Legal Counsel

Company Overview

A global multinational company is seeking a Legal Counsel to support its Japan business. The company operates in a highly regulated industry and works closely with commercial, operational, regulatory, and corporate functions. The legal team partners directly with the business to enable growth while managing legal and compliance risks.

Position Summary

This role provides broad legal support across the Japan business and serves as a trusted business partner to multiple internal stakeholders. The successful candidate will advise on commercial, regulatory, corporate governance, employment, and compliance matters while supporting business initiatives and helping manage legal risk in a practical, commercially focused manner.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide day-to-day legal advice to business stakeholders across multiple functions.
• Draft, review, and negotiate a broad range of commercial agreements.
• Support new business initiatives, strategic projects, and product or service launches from a legal perspective.
• Identify legal risks and provide practical, business-oriented solutions.
• Partner closely with commercial, operations, finance, HR, compliance, regulatory, and other corporate teams.
• Manage relationships with external law firms when appropriate.
• Support corporate governance matters, including internal committees and corporate documentation.
• Monitor legal and regulatory developments and advise the business on their impact.
• Conduct or support internal investigations and whistleblower matters in collaboration with relevant internal teams.
• Develop and deliver legal training and compliance awareness programs.

Requirements

• Law degree required.
• Qualified lawyer preferred, although strong legal professionals without bar admission will also be considered.
• Approximately 4–6 years of legal experience, either in private practice or in-house.
• In-house experience within a multinational environment is advantageous.
• Strong contract drafting, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Excellent analytical, organizational, and problem-solving abilities.
• Commercial mindset with the ability to balance legal risk and business objectives.
• Self-motivated, adaptable, and comfortable working across diverse business functions.

Preferred Experience

• Experience advising businesses in regulated industries.
• Knowledge of compliance, anti-bribery, competition, employment, privacy, intellectual property, or regulatory matters.
• Project management or cross-functional project experience.
• Interest in leveraging AI and technology to improve legal workflows.

Technical Skills

• Proficiency with standard business applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Comfortable using AI tools and legal technology to improve productivity.

Languages

• Native-level Japanese.
• Business-level English, both written and spoken.

Working Style

The role requires close collaboration with business stakeholders across Japan and within an international organization. The successful candidate should be comfortable working independently while partnering effectively with cross-functional teams in a dynamic environment.

Why Consider This Opportunity?

This is an excellent opportunity for a lawyer seeking broad exposure to commercial, regulatory, compliance, governance, and employment matters within a multinational business. The role offers significant interaction with senior business stakeholders, opportunities to influence strategic initiatives, and exposure to a wide variety of legal issues in a collaborative international environment.