its head office in Mumbai and two workshops outside Mumbai. The Indian entity is ISO 9001:2015 certified and employs over 500 people.

Our vision is to exceed customer expectations by delivering quality products and services in time and at competitive prices. Because each project is unique, every project has its own project management team. The customer benefits from the expertise of highly qualified specialists who have an international experience with a deeper knowledge of the customer’s environment.

The Group’s ambition is to be the leading industrial partner of international customers, to design equipment and develop its overall performance through a combination of expertise in maintenance and engineering.

The Group’s capabilities lie in Design & Engineering, Manufacturing, Erection & Commissioning and After Sales & Support.

Thanks to the cumulated experience in Engineering and Maintenance, John Cockerill India is able to assist its customers in achieving the overall performance optimization of their equipment, from their design phase to the end of their service life through Tailor-made solutions, Optimization of cost, Local relationship, Advanced training & Unique complementarities of solutions and areas of excellence.

Equal Opportunity Employer

John Cockerill and all John Cockerill Companies are equal opportunity employers that evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, ancestry, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions), age, marital status, disability, veteran status, citizenship status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and other characteristics protected by law.

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