Senior Corporate Legal

Teceze India; Chennai District; On-site; INR 4,000,000 - 7,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Teceze India is seeking an experienced Senior Corporate Counsel to lead its in-house legal function. The role covers contract management, corporate affairs, employment and labor law advisory, governance, compliance, disputes and risk management.

You will build, mentor and develop the legal team, establish governance frameworks, and ensure legal support aligns with the company's commercial objectives and risk appetite.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of corporate/in-house legal experience.
• Proven experience leading and developing a legal team.
• Strong expertise in corporate and commercial contracts, including drafting and negotiation.
• Extensive employment and labor law experience across jurisdictions.
• Experience in corporate governance, risk management and compliance.
• Experience managing external counsel and legal spend.
• Ability to balance legal risk with commercial objectives.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic, commercially focused legal advice to leadership.
• Oversee end-to-end contract management and negotiations.
• Lead HR and employment law advisory across jurisdictions.
• Develop governance frameworks and corporate policies.
• Manage litigation, disputes, and regulatory risk.
• Build and mentor the legal team; optimize processes.

Skills

Legal leadership

Contract drafting

Employment law

Corporate governance

Dispute management

Education

LL.B

Job description

Experience: 15 years of relevant corporate/in-house legal experience in tech. companies

Level: Mid to Senior Leadership

Reporting: Senior Management / Executive Leadership, as applicable

Team Responsibility: Legal team and external legal counsel/service providers

Position Overview

The role will have overall responsibility for contract management, corporate and commercial legal matters, employment and labor law advisory, corporate governance, legal compliance, disputes and litigation, legal risk management, legal operations and management of external counsel.

the role will be responsible for building, managing, mentoring and developing the legal team, establishing appropriate legal processes and governance frameworks, and ensuring that legal support is delivered efficiently and in alignment with the organization's commercial objectives and risk appetite.

The role requires a seasoned corporate legal professional who can balance legal risk, commercial priorities and operational requirements, while appropriately escalating material risks to senior leadership.

Key responsibilities:

Legal Leadership & Strategic Advisory

• Provide practical and commercially focused legal advice while balancing business objectives against legal, financial, contractual, regulatory and reputational risks.
• Translate complex legal issues into clear business recommendations and actionable solutions for management.
• Advise leadership on material legal risks, potential liabilities, contractual exposures and appropriate risk mitigation strategies.
• Lead, manage and develop the legal team, including allocation and prioritization of work based on complexity, risk, business impact, and team capabilities.
• Promote a culture of ownership, accountability, responsiveness, commercial awareness, and continuous improvement.
• Own and oversee the organization's end-to-end contract management and contracting framework.
• Lead negotiations on material contractual provisions

HR, Labor & Employment Laws

• Provide strategic legal guidance on employment and labor law matters across jurisdictions in which the organization operates.
• Partner closely with HR and business leadership on employee relations and employment-related legal matters.
• Advise HR and management on sensitive or high-risk employee relations matters.
• Monitor significant developments in applicable labor and employment legislation and implement them as necessary.

Corporate Governance & Policies

• Lead and support corporate governance requirements applicable to the organization and its subsidiaries/group entities, where applicable.
• Develop, review and periodically update corporate policies, legal frameworks and governance procedures.
• Ensure appropriate delegations of authority and internal legal approval mechanisms are established and followed.
• Support management in maintaining appropriate governance and decision-making processes.

Legal Compliance & Risk Management

• Establish and maintain an effective legal risk management framework for identifying, assessing, mitigating and monitoring material legal risks.
• Conduct periodic legal risk assessments across relevant business functions.
• Advise management on emerging regulatory developments and their potential impact on the business.
• Work collaboratively with Compliance, Finance, HR, Information Security, Procurement, Sales and other functions to ensure appropriate legal controls.
• Oversee and strategically manage litigation, arbitration, claims, and contractual disputes involving the organization.
• Monitor the organization's dispute and litigation portfolio and periodically report material developments and exposure to senior management.
• Drive commercially sensible dispute resolution strategies

Legal Research & Advisory

• Provide authoritative legal advice on complex corporate, commercial, contractual, and employment matters.
• Monitor relevant legislative, regulatory, and judicial developments that may impact the organization.
• Prepare executive legal summaries, legal opinions, risk assessments, and management briefings as required.

External Counsel & Legal Spend Management

• Establish and manage relationships with external law firms, consultants and specialist legal service providers.
• Determine when matters should be handled internally versus referred to external counsel.
• Negotiate and monitor external counsel fee arrangements.
• Manage legal budgets and monitor legal expenditure against approved budgets.
• Evaluate external counsel based on expertise, outcome, responsiveness, quality and cost-effectiveness.

Legal Operations & Process Improvement

• Drive the overall operational efficiency and effectiveness of the legal function.
• Standardize legal processes, workflows, templates, contract playbooks and internal guidance.
• Implement dashboards and reporting mechanisms to provide visibility into legal workload, contracting activity, disputes, external legal spend and risk.

Qualifications, experience & key competency requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Law / LL.B.
• Approximately 15+ years of progressive legal experience, with substantial experience in a corporate/in-house legal environment.
• Demonstrated experience leading and managing a legal team and taking ownership of an organization's legal function or a significant area within it.
• Strong experience in corporate and commercial contracts, including complex contract drafting and negotiation.
• Significant experience advising businesses on employment and labor law matters.
• Experience in corporate governance, disputes, legal risk management and management of external counsel.
• Experience advising senior business stakeholders and translating complex legal issues into practical commercial recommendations.
• Experience working across multiple jurisdictions or with global stakeholders would be highly desirable.
• Successful track record of effective cross - functional and stakeholder management
• Decision-making and accountability
• Ability to influence without relying solely on authority
• Strong communication and presentation skills
• Problem-solving and solution-oriented thinking
• Ability to manage competing priorities and high-pressure situations