Associate Vice President Legal

Qualification - LLB or LLM

Experience - 15+ years (Education industry experience is desirable)

Designation - AVP / VP

Job location - Mumbai, Malad (work from office only)

Reporting to Group Legal Counsel

Job purpose :

Accountable for managing the legal affairs of the organization (VIBGYOR Group of Schools vertical) by providing legal advisory services for litigation matters and non-litigation matters and ensuring effective management of legal and contractual risks thereby adding value to the organization.

Key Accountabilities :

Primary Responsibility :

Leadership and Strategic Management :

Compliance of business contracts and obligations and guide on consequences of breach of any provisions, thereby protecting the organization from any legal ramifications.

Lead in the development legal policies, process and procedures as per law and the strategic objectives of the organization

Review and update the company legal policy in accordance with new laws, and communicate the same to the different stakeholders.

Develop a departmental annual work plan and financial budget and monitor their implementation in line with Business plan.

Litigation Management :

Act as the link between the legal groups and external agencies.

An in-depth understanding of each issue will lead to a need to be competent and authoritative in all aspects.

Work with managers, supervisors and employees to prevent and resolve problems and to build constructive relationships in the work environment.

Conduct analysis of and recommend solutions to specific problems or cases.

In problem situations of broader scope, analyze the underlying forces and practices that cause problems and recommend corrective measures to eliminate the root cause.

Use applicable knowledge of procedural aspects and requirements of all related dispute resolution procedures.

Work with attorneys and the Managing Attorney's Office in the preparation and filing of all court documents. Create, bind and distribute both file and courtesy copies. Organize the briefs, exhibits and appendices.

Oversee the progress of documents through litigation support departments, order transcripts from reporting services and fulfill requests from outside counsel and others.

Contract Management :

Effectively attend to civil litigation, arbitration matters, criminal complaints, consumer forum complaints, matters before various law enforcement agencies and representing the organization.

Appear before various authorities, boards, councils, quasi-judicial authorities, local municipal and other authorities.

Drafting, vetting of plaints, replies, documents for litigations and arbitrations to ensure that they are in line with the requirements as stated by law and ensure that the litigation outcome is in favour of the organization.

Represent the organization in meetings conducted to brief lawyers / solicitors on ongoing and prospective litigations.

Liaise with lawyers to review the progress of the litigations and arbitrations to ensure timely follow up & closure of cases and keep the management updated on the status periodically.

Drafting of property documents sale deed, lease agreements, leave and license agreements, MOUs, agreement to sale and other property documentation. Advise on land-property matters.

Drafting of all commercial and legal documents as per the requirement of the business to ensure that they are in accordance with the corresponding laws.

Effectively liaison with solicitors, advocate firms or property acquisition or arrangement matters and ensure timely follow up and closure of desired arrangement. Keep management updated on development periodically.

Design, augment and review contractual instruments which would assist and support various business activities including overseeing the drafting of documentation for admin / IT / HR vendor transactions and ensuring that the SLAs are well defined and audited.

Effectively validate the documentation pertaining to various business deals to ensure legal compliance and guide the management team on the same.

Effectively partner in the negotiation process of key business contracts to protect the interest of the organization.

Affiliation :

Responsible to take all the licenses pertaining to school operations from concern department (LOI, Permission, Recognition, NOC, Affiliation, etc.).

Responsible for Liaison with Various Central and State Government ministries and departments.

Liaison with District Authorities such as Police, Tehsil, Fire Service, Telecom, Electricity Boards.

Representing the company to the department like education department, Municipality and other related department.

Liaison :

Responsible to take all the licenses pertaining to land and building from concern department (Land Allotment, Property Card / 7-12 Extract Entry, Building Permissions, etc.).

Responsible for Liaison with Various Central and State Government ministries and departments.

Liaison with District Authorities such as Municipal Corporations, Panchayats, Tehsil, Fire Service, Telecom, Electricity Boards.

Representing the organization to the department like CIDCO, MHADA, Municipality and other related department.

Drafting and submitting letters / responses / proposals before the aforesaid departments.

Advisory Services :

Provide professional and strategic legal advice to the Chief Executive, Board and senior management.

Provide guidance on legal and governance issues or matters that may arise for the Organization’s compliance with the relevant legislation and best practice.

Review and advise management on legal implications of internal policies and procedures.

Advice, guide and assist all internal stakeholders / departments / sister concerns, Corporate office, Zonal office, Centers / Schools on legal matters

Legal Risk management :

Liaise with relevant departments to ensure that where legal risks have been identified, appropriate courses of action have been taken.

Provide legal protection and risk management advice to management especially on contract management.

Provide and interpret legal information, conduct training and disseminate appropriate legal requirements to staff.

Monitor compliance with the Corporation’s legal and other obligations and, advise management accordingly.

Secondary Responsibility :

Administrative duties

Provide overall leadership of the legal department and supervise and manage the performance and development of staff in the department in line with the Organization’s goals, objectives, policies and regulations.

Provide continuous leadership, supervision, training and development of department staff ensuring an effective and motivated team

Liaise with the HR department in conducting performance appraisals and ensure competency and training gaps are addressed.