Manager, Legal

Manager, Legal

We are looking for a highly motivated and detail-oriented candidate to join the Legal team in Malaysia. This role is essential in supporting the Company's legal function by ensuring sound contract management, providing practical legal advice, and helping the business navigate regulatory and legal risks effectively. The role also involves overseeing legal disputes, managing external solicitors, and ensuring all activities are conducted in compliance with applicable laws and internal policies.

The ideal candidate will possess strong drafting skills, a solution-oriented mindset, and the ability to work closely with internal stakeholders across departments. In addition to local responsibilities, the Manager will also work closely with and will support APAC regional legal initiatives and will collaborate with the wider Legal & Compliance team across the Sompo Group.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities include:

Key Responsibilities

Legal Drafting and Contract Management

• Review, draft, and negotiate a wide variety of commercial agreements across Business and Support Units, ensuring that contractual terms are accurate, clear, and legally compliant.
• Work closely with internal stakeholders to provide practical and business focused advice.
• Maintain proper records and filing systems for executed agreements and track contract expiry/renewal timelines.

Legal Advisory and Regulatory Compliance

• Provide accurate, timely, and commercially focused legal advice on a broad range of legal and regulatory issues.
• Offer legal guidance on new insurance products, projects, and company initiatives to ensure alignment with regulatory obligations and internal risk appetite.

Litigation and External Counsel Management

• Manage non-claims legal proceedings involving the Company, including liaising with and supervising external solicitors.
• Review case strategies, ensure proper documentation, and track litigation outcomes.
• Oversee the appointment and monitoring of panel and ad hoc solicitors to ensure compliance with internal procedures and performance standards.

Corporate Governance

• Support the Corporate Secretary and CCLO in organizing and coordinating Board of Director and Board-level and management-level committees.
• Assist with the preparation of materials, minutes, and follow-ups related to governance meetings.

Legal Governance and Reporting

• Support regulatory reporting and internal governance processes, including Key Risk Indicator (KRI) reporting through ORION, Anti-Bribery and Corruption (ABC) updates, and financial disclosures for the Finance team.
• Maintain status updates of legal assignments and ensure timely submission of required reports and legal documentation.

Legal Training and Awareness

• Conduct training sessions and workshops for business units to raise awareness of key legal risks, contract management practices, and legal developments.
• Promote a strong legal and compliance culture by actively engaging with teams to improve legal literacy and risk identification.

Regional and Group Legal Team Support

• Support the APAC regional legal team on a day-to-day basis and contribute to group-wide legal initiatives as required from time-to-time.
• Act as the local point of contact for regional legal projects and ensure local implementation of group directives or frameworks.
• Participate in regular meetings or discussions with the regional legal team to align on strategy.

Other Responsibilities

• Assist the legal team with ad hoc legal projects, regulatory filings, and special assignments as required.
• Take ownership of legal processes and continuously seek opportunities for improvement, efficiency, and alignment with best practices.

Qualifications and Skills

• Bachelor's Degree or Professional Degree in Law or equivalent.
• Minimum 10 years of legal experience, ideally within the insurance, banking, or broader financial services sector.
• In-house legal experience or legal practice experience in corporate or regulatory law is highly advantageous.
• Strong understanding of Malaysian regulatory frameworks, including the Financial Services Act, BNM guidelines, and insurance-related regulations.
• Experience in and understanding of other Asia-Pacific local country legal and regulatory environments.
• Proven legal drafting, contract negotiation, and analytical skills.
• High level of integrity, discretion, and sound judgment in managing confidential matters.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills to effectively collaborate with cross-functional teams, management, and external stakeholders.
• Proactive, solution-oriented, and capable of managing multiple tasks and deadlines.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office.

Open to Malaysian candidates with legal experience, ideally within the insurance, banking, or broader financial services sector.