Head of Legal, APAC (Senior Legal Counsel)

Location: Shanghai, China

About the Role

As Head of Legal, APAC, you will serve as a key legal and compliance leader, partnering closely with regional management and global stakeholders to support business growth across the Asia Pacific region. Reporting directly to the General Counsel, you will serve as a key member of both the global legal leadership team and the regional leadership team, providing strategic legal and compliance guidance to support business objectives and decision-making across APAC.

You will lead legal and compliance activities across multiple jurisdictions, balancing commercial opportunities with effective risk management while ensuring adherence to the highest ethical and governance standards. This role combines strategic business partnering, people leadership, compliance oversight, talent development, and hands-on legal support in a dynamic international environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the trusted legal and compliance advisor to APAC leadership, providing pragmatic and business-oriented counsel on strategic and operational matters.
• Serve as a member of the regional leadership team, contributing legal, compliance, and risk perspectives to key business and strategic decisions.
• Lead legal support across the region, including commercial contracts, regulatory matters, disputes, investigations, intellectual property, and day-to-day business activities.
• Lead internal investigations related to whistleblower reports, employee misconduct, compliance breaches, and other sensitive matters, ensuring appropriate resolution and risk mitigation.
• Drive compliance and ethics programs across APAC, including anti-bribery and corruption, sanctions, export controls, competition law, data privacy, and third-party due diligence.
• Develop and deliver legal and compliance training, awareness, and knowledge-sharing initiatives to promote a strong culture of ethics, integrity, and compliance across the region.
• Oversee regional compliance risk assessments, monitoring programs, and mitigation plans to address evolving legal, regulatory, and business risks.
• Identify and mitigate legal, contractual, regulatory, and commercial risks while enabling sustainable business growth and operational excellence.
• Support regional and global business initiatives, including procurement, distribution, regulatory, transformation, and M&A-related projects.
• Support corporate governance matters and oversee legal entity management activities across APAC, ensuring compliance with local regulatory requirements and corporate policies.
• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing regional legal team, including three direct reports, while fostering legal talent development and succession planning across APAC.
• Build strong relationships with senior stakeholders, regulators, and external advisors across the region.

What We're Looking For

• Law degree (LL.M. or equivalent) and qualified to practice law in at least one jurisdiction.
• 10+ years of post-qualification legal experience, ideally combining private practice and in-house legal leadership within multinational organizations.
• Extensive experience supporting businesses across multiple APAC markets and navigating complex cross-border legal and compliance matters.
• Strong expertise in commercial contracting, compliance, investigations, risk management, regulatory affairs, and intellectual property protection.
• Demonstrated experience leading legal teams and developing legal talent in a multinational environment.
• Proven ability to influence senior executives, manage competing priorities, and translate legal complexity into practical business solutions.
• Fluent in English and Chinese with outstanding communication, stakeholder management, and leadership capabilities.

Why Join Us

This is a unique opportunity to lead legal and compliance activities across a diverse APAC region, partner directly with the General Counsel and senior business leaders, and play a critical role in shaping business strategy, governance, and sustainable growth in a global organization.

Application due

Seniority Level

Job Functions

Industry

Chemicals

At Hempel, you’re welcomed to a global community of +7000 colleagues around the world. A workplace built on shared trust, mutual respect and support for each other. 

We’re on a mission to double our impact. To succeed, we need bright minds and team players. Which is why, from day one, your input, ideas and initiative are not only welcomed, but expected. In return, you will enjoy great opportunities for development in a growing global company – and be part of the solution by contributing to our global impact. 

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