TMF Group Hiring For Head of Legal – Singapore, Malaysia, Korea & Japan at Singapore Full Time

About TMF Group

TMF Group is a leading global provider of high-value business services to clients operating and investing globally. We focus on providing specialized and business-critical financial and administrative services that enable our clients to operate their corporate structures, finance vehicles and investment funds in different geographical locations. Our core services can help companies of all sizes with HR and payroll, accounting and tax, corporate secretarial, international corporate structuring, fund administration and structured finance – whether a company wants to globalize, or whether they need support to streamline existing operations.

With operations in more than 80 countries, TMF Group is the global expert that understands local needs. Global reach, local knowledge: helping to do business seamlessly across borders.

About this role

The Head of Legal of a market or a group of markets plays a key role in enhancing the second line functionality of TMF’s Global Legal Function at a market level by connecting with market management, understanding and addressing the legal needs of the market, driving progress on the yearly global legal priorities & KPI’s in the markets, as well as managing legal risks in accordance with the group risk appetite. The Head of Legal will report into the Group Director Legal with a matrix reporting line to the Market Head.

More specifically, the Head of Legal will be responsible for:

• acting in accordance with the global legal mission, the (inhouse) legal service delivery and control model;
• identifying and driving process improvements, and proactively seeking improvements in the legal service delivery and control model in the market;
• acting as the main point of contact for inhouse legal services and resolving legal issues in the market;
• steer and support local offices to improve the alignment and adherence to global legal policies, standards and guidelines;
• partnering with the Group Director Legal and Group Legal to enhance TMF’s second line of defense functionality in legal matters, improving progress on legal deliverables and remediate internal audit findings in the market.

Key Responsibilities

Fulfil Business Legal’s role in the second line of defence within TMF, enhancing a central legal risk management

• Actively participate in relevant local board and local committee meetings and market management meetings to advise and guide local management on relevant legal matters.
• Work with Director Legal to ensure alignment of market legal budgeting matters.
• Update market management, the Group Director Legal and Group Legal on legal developments in the market.
• Discover training opportunities to increase awareness in legal areas and provide legal training to the market.
• Facilitate the first line of defence within TMF with local implementation of global legal policies, procedures and standards, ensuring compliance with group legal policies, procedures and standards as well as local legislative requirements.
• Work with the Market Head to operationalise and embed effective controls and practices;
• Proactively monitor the implementation of global legal policies, procedures, standards and local legal requirements.
• Perform second line testing in connection with Group Legal and Group Director Legal.
• Provide remediation support to the first line of defence within TMF.

Ensuring high-quality in-house legal service delivery with high business impact

• (Pro-actively) advise on and support the market management with the following legal topics: data privacy, cosec, local client contracting, regulatory strategic advice, procurement, legal entity management, various registrations, intercompany agreements, HR support, claims & litigation and remediating internal audit findings.
• Responsible for advising on correspondence with authorities and escalate to Director Legal, Group Legal and/or market management when necessary.
• Work with Group Privacy Office to ensure that the market establishes adequate governance on data processing activities, perform regular data inventory maintenance, avoid/handle data breaches in a proper manner to avoid/mitigate the legal risk.
• Work with the Group procurement team to ensure compliance with local legislative requirements.
• Work with Group Corporate & Group Affairs to ensure adequate support in restructuring and M&A matters, enhance collaboration on board governance, cosec matters, legal entity management and intragroup SLA’s.
• Work with the Group Manager Global Claims & Litigation to ensure timely reporting of legal cases and control of related external spend together with market legal counsels.
• Work with Group Global Client Contracting to ensure the local implementation of LSA templates and standards, and timely escalations in accordance with the LSA escalation matrix.

 Facilitate the delivery of yearly Global Legal Priorities & KPI’s, contributing to the success of TMF strategy

• Understands, operationalises and supports the delivery of the Global Legal Priorities & KPI’s at the market level.
• Suggests market strategy, execute and resolve bottlenecks with the Director Legal to improve progress on the Global Legal Priorities & KPI’s in the market.
• Ensures accurate reporting on progress on the Global Legal Priorities & KPI’s.

Key Requirements / Qualifications:

• You are a qualified lawyer with at least 7 to 10 years of legal work experience, preferably both in-house and in a law firm.
• You have knowledge of corporate, civil and liability law.
• You have demonstrated experience in collaborating with colleagues across different international offices and reaching consensus with diverse stakeholders.
• You understand the needs of the business and the importance of legal risk management and are able to integrate legal risk management aspects and legal service delivery smoothly in daily legal activities.
• You are able to understand the interests of several stakeholders and can build strong relationships.
• You are result-driven, have a hands-on mentality and are proactive; you work carefully and accurately.
• You are a team player, ambitious and proactive; you are focused on cooperation and solutions; you show persuasiveness.
• You have strong analytical skills and are able to quickly identify the interests involved in a case, while constructively safeguarding and representing the interests of the market.
• You are able to make trusted judgement calls and possess a professional and independent decision-making ability.
• You have excellent communication (verbal and written) and influencing skills (English) and are a serious discussion partner for internal and external professionals.
• You feel comfortable working in a team that considers continuous improvement of processes and services as well as customer and market orientation important. You are an active contributor to those improvements.
• You have affinity with financial and administrative services.

What’s in it for you?

• Our offices are easily accessible by public transportation (LRT & Monorail)
• Flexible working arrangements
• Work with colleagues and clients around the world on interesting and challenging work.
• We provide internal career opportunities so you can take your career further within TMF

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