Senior Legal Counsel and Company Secretary @Unilever

Job Description

ABOUT UNILEVER

With 3.4 billion people in over 190 countries using our products every day, Unilever is a business that makes a real impact on the world. Work on brands that are loved and improve the lives of our consumers and the communities around us. We are driven by our purpose: to make sustainable living commonplace, and it is our belief that doing business the right way drives superior performance. At the heart of what we do is our people – we believe that when our people work with purpose, we will create a better business and a better world. 

At Unilever, your career will be a unique journey, grounded in our inclusive, collaborative, and flexible working environment. We don’t believe in the ‘one size fits all’ approach and instead we will equip you with the tools you need to shape your own future.

JOB PURPOSE

Find your purpose at Unilever. You will lead innovations, big and small, that will make our business win and grow. You will learn from brilliant business leaders and colleagues in a truly global and diverse culture to ultimately become a better you. The main focus of this role is business partnering the Nigerian Leadership Team, ensuring the governance, compliance and controls framework is adhered to while also contributing to strategy development and execution for the Nigerian business.

WHAT WILL YOUR MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES BE

• Advises on a broad range of complex issues which are of strategic importance to long-term business performance.
• Key areas of activity are litigation, employment law, commercial law, brand protection,
• competition/antitrust, marketing legal, privacy and data protection, company secretarial
• support, among others.
• Company Secretary to the Board and management, including providing advice to the
• Boards and Management, engaging with regulatory bodies, and ensuring compliance with all listing requirements and other legal requirements.
• Takes responsibility for all legal aspects of mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and other major organisational transactions.
• Partners with colleagues to identify the options for achieving business objectives within appropriate legal parameters and advising on the optimal solution, taking into account cost, risk and commercial consequences.
• Plans the conduct of substantial projects/litigation over period and may take ownership of significant commercial projects (e.g. joint ventures).
• Appoints, instructs, and manages external legal resources, including law firms, in accordance with the Engagement of the External Legal Professionals and Consultants Policy.
• Leads in negotiation/litigation, directing a team of lawyers, on a project basis.
• Takes the lead in helping the business to identify and manage legal risk and provides advice in a way that ensures achievement of business objectives.
• Interface with external regulators
• Provide a central source of guidance and advice to the Board and the Company on matters of ethics, conflict of interest and good corporate governance.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO SUCCEED

Experiences, Qualifications & Skills

• Qualified solicitor/barrister with over 15+ years post-qualification experience.
• Proven knowledge and experience in commercial law & practice.
• Good understanding and working knowledge of corporate law, competition law, intellectual property law, regulations.
• Company secretary & corporate governance experience
• Ability to co-ordinate corporate transactional work.
• Good team player having ability to work as a business Partner within an opco and collaborate with other global, sub-regional and regional lawyers.
• Excellent communication skills (oral & written)
• Negotiation skills.
• Good Analytical skills
• Attention to detail

Leadership

• You are an inclusive motivator of people. Your team deliver with real passion, growing and learning from each other whilst delivering quick wins.
• You are still responsible for your own results and as a manager, you also need to motivate others to deliver with passion, creating an inclusive and engaging climate around you. You can balance challenge with support and coaching. You understand the wider business context and you are emotionally intelligent enough to motivate people to deliver what is needed.
• Critical SOL (Standards of Leadership) Behaviors
  • PERSONAL MASTERY: Sets high standards for themselves. Has emotional intelligence to take feedback, manage mood and motivations, and build empathy for others.
  • PASSION FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE: Generates intensity and focus to motivate people to deliver results at speed. Takes personal responsibility and accountability for execution and results.
  • TALENT CATALYST: Invests in people – coaches individuals and teams to realize their full potential. Creates an inclusive climate, empowering everyone to be at their best.
  • PURPOSE & SERVICE: Has humility, understanding that leadership is service to others, inside and outside Unilever.
  • CONSUMER LOVE: Invests time inside and outside to understand the needs of consumers.
  • BUSINESS ACUMEN: Creates sustainable growth with purpose, engaging different partners across the system for change.

Unilever embraces diversity and encourages applicants from all walks of life! This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants and continuing development of all employees regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity. 

Unilever is an organisation committed to equity, inclusion and diversity to drive our business results and create a better future, every day, for our diverse employees, global consumers, partners, and communities. We believe a diverse workforce allows us to match our growth ambitions and drive inclusion across the business. At Unilever we are interested in every individual bringing their ‘Whole Self’ to work and this includes you! Thus if you require any support or access requirements, we encourage you to advise us at the time of your application so that we can support you through your recruitment journey.