The Role

The Legal Counsel Benelux will provide support on different types of legal matters; contracts, local data protection and privacy laws, local litigation, general legal advice, customer complaints etc. for Belgium but also for some other important Kindred markets such as Netherlands. The Legal Counsel will work under some supervision when required but will need to build strong relationships with local stakeholders including the commercial team and customer service, whilst ensuring Kindred retains its position as a trustworthy partner who puts compliance first throughout our operations. The  Legal Counsel Benelux will work within a global team of 12 lawyers based across Europe within a fast-paced industry.

What you will do

The Legal Counsel will take on generalist responsibilities including:

• Reviewing and drafting legal documents and commercial contracts
• Supervising advertising and promotional campaigns
• Providing feedback on legal terms and conditions
• Assisting with customer complaints escalated to Legal and draft routine letters and correspondences
• Together with local Legal Counsel, managing local litigation matters, including coordination with external lawyers;
• Keeping oversight of various local legislative developments and industry-specific trends that could impact the business and proactively inform all relevant internal stakeholders so that necessary changes can be actioned timely;
• Local GDPR/data protection matters and alignment with Kindred GDPR team to secure the local market/s follow Kindreds GDPR/privacy framework
• Securing Kindred legal policies and guidelines are followed by internal stakeholders through training, information sessions and keeping policies up to date and relevant
• Advising the local business on overall compliance with local laws and regulations
• Conducting legal research and analyses, prepare presentations and consolidated reports for the Head of Legal and other Legal Counsels, and prepare summaries (including case summaries).
• Contributing to and being part of an interconnected collaborative Group “hub & spoke” model between Legal, Public Affairs and Compliance, where expertise and know-how are shared and made accessible across teams, to mitigate business risks and seek more sustainable alternatives in the relevant local market.
• Dealing with ad hoc legal matters as required by the Local Legal Counsel or Head of Legal and as required by the needs of the business.
• Together with local Legal Counsel, managing the legal internal reporting processes and other administrative procedures such as but not limited to; litigation reporting, internal financial reporting, audits, etc.
• Acting as business partner with close proximity to the line organization, champion and raise positive awareness about a “compliance and sustainability priority” approach to ensure Kindred Group proactively designs and runs its operations in a regulated industry on the basis of the mandatory legal requirements and standards to create a safe user experience and a reputable business, thereby generating sustainable recurring net revenue. 

Your Experience

To accomplish the mission and fulfil the role, the function requires a combination of at least 3 of the following skills and competences:

• Consumer law
• Commercial law
• Contract law
• GDPR
• Regulatory
• IP / IT & Software
• Media & Technology
• Competition law
• AML (experience from AML work is a plus but not required for the role)
• Master of Law from a reputable university;
• Must be a self-driven, resourceful, results and deadline oriented, and have a high multi-task proficiency.
• Comfortable with reviewing laws & regulations and dealing with legal documentation and having a solid understanding of regulatory requirements in the relevant markets.
• Demonstrated experience in successfully handling different responsibilities, in a fast paced, changing business environment and against strict deadlines;
• Commercial mindset
• Strong analytical and decisive skills, with the ability to prioritize and communicate key objectives to achieve organizational goals while maintaining accuracy and quality.
• A hands-on and well-organised “Doer” who has proven to always go the extra mile, is a genuine team player and breathes the Kindred values when working with internal stakeholders.
• Understanding of digital trends and legal challenges and ability to proactively translate them into the Kindred reality.
• Languages: Dutch (preferrably) and/or French (native) and English (professional)