Assistant Manager- Legal, Mumbai

Asian Paints Limited; Mumbai; On-site; INR 1,200,000 - 2,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Asian Paints Limited is seeking a proactive legal professional with 4-7 years of experience in Legal Metrology and Contracts to join our Mumbai team. The role emphasizes drafting and negotiating a wide range of commercial agreements, ensuring label compliance under Legal Metrology and Packaged Commodities Regulations, and clear stakeholder communication.

You will support regulatory compliance programs, conduct due diligence on contracts, manage risk, train business teams on governance

Qualifications

• 4–7 years of experience in Legal Metrology and Contracts
• Hands-on experience with Legal Metrology laws and Packaged Commodities Regulations
• Ability to draft and negotiate contracts

Responsibilities

• Draft, review, negotiate and finalize commercial contracts including procurement, service, NDAs, marketing, logistics and consultancy agreements
• Identify legal, commercial and operational risks and propose mitigation measures
• Standardize contract templates and assist in developing contracting playbooks
• Provide legal support during negotiations with customers, vendors and service providers
• Advise on contractual rights, liabilities, indemnities, warranties and dispute resolution mechanisms
• Ensure compliance with laws, policies and internal approval frameworks; support due diligence
• Monitor contract lifecycle management, maintain repositories and support audits and compliance reviews
• Assist in managing disputes, claims, notices and settlements; coordinate with external counsel
• Prepare management updates, risk reports and litigation trackers for leadership
• Partner with Sales, Procurement, Supply Chain, Finance, Marketing to provide timely legal support
• Conduct training sessions on contracts, risks and governance

Job description

JOB PURPOSE

Seeking a proactive legal professional with 4-7 years' experience in Legal Metrology and Contracts, preferably in FMCG/Manufacturing/Retail. The candidate must have hands-on experience in Legal Metrology laws and Packaged Commodities Regulations. Responsibilities include ensuring label compliance, artwork and label approvals, stakeholder communication, legal training, and compliance audits under the Legal Metrology Act and allied rules. Candidate should have knowledge on drafting and negotiating contracts.

Primary Responsibilities

Safeguard the Company's interests by providing legal support on commercial and business transactions, drafting and negotiating contracts, minimizing legal and commercial risks, ensuring regulatory compliance, and supporting dispute management. The role will primarily focus on contract management while demonstrating willingness to support Legal Metrology compliance initiatives as required.

1. Contract Drafting & Negotiation

• Draft, review, negotiate and finalize a wide range of commercial contracts, including procurement agreements, service agreements, NDAs, marketing agreements, logistics contracts, consultancy agreements, amendments and other business-related documents.
• Identify legal, commercial and operational risks and recommend appropriate mitigation measures.
• Standardize contract templates and assist in developing contracting playbooks.
• Provide legal support during negotiations with customers, vendors, service providers and other stakeholders.

2. Legal Advisory & Risk Management

• Advise business teams on contractual rights, obligations, liabilities, indemnities, warranties, limitation of liability and dispute resolution mechanisms.
• Ensure business transactions comply with applicable laws, company policies and internal approval frameworks.
• Conduct legal due diligence and support evaluation of strategic business projects.

3. Contract Governance & Compliance

• Monitor contract lifecycle management, including execution, amendments, renewals and closures.
• Maintain contract repositories and ensure proper record keeping and document management.
• Support periodic audits and compliance reviews relating to contractual obligations.

4. Dispute & Litigation Support

• Assist in managing contractual disputes, claims, legal notices and commercial disagreements arising from business transactions.
• Support assessment of legal risks, contractual exposure and dispute resolution strategies to safeguard the Company's interests.
• Coordinate with external counsel, business teams and internal stakeholders for litigation, arbitration, mediation and other dispute resolution proceedings.
• Assist in the preparation, review and management of legal notices, replies, pleadings, legal opinions, claim assessments and settlement documentation.
• Monitor ongoing litigation and dispute matters, maintain case records and ensure timely submission of required documents and information.
• Support preservation of evidence, fact-finding exercises and internal investigations relating to contractual and commercial disputes.
• Work closely with business teams to identify contentious issues at an early stage and recommend appropriate mitigation measures.
• Assist in enforcing contractual rights, remedies and dispute resolution mechanisms under various commercial agreements.
• Provide legal support in negotiating and documenting settlements, compromise arrangements and dispute closure mechanisms.
• Derive learnings from disputes and claims to strengthen contracting practices, risk allocation provisions and contract governance frameworks.
• Assist in managing contentious matters, high-stake disputes, strategic litigation and business-critical legal issues having significant financial, operational, regulatory or reputational impact on the Company.
• Support preparation of management updates, litigation trackers and risk reports for senior leadership and key stakeholders.

5. Stakeholder Management & Training

• Partner with Sales, Procurement, Supply Chain, Finance, Marketing and other business functions to provide timely legal support.
• Conduct training sessions and awareness programs on contracts, legal risks and governance requirements.

6. Regulatory Support

• Track legal and regulatory developments impacting commercial contracts and business operations.
• Support implementation of legal compliance initiatives across the organization.

7. Legal Metrology (Developmental Exposure)

• Demonstrate an interest and willingness to learn and support Legal Metrology compliance matters, including product labelling and packaging requirements under the Legal Metrology framework.