Head of Legal & Company Secretarial (Group General Counsel)
Location
NCR / Gurugram
Reporting
Directly to Promoter Group (Board‑level visibility)
Group Overview
Our client is a fast‑growing, promoter‑driven conglomerate that has evolved out of a large, established automotive ecosystem, with strong joint‑venture partnerships, B2B auto‑components DNA and a clear plan to build a diversified, multi‑sector platform. Current group revenues are around INR 2,000 crore, making every senior leadership hire highly visible and critical.
Role Mandate
The Group General Counsel will build and lead the integrated Legal + CS function across multiple entities and JVs, and act as the primary legal advisor to the promoter family. This is a greenfield, build‑out role spanning existing operations and upcoming ventures (EV JV, NBFC, GCC real estate, food exports).
Key Responsibilities
- Act as strategic legal advisor to promoters and board on structuring, risk and governance across the group.
- Design and implement a unified legal, contracts and compliance framework, including templates, playbooks and negotiation positions.
- Lead legal work on JVs, M&A and partner negotiations (strong focus on International partners).
- Own regulatory engagement and external stakeholder management (RBI, SEBI/stock exchanges, MCA, other sectoral regulators, auditors, law firms).
- Oversee all litigation/disputes (customs, tax, regulatory, commercial, employment) with a prevention‑first, early‑resolution bias.
- Anchor governance and board support (boards/committees, minutes, filings, policy frameworks, listing readiness and PE/NCD transactions).
- Build and mentor a small internal legal/CS team while effectively leveraging external counsel.
Candidate Profile
Education & Experience
- Law graduate (LL.B); LL.M preferred.
- Mandatory Company Secretary (CS) qualification – integrated Legal + CS leadership profile.
- 18–22+ years of total experience, including 8–10+ years in a senior role as Head of Legal / GC / Legal & CS in mid‑ to large‑sized organisations.
- Strong exposure to listed or listing‑ready environments (IPOs, PE, NCDs, SEBI/LODR, Companies Act).
Industry Exposure
Must‑have:
- Auto manufacturing / auto‑ancillary, or strong core manufacturing background with plant, OEM contract and supply‑chain exposure.
- Hands‑on JV experience (ideally Japanese and/or European/Italian) – negotiation, structuring, shareholder agreements and long‑term relationship management.
Advantageous:
- NBFC/financial services regulatory exposure or demonstrated ability to ramp up in financial regulations.
- Cross‑border structuring in GCC, Europe or East Asia, including real estate and export‑oriented businesses.
- Experience with B2C/consumer‑adjacent legal issues (warranties, product liability, data/privacy, fair practices).
Technical Competencies
- Corporate & securities law: Companies Act, SEBI/LODR, JV/shareholder agreements, FEMA, land/real‑estate laws, legal metrology and relevant sectoral regulations.
- JV/M&A/structuring: end‑to‑end JV lifecycle, renegotiations, exits, restructuring with foreign partners.
- Contracts: OEM supply contracts, technology transfer/licensing, NDAs, services, financing and distribution agreements, real‑estate documentation.
- Litigation & disputes: strategy and oversight across customs, tax, regulatory and commercial matters with effective external counsel management.
- Governance & CS: boards/committees, minutes, filings, policies (CSR, POSH, ABAC, code of conduct, risk), listing and transaction preparedness.
Leadership & Style
- Business‑first, commercially sharp and pragmatic; able to translate law into decisions and trade‑offs.
- Comfortable operating in a promoter‑led, high‑expectation environment; calm and clear under pressure.
- Proactive, anticipatory, solution‑oriented; not a back‑office, reactive legal role.
- Long‑term orientation, with evidence of multi‑year tenures and intent to build and stay.
- High preparation, humility and confidence; culturally aligned to low‑litigation, high‑trust JV environments, especially with Japanese partners.
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