Senior Legal Counsel L&E Corporate (EMEA)

VF Corporation is looking for an exceptional Senior Legal Counsel L&E Corporate (EMEA) to join our Legal team based in Stabio, Switzerland.

Let’s talk about the role! Reporting directly to the Vice President Regional General Counsel, the Senior Legal Counsel L&E Corporate (EMEA) provides pragmatic, business-oriented legal support across VF’s corporate activities in the region.

The Corporate Business Area remit is broad and includes, among other matters, corporate & finance support (governance, entity management and restructuring, intragroup and financing arrangements), acquisitions and divestitures (including M&A and integration), property & real estate, and sourcing & supply chain matters, as well as relevant compliance workstreams (e.g., SOX-, tax- and ESG-related support, as applicable). Within this wider scope, l abor & employment (L&E) is a primary accountability of the role: you are expected to identify, lead and coordinate L&E advice as a cross-cutting workstream, translate employment risk into clear business actions in close partnership with HR and other stakeholders, and support consistent employment risk management and reporting across the region.

To that end, the Business Area Leader will ensure the use of the Department’s TAC operating model across their team to drive rigorous, value-driven delivery of legal services to VF clients. The TAC model emphasizes a cross-brand service approach and close collaboration across VF brands and shared functions. This description is intended to attract Employment Counsel or Corporate Counsel profiles with a strong labor & employment foundation, able to operate in a broad corporate scope while owning L&E accountability as a critical, cross-cutting workstream.

Primary Accountabilities: Within the framework of VF's strategic reorganization and the pivotal role of the Business Area Corporate, the Business Area Leader shall shoulder the following primary responsibilities:

• Resource Allocation: Devise exhaustive plans detailing resource deployment. This entails scoping the need for both internal expertise and external legal partnerships, while assessing potential ROI.
• Legal Surveillance: Continually monitor legal nuances, especially those impacting corporate governance, acquisitions, divestitures, and the other intricate facets of the Corporate Business Area within the region.
• Strategic Counsel: Offer informed legal direction on the Legal Matters specified in the Annex. Collaborate with other Business Area leads to spot common intersections in strategy and potential legal risks. Offer strategic legal advice, particularly on matters of corporate structuring, labour and employment, and overarching corporate strategy.
• L&E Governance: Establish and maintain a consistent labour & employment governance framework across the region (in partnership with HR), including escalation pathways, playbooks/templates, decision logs for material cases, and the coordinated management of external employment counsel to ensure compliant and timely outcomes.
• Contract Oversight: Supervise the genesis, negotiation, and culmination of pivotal corporate contracts, including real estate, sourcing or employment, ensuring alignment with VF’s overarching objectives while mitigating legal exposure.
• Risk Management: Innovate and execute methodologies to pinpoint and neutralize potential legal pitfalls, especially within the Corporate Business Area’s vast spectrum. This includes monitoring potential challenges to VF's enterprise actions and decisions.
• Legal Ops Synergy: Collaborate closely with the Legal Ops team to ideate, bring to life, and maintain requisite compliance tools and procedures tailored specifically for corporate operations.
• Financial Oversight: Exercise judicious oversight over the engagement of external legal entities, ensuring their services align with the budgetary constraints specific