Legal Counsel

Role Introduction

Reports to: Senior Legal Counsel

The Group Legal and Compliance (GLC) department provides the Group with sound and pragmatic advice on legal issues. Our team handles a range of commercial, corporate, employment law, data privacy, competition law and regulatory matters. We handle litigation and regulatory and investigations which involve the Group. We also develop and implement Cathay’s compliance policies and programmes, including competition, anti-bribery, sanctions and data privacy.

As the Legal Counsel, you will be responsible for providing legal advice on commercial and transactional matters within Cathay Pacific Group and the Cathay Pacific Group’s regional offices.

Key Responsibilities

• You will need to be a good team player who is able to work independently and effectively with other members of the legal team and all Business Units across the Cathay Pacific Group and Cathay Pacific Group’s regional offices and be seen as a trusted advisor. You will need to be able to take full ownership of matters
• You will need to have a good understanding of commercial objectives and aims, be able to identify and assess legal and commercial risks and provide pragmatic and practical legal advice in a fast-paced environment
• You will be responsible for the drafting, reviewing and negotiation of a wide range and high volume of commercial contracts; including technology agreements, procurements, licences, marketing agreements, sponsorships, partnerships, agency agreements, distribution agreements, purchase agreements, service agreements, catering agreements, ground handling agreements, lounge agreements, loyalty participation agreements, payment services agreements, co-brand credit card agreements, customer-facing terms and conditions
• You will on occasion be working alongside external law firms on larger projects
• You will be primarily responsible for managing Cathay Pacific’s terms and conditions governing the carriage of passengers and baggage (General Conditions of Carriage and Conditions of Contract), including updating and seeking external legal advice on them and liaising with stakeholders on them
• You will need to be able to work with various levels across the organisation (including senior management) and know when to escalate risks
• You will be responsible for preparing training materials and providing trainings to various business units to equip them with the necessary skills and knowledge to negotiate contracts
• You will be responsible for managing legal costs and expenditure including liaising with external law firms on their WIPs on a monthly basis, ensuring external law firms are on Group Legal and Compliance’s legal panel, utilizing Group Legal and Compliance’s designated external legal fees management system to ensure external law firms submit invoices in accordance with Group Legal and Compliance’s billing requirements, engaging with Business Units to ascertain their legal costs budgets, etc

Requirements

• Hong Kong or other common law jurisdiction qualified lawyer with excellent technical legal skills. Minimum of 5 years of solid post-qualification experience in commercial or corporate law practice. Prior In-house experience is highly preferred
• Able to draft, review and negotiate complex commercial contracts with high attention to detail. Able to see and understand commercial context, to advise Business Units pragmatically with a risk-based approach to contract analysis
• Able to multitask and handle numerous matters at the same time, while meeting different deadlines
• Familiarity with consumer protection laws (in various jurisdictions) is an advantage but is not required
• Highly adaptable, willing and able to learn quickly, and possess a can-do attitude.
• Able to provide sound legal advice on diverse issues, including contract law and consumer rights
• Excellent written, verbal communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to interact and thrive in a multi-cultural work environment
• Mature and proactive, with a high sense of responsibility and integrity. Conducts themselves with high professional standards
• Efficient and able to prioritise workload, multi-task and work under time pressure
• Fluent in spoken and written English. Spoken and written Chinese (traditional and simplified) beneficial but not required

Personal & Application Information

Cathay Pacific is an Equal Opportunities Employer. Personal data provided by job applicants will be used strictly in accordance with our personal data policy and for recruitment purposes only. Candidates not notified within eight weeks may consider their application unsuccessful. All related information will be kept in our file for up to 24 months. A copy of our Personal Information Collection Statement will be provided upon request by contacting our Data Protection Officer.