About the company & role
A global manufacturing business with a strong international presence is currently seeking a Head of Legal (Syndikusanwalt) to provide strategic legal guidance and support for the business’s global operations. This is a senior leadership role based in Berlin, offering broad exposure to a range of legal disciplines and the opportunity to help shape the legal function globally.
Reporting into the global leadership team, this role will take primary responsibility for all legal matters across the German business, with oversight of additional international jurisdictions as needed. You will lead a team of two legal professionals and collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure compliance, mitigate legal risks, and drive business objectives forward.
What’s on offer?
This is a pivotal role combining legal leadership with hands-on legal work in a fast-paced manufacturing environment. You will have the chance to lead a high-performing legal team, drive legal strategy, and work directly with the senior management team on business-critical matters.
The position offers significant autonomy, a collaborative working culture, and the opportunity to be a true business partner. As the primary legal advisor in Germany, you will also play a key role in navigating complex regulatory environments and shaping the company’s legal risk profile.
This role is ideally suited to a legal leader looking to take the next step into a Head of Legal position or an experienced in-house counsel ready to broaden their scope at the regional level. A competitive compensation package is on offer for this position.
About you
To succeed in this role, you will be a qualified German lawyer with substantial post-qualification experience (likely 8+ years), including in-house legal leadership responsibilities. While manufacturing industry experience is beneficial, candidates from a variety of sectors will be considered provided they bring a strong grounding in German and EU law and a commercial, solutions-oriented mindset.
You will need to demonstrate proven leadership skills, a pragmatic approach to risk, and the ability to work cross-functionally with stakeholders across finance, operations, and HR. Strong experience in contract negotiation, employment law, regulatory compliance, and litigation management is essential.
Fluency in German and English (both written and spoken) is required.
Leonid Group Corporate Governance is a talent acquisition consultancy that specialises in the placement of Legal, Compliance, Risk, ESG and Sustainability and Audit professionals on an international scale across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC. These are global disciplines with teams worldwide, and our network reflects this. We work with multinational corporations to help structure their departments with the best people, from the Global Chief Compliance Officer and General Counsel to the Compliance Analyst and Trade Compliance Specialist.