ECCO - General Counsel, Head of Group Legal & IP (SVP)

RESOLVA is assisting ECCO with the recruitment of a General Counsel, Head of Group Legal & IP (SVP).ROLE DESCRIPTIONEcco is looking for an experienced and business-oriented lawyer with a minimum of 5 years of management experience to take on the role as General Counsel, SVP. As General Counsel you will be responsible for organizing and developing a strong and modern legal and compliance support function that can act as a seamlessly integrated partner for the Ecco organization in connection with its day-to-day business (B2C and B2B) and a wide range of different projects and commercial business initiatives, while defining and driving a solid legal risk management and compliance strategy that ensures compliance with relevant legislation and corporate policies.Management and development of employees is a key task in the role of General Counsel, given that Ecco as a leading international business requires Group Legal & IP to have a high professional standard within relevant areas of legal specialization, a deep business understanding, and a proactive ability to collaborate and integrate both internally in ECCO and in relation to external parties. The way of working at ECCO is integrated across the organization, and Group Legal & IP has significant insight and visibility into the business, works closely with the line organization and actively participates in various commercial activities and projects, including as members of selected project teams.The role as General Counsel comes with many collaborative relationships both internally and externally, including in relation to the broader management and executive management team of ECCO, industry organizations, public authorities, etc. In addition to leadership skills, strong stakeholder management and interpersonal skills are therefore important qualifications.LEGAL TEAMEcco’s legal organization, Group Legal & IP, is led by the General Counsel and consists of a total of 9 FTEs (excluding the General Counsel) all of which are based in Denmark. Group Legal & IP is composed of skilled generalists and specialists covering areas such as contract law, real estate (leases and licences etc.), IP law and marketing law, consumer law, corporate law, competition law, and a range of legal compliance areas such as sanctions and export control, and anti-bribery and corruption. Group Legal & IP supports the entire business globally with help from local external support on certain matters, such as local disputes or specialist support.Certain compliance areas such as product compliance, financial compliance and data compliance are not part of the organization of Group Legal & IP and are placed close to internal stakeholders elsewhere in the ECCO Group.AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITYAs General Counsel, you will have the following main areas of responsibility:Setting the right strategy and structure – You will be expected to develop and manage the right strategy and structure of Group Legal & IP that tallies with the commercial priorities of ECCO and ensures a modern and efficient form and level of legal support to ECCO’s line organization, group functions and management.Leading and developing team(s) - In order to ensure a strong and supportive integration with the business as well as a continuous development of high performing legal and compliance professionals, it is critical to have experience with structuring teams and developing people in a legal and/or compliance function.Ensuring a business-oriented legal support model – Proactive and business-oriented legal support that calibrates legal considerations with ECCO’s commercial priorities and operational frameworks is an important facilitator of ECCO’s day to day business activities and project execution. As General Counsel you are required to enable the right support model across the business.Building a modern compliance & legal risk management framework – Ensuring a responsible and proactive legal risk management approach that aligns with ECCO’s broader Enterprise Risk Management policies and processes is part of ECCO’s license to operate and must be balanced to fit ECCO’s business activities by applying a modern and structured framework capable of meeting global regulatory requirements.Serving stakeholders at all levels – The ability to build a strong and trusting relationships with both internal and external stakeholders and partners at all levels is critical to ensure the appropriate level of legal and compliance support to the whole ECCO organization.Embracing change – Given the rapid technological changes and the pace at which the global ECCO business develops, the General Counsel must be a modern thinker ready to fast embrace and address the changes in the business and the societies that it operates in.As General Counsel you will work out of ECCO’s headquarters in Bredebro where the executive management and group functions of ECCO are located.REPORTING AND TITLEReporting to: The General Counsel will be organizationally placed at Senior Vice President level and report to Chief Financial Officer Marco Bossen, who is part of Ecco’s Executive Management Team consisting of the Chief Executive Officer Thomas Gøgsig and Chief Commercial Officer Casper Gram Hvejsel in addition to Chief Financial Officer Marco Bossen.Title: General Counsel, Head of Legal & IP.IDEAL EXPERIENCEEducation: You hold a Master of Laws degree and have gained a minimum of 12 years of professional experience as in-house lawyer (“virksomhedsjurist”) and probably partly attorney-at-law (“advokat”).Legal competences: You are a modern and experienced in-house lawyer with strong legal judgement and the ability to assess risks and decide on possible solutions/process steps in relation to a wide range of legal areas with a good deal of professional certainty. As in-house lawyer in an international business you have built a commercial and operational acumen that enables you to develop legal and compliance solutions that work optimally in a given business context.Leadership: You have a genuine interest in people management and have proven yourself as skilled leader of others (and possibly also leader of leaders) who can ensure continuous commitment and development of your team members. You are an experienced manager with experience in building and running a legal department and you have solid abilities in delegating responsibility, operating with clear goals and feedback and other aspects of performance management.Stakeholder management: As a result of your extensive experience with internal and external stakeholders, you are used to building relationships and meeting requirements from different types of stakeholders, and you have experience with servicing all parts of a business, including top management, within your field.PERSONAL CAPABILITIESResponsible & proactive: You are a responsible leader that seeks to further the strategy and commercial goals of a business with constant care and integrity. By nature, you are pro-active and thrive in a role where you can organize and drive an agenda in a structured and thoughtful way that aligns with the strategies and needs of the stakeholders you serve.Business understanding: You have a significant commercial and operational understanding that is reflected in all aspects of the advice and support that you and your team provide.Cooperation: You are a positive and unpretentious person who is accommodating and service-minded, and you can facilitate constructive collaboration with different types of people in different settings and cultures.Communication: You are a strong communicator who can present a complex issue in a clear and concise way that caters for the business context in which it arises.ECCO’S VALUE PROPOSITION TO YOUECCO can offer you a highly exciting role in an ambitious and dynamic international company, where great emphasis is placed on commercial acumen and ensuring significant integration and collaboration between various disciplines and business areas.As General Counsel, you will have a great deal of responsibility and impact on the business of ECCO. For the right person this position offers optimal opportunities for continuous personal development and development as a leader and a commercial lawyer.Ecco can offer you attractive working conditions, including a competitive salary, pension, bonus, and employee benefits that reflect your background and skills and the content of the position. If you reside in a different part of the country, ECCO can facilitate accommodation close to Bredebro for candidates who need to commute on a weekly basis.ABOUT ECCOECCO is a leading Danish and globally recognized family-owned company founded in Denmark in 1963 with a vision to create footwear where form follows the natural movement of the foot. Headquartered in Bredebro, Denmark, ECCO owns and operates its own production facilities in a number of countries including Portugal, Slovakia, Thailand, and Vietnam. This full control of the value chain – from design and development to manufacturing and retail – allows ECCO to ensure exceptional quality while maintaining the agility needed to respond to an ever-evolving global market.Read more about ECCO at www.ecco.com.APPLICATION AND CONTACTIf you believe this position is a good fit for you, we look forward to receiving your application. Please attach your CV and any relevant documentation. Should you have any questions regarding the position, please don’t hesitate to contact Camilla Krogh at (+45 51261264) or Mikkel Falkenberg at (+45 29993065) from the team at RESOLVA.