Group Legal & Governance Director

Koninklijke Co?peratie Agrifirm U.A.; Apeldoorn; Hybrid; EUR 134,000 - 179,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Home-working allowance

Year-end allowance 2.5%

Management bonus

Company car

Agrifirm Academy

Hybrid work environment

Job summary

Royal Agrifirm Group is seeking a senior legal leader to take charge of the Group’s legal affairs, governance and compliance. You will oversee a small team, manage external counsel, and partner with senior leadership to steer complex legal and regulatory issues across the business.

The role requires a Master’s degree in Law and about 10–15 years of in-house experience, with fluency in Dutch and English. A hybrid working arrangement is offered from Apeldoorn with a competitive monthly salary and

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Law and around 10–15 years of relevant legal experience, including substantial in-house experience.
• Fluency in Dutch and English is required.
• Strong track record in corporate law, corporate governance and M&A.

Responsibilities

• Take overall responsibility for the Group’s legal affairs, including corporate structure and legal risk management.
• Provide strategic and tactical legal advice across the organization.
• Lead the legal contribution to M&A transactions and manage significant claims, disputes and litigation.
• Ensure contracts and templates remain current and compliant; strengthen legal processes and operations.
• Oversee the Group insurance programme and regulatory compliance.

Skills

Legal leadership

Corporate governance

M&A experience

In-house experience

Dutch cooperative law knowledge

Education

Master’s degree in Law

Tools

Contract management systems

Governance tools

Job description

The leader we are looking for

Combines strong legal expertise with sound judgement, integrity and the confidence to advise and challenge at senior level.
Is able to move naturally between strategic, tactical and operational matters: setting direction, translating it into clear governance, processes and priorities, and ensuring that advice and decisions are effectively implemented.
Combines a pragmatic, results-oriented approach with the ability to build strong relationships and support colleagues in applying legal and compliance requirements in practice.
Communicates clearly, know when to stand your ground and are equally comfortable listening to different perspectives and bringing people along.

Working in a dynamic environment suits you. You understand that not every challenge requires an immediate answer: sometimes decisive action is needed, while at other times patience, stakeholder management and perseverance lead to a stronger and more sustainable outcome.
You may already lead a legal function and be ready to take on broader end responsibility, or you may be looking to bring your experience from a smaller organization into a broader Group role.

The challenge

Reporting to the CFO, you lead and develop a team of three Legal Counsels and one Paralegal, supported by a Management Assistant. You also manage a network of external legal counsel across the Group's international organization. Working closely with stakeholders throughout the organization, from the Supervisory Board and executive leadership to colleagues across the business, you ensure that legal, governance and compliance matters are addressed effectively.

Your responsibilities span three closely connected areas:

Legal

• Taking overall responsibility for the Group’s legal affairs, including matters relating to the Group’s corporate structure, and legal risk management.
• Providing strategic and tactical legal advice across the organization.
• Leading the legal contribution to M&A transactions.
• Managing significant claims, disputes and litigation.
• Ensuring contracts, legal documents and templates remain current and compliant.
• Taking ownership of legal operations and continuously strengthening legal processes and ways of working.
• Managing the Group insurance programme.

Corporate Governance

• Safeguarding effective corporate governance across Royal Agrifirm Group.
• Acting as Company Secretary to the relevant Boards, including the Supervisory Board and its committees, and supporting effective board processes, decision-making and corporate governance.
• Ensuring sound corporate housekeeping for the Group’s legal entities and joint ventures.
• Supporting the preparation and adoption of the consolidated annual reporting.

Compliance & Integrity

• Taking ownership of the Group’s compliance framework, policies, processes and protocols.
• Overseeing Business Conduct policies, including the Code of Conduct, anti-bribery, data protection and competition law.
• Maintaining an effective Speak Up framework and acting as Secretary to the Integrity Committee.
• Coordinating integrity investigations and ensuring careful, consistent and appropriate follow-up.

What you bring

With a Master’s degree in Law and around 10–15 years of relevant legal experience, including substantial in-house experience, you bring a strong track record in corporate law, corporate governance and M&A, complemented by experience in compliance and integrity investigations. Knowledge of Dutch cooperative law is an advantage.

As a senior legal leader, you combine deep legal expertise with business judgement and a strong understanding of governance. Comfortable at executive and Board level, you provide trusted advice and take ownership of complex legal, governance and compliance matters.

Fluency in Dutch and English is required.

Our offer

• A gross monthly salary of €12,000 to €16,000, depending on experience.
• A home-working allowance and 2.5% year-end allowance.
• A management bonus and company car.
• Extensive opportunities for professional and personal development through the Agrifirm Academy.
• A hybrid working environment, offering flexibility between working from home and our head office in Apeldoorn.

Who are we?

At Royal Agrifirm Group, we strive for aninclusiveculture, in whichall ofour employees can say:“I’m a valued member of a winning team, doing meaningful work in an environment of trust.”Embedded in our company culture are our STARvalues, representing not only what we value but also how we act; Sharp,Together,AmbitiousandResponsible. We have the reach to bring different players and different worlds together. Combining the ideas, skills and knowledge of allofour employees enables us to be at the forefront of the development of new concepts, products and tools to deliver on our purpose;a responsible food chain for future generations.

Ready to make an impact?

Agriculture and the food chain are changing rapidly. Regulation, sustainability, market developments and new business models continuously create new legal and governance challenges.That makes this much more than a traditional legal leadership position.

You will have the opportunity to shape Legal, Governance and Compliance at Group level, work closely with senior leadership and contribute to Agrifirm’s ambition of building a responsible food chain for future generations. We welcome different perspectives, experiences and leadership styles and are curious about what you can bring to Agrifirm.

An online assessment is part of the application procedure.