Legal Counsel

Legal Counsel - Vandemoortele - Ghent (Belgium)

The Vandemoortele Group is a family controlled international food group with a leading European position in high-quality frozen bakery products and margarines, culinary oils & fats. The Group is present in 12 European countries with own sales organizations and/or production sites throughout Europe and serves customers in more than 70 countries worldwide.

Due to the continued growth of the company and its expanding business, Vandemoortele is looking to hire a Legal Counsel (M/F) to strengthen the legal team at the headquarters in Ghent.

Responsibilities

Reporting to the Group Legal & Regulatory Affairs manager, you will deal with the legal aspects of Vandemoortele's worldwide business (among others in Europe, USA and Asia Pacific). You will be a member of the Legal and Regulatory Affairs Department and will be providing accurate advice in a variety of legal disciplines (commercial law, contract law, company law, competition law, IP law and data protection law), drafting, reviewing and negotiating a broad range of commercial contracts, legal risk assessments related to export operations, contribute to the creation of a network of external legal advisors to support the export business development, handling and following-up litigations and court cases and managing legal and regulatory compliance risks.

Candidate profile:

• The candidate (M/F) has a Master degree in law (Belgian law or continental law with specialization in commercial law, contract law, competition law, fair market practices law, intellectual property law, company law, ICT law or European law)
• Solid experience in the above mentioned fields, and in particular in drafting and negotiating agreements, gained as a in-house legal counsel in a multinational group (preferably in FMCG) and/or as a lawyer in a reputable internationally oriented law firm
• Excellent contract drafting skills and knowledge of and/or experience with foreign law systems (Italian, Polish, US or South East Asian (China/Hong Kong /Japan)) law will be considered a plus
• Experience in dealing with complex matters and multiple stakeholder project management is a plus, as is the holding of a degree or material experience in business administration
• Fluent in English (excellent "drafting" skills and spoken knowledge) is a key language requirement. Fluency in French and Dutch are considered a big plus and knowledge of other foreign languages (ideally Italian and/or Polish) will be considered a big plus
• Flexible to travel