Director, EMEA Legal Services Group

Lead and set the strategic direction for the EMEA Legal Services Group, ensuring the team delivers high-quality, efficient and commercially focused legal support across the region.

Develop the Legal Services Group as a centre of expertise and operational excellence, supporting country-based Legal teams while also providing direct legal support in countries where there is no dedicated local Legal team.

Drive a consistent, scalable and risk-appropriate approach to the delivery of more standardized and process-driven legal work across EMEA.

Partner closely with the Regional Legal VP’s, country Legal teams, business leaders and other stakeholders to ensure that legal resources are deployed effectively and aligned with regional business priorities.

Key Responsibilities: Leadership:

Define and implement the strategy, priorities and operating model for the EMEA Legal Services Group.

Translate the broader EMEA Legal strategy into clear objectives, service standards and priorities for the team.

Identify opportunities to expand, improve and standardize the services provided by the group.

Establish clear principles for how work is allocated between the Legal Services Group, country Legal teams and other specialist Legal functions.

Act as a senior member of the EMEA Legal leadership community and contribute to regional Legal strategy and planning.

Lead, motivate and develop a geographically dispersed team, with a significant team presence in Bucharest and team members in other EMEA locations.

Build a high-performing, collaborative and service-oriented culture focused on quality, responsiveness, accountability and continuous improvement.

Set clear goals and performance expectations and ensure effective workload management across the team.

Develop team capability through coaching, mentoring, career development and succession planning.

Ensure the team has the appropriate skills, knowledge and capacity to support changing business and Legal requirements across the region.

Partner with country Legal Directors and Legal teams to understand their requirements and ensure the Legal Services Group provides effective and responsive support.

Develop consistent service offerings and engagement models for work undertaken on behalf of country Legal teams.

Ensure appropriate escalation of complex, high-risk or strategically significant matters to relevant country or regional Legal leadership.

Promote knowledge sharing, common standards and best practices across the EMEA Legal organization.

Oversee and, where appropriate, provide direct legal support to business operations in EMEA countries that do not have a dedicated local country Legal team.

Ensure that legal advice provided in such countries is commercially pragmatic, appropriately risk-based and aligned with regional policies and standards.

Coordinate with specialist Legal colleagues and external counsel where local law expertise or specialist advice is required.

Establish appropriate governance and escalation mechanisms for legal matters arising in countries without local Legal coverage.

Lead the delivery of standardized and process-driven legal activities across EMEA, including matters such as:

Non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements.

Assignment, novation and similar agreements.

Standard amendments and other routine contractual documentation.

Other repeatable legal activities suitable for centralized or streamlined handling.

Develop and maintain appropriate templates, playbooks, guidance and escalation criteria.

Ensure appropriate quality control and consistency while enabling matters to be handled efficiently and at the appropriate level within the team.

Work with Legal Operations and other stakeholders to identify opportunities for automation, self-service and technology-enabled legal support.

Establish meaningful performance indicators and service metrics to assess