Head of Legal

FWD Group Management Holdings Limited; Taguig; Hybrid; PHP 5,000,000 - 9,000,000; Full time

Job summary

FWD Group is seeking a Head of Legal for its Philippines operations to lead the Legal function, manage regulatory risk and support strategic growth. You will partner with the business to ensure governance and compliant execution of initiatives.

Applicants should have 10–15 years in financial institutions, direct engagement with regulators (e.g., Insurance Commission), and proven leadership of legal teams. Experience in bancassurance, regulatory matters, and strategic transactions is a plus.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Law is required; additional accounting/finance background is a plus.
• Strong background in financial institutions and regulatory matters.

Responsibilities

• Deliver timely, high-quality legal support to the business
• Proactively identifying and mitigating legal and regulatory risks
• Enabling strategic transactions and new business models
• Building a high-performing Legal team and sustainable function

Skills

Regulatory engagement

Legal leadership

Strategic transactions

Risk management

Contract negotiation

Education

Bachelor's degree in Law

Job description

About FWD Group

FWD Group (1828.HK) is a pan-Asian life and health insurance business that serves over 40 million customers across 10 markets, including BRI Life in Indonesia. FWD’s customer-led and tech-enabled approach aims to deliver innovative propositions, easy-to-understand products and a simpler insurance experience. Established in 2013, the company operates in some of the fastest-growing insurance markets in the world with a vision of changing the way people feel about insurance. FWD Group is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under the stock code 1828. For more information, please visit www.fwd.com.

About FWD Life Philippines

FWD Life Insurance Corporation (FWD Life Philippines) launched its commercial operations in September 2014. As of end-2022, FWD Life Philippines ranks 3rd and 6th in terms of Paid-up Capital(1) and New Business Annual Premium Equivalent(2), respectively. For more information, please visit fwd.com.ph.

Job Purpose

The Head of Legal is responsible for leading the Legal function and acting as a strategic partner to the business. The role ensures effective management of legal risk, supports business growth initiatives, and strengthens governance and regulatory engagement. Success in this role is defined by:

• Delivering timely, high-quality legal support to the business
• Proactively identifying and mitigating legal and regulatory risks
• Enabling strategic transactions and new business models
• Building a high-performing Legal team and sustainable function

Education & Certification

At least a Bachelor’s degree in Law Accounting or Finance background is a plus.

Experience

10-15 years total legal experience, with strong background in financial institutions. Must have direct experience engaging regulators (e.g., Insurance Commission). Exposure to strategic transactions, bancassurance/distribution, and regulatory matters. Proven leadership of legal teams and management of external counsel. Strong background in providing legal services for financial institutions, with at least 10-15 years total experience. Handled regulators such as the Insurance Commission.

Preferred Experience

Preferred to have at least 5 years’ experience in a life insurance company’s Legal Department or Legal and Compliance Department. Experience in: Strategic transactions, Distribution / Bancassurance, and Regulatory crises or investigations. With proven leadership of legal teams both internal and external counsels and exercising authority over: Legal opinions, Contract thresholds, External counsel management.

Additional Information

Privacy Notice: Your privacy is a priority for FWD. The Company keeps your personal information with us in confidence. To know more about how we process your information, kindly refer to our FWD Recruitment Privacy Notice. FWD has partnered with Talocity Instasolutions Private Limited ("Talocity") to manage the initial filtering of candidate’s profiles through video interviews, social profile mapping, and video analytics using artificial intelligence engine that is offered within the Talocity platform. The platform evaluates the candidate on the five well-known dimensions as per OCEAN Personality Model that influence occupational success and help understand workplace behavior. For more information, please refer to Talocity Privacy Policy. When you apply, FWD will share your name, phone number and email address to Talocity to contact you and conduct the initial screening and profiling process. Shortlisted candidates will then be contacted by FWD for the face-to-face interview.