Vice President - Legal Counsel

Job Title: Vice President Legal Counsel

Role Purpose:

The role is responsible for providing legal advice, guidance, and support to all business and product teams, including corporate banking, transaction services, payments, and other lines of business that may be launched in the future. The scope includes reviewing credit, lending, and product documentation, agreements, and contracts, managing litigation, and advising on other legal matters to ensure effective management of legal risks in accordance with internal legal and compliance frameworks.

Principal Accountabilities:

Impact on the Business:

- Provide counsel and legal support on a variety of legal matters, including complex or high-impact cases.

- Serve as a trusted adviser by delivering commercially sensitive, pragmatic, and practical legal advice in a cost-effective manner.

- Guide business teams in identifying and managing legal risks, including addressing customer complaints.

Customers / Stakeholders:

- Deliver prompt, commercially focused, and sometimes specialized legal advice to relevant business units.

- Proactively communicate material legal developments and their implications to stakeholders.

- Recommend selection and engagement of panel law firms and other external advisors as needed.

Leadership & Teamwork:

- Build and maintain positive professional relationships with colleagues in the legal team and relevant business units.

- Participate actively as part of the broader legal team, sharing legal knowledge and best practices.

- Manage internal support staff where applicable.

Operational Effectiveness & Control:

- Provide legal services in a cost-efficient manner while maintaining high standards.

- Coordinate and manage legal risk to ensure that the companys interests are adequately protected.

- Support the business in meeting legal risk management requirements outlined in internal governance frameworks.

- Maintain awareness of operational risk scenarios relevant to the role and ensure proactive risk mitigation.

- Oversee all legal matters, ensuring operational risk is well managed.

Major Challenges:

- Adapting work style to manage complex and varied workloads effectively.

- Prioritizing matters based on legal risk and commercial importance.

- Keeping abreast of changes in law and regulations that may affect the business.

- Maintaining an independent view while balancing legal risk management with business needs.

- Handling increasingly complex matters with minimal supervision.

- Building credibility and trust with senior management and stakeholders.

- Managing time-sensitive decisions under commercial pressures.

- Developing strategies to minimize and manage customer complaints more effectively.

Role Context:

- Work closely with senior legal management to oversee legal risk across multiple business lines.

- Handle a wide variety of matters requiring both generalist and specialist legal skills.

- Operate largely autonomously, seeking guidance only for exceptional, high-risk, or unusually complex matters.

- Build strong, collaborative relationships with legal colleagues in other jurisdictions where relevant.

Management of Risk:

- Adhere to processes and controls to identify and mitigate risks, escalating issues as necessary.

Observation of Internal Controls:

- Maintain compliance with internal control standards and address any audit or regulatory findings promptly.

Role Dimensions:

- Manage legal risk in a complex operating environment with multiple business lines, diverse products, and varying regulatory requirements.

- Consider strategic and business priorities when delivering legal advice.

Qualifications & Experience:

- Qualified lawyer with strong knowledge of banking, corporate, and securities law concepts.

- Experience with cross-border legal matters and familiarity with laws in multiple jurisdictions preferred.

- Corporate and/or compliance experience an advantage.

- Strong leadership, prioritization, communication, and interpersonal skills.

- Ability to apply lateral thinking and problem-solving to legal issues.