HCO Strategy Hiring! Full Time Senior Legal Counsel in Federal Territory - Ricebowl

About the client: A publicly listed, Europe-headquartered global online food and quick-commerce delivery group operating in 65+ markets worldwide. In Asia it runs one of the region's largest food and grocery delivery platforms, spanning hundreds of cities across multiple markets.

The opportunity

A broad, high-ownership in-house seat for a commercially astute senior lawyer. The role spans corporate, commercial, IP, competition and consumer-protection matters, with employment law and industrial relations (IR) as a core pillar — partnering with the business from the ground up and supporting a significant shared-services operation.

Key responsibilities

• Act as a trusted strategic advisor across a broad spectrum of legal and regulatory matters — general corporate, commercial, IP, competition and consumer-protection law.
• Serve as primary legal partner for Employment Law and Industrial Relations, providing counsel for a significant shared-services operation and managing complex labour relations.
• Partner with the managing director, commercial, operations and cross-functional teams from the ground up, providing proactive legal frameworks for new initiatives, partnerships and strategic projects.
• Drive development and continuous improvement of corporate policies, commercial terms and internal governance to mitigate enterprise-wide risk.
• Drive operational scalability through legal playbooks, SOPs and self-serve frameworks that streamline high-volume requests and empower local teams.
• Lead high-stakes regulatory inquiries, dispute resolution, law-enforcement requests and complex internal investigations.
• Draft, review and negotiate complex, high-value commercial agreements (NDAs, vendor, lease, marketing, tech/IP licensing, logistics) and structure strategic partnerships and major supplier agreements.
• Provide senior oversight on corporate governance and corporate-secretarial matters, and manage external counsel cost-effectively on specialised or cross-border matters.
• Liaise with the APAC regional team and global HQ to align local operations with global legal standards.
• Lead and mentor team member(s), including direct reports, and oversee — with the goal of phasing out — an external part-time IR contractor.

What you need to be successful

• LLB and formal admission to the Malaysian Bar.
• Approximately 6–10+ years PQE from a reputable law firm and/or a fast-growing in-house legal department.
• Deep commercial and corporate law expertise — complex transactions, bespoke agreement drafting and corporate governance.
• Proven experience in a fast-paced commercial environment is essential; e-commerce, internet, logistics or fast-scaling tech background is highly advantageous (slower-paced sectors such as manufacturing are not a fit).
• Highly commercially astute and pragmatic; balances legal risk with business objectives and designs actionable solutions independently.
• Exceptional stakeholder management and influencing skills; able to push back, negotiate, and distil complex concepts for senior leadership.
• Highly autonomous, self-motivated and resilient; comfortable navigating ambiguity in an entrepreneurial, all-hands environment.