L'oréal Ssa 2025 General Counsel

Role Purpose
To act as a strategic legal business partner to the Sub-Saharan Africa operations, providing expert legal advice, ensuring compliance, and safeguarding L’Oréal’s interests in all areas of law relevant to his/her field of expertise (corporate law, competition law, M&A, finance and banking law, IT and digital law, trademark, Image & Communications, consumer protection etc.) while enabling sustainable business growth. As a member of both the local RSA and SSA Zone Management Committees, the role will influence critical business decisions, balancing commercial priorities with regulatory, ethical, and reputational considerations.
Additionally, the SSA General Counsel will be part of L'Oréal's Global International Legal Management Committee, partnering directly with executive-level leadership in the head office and globally.
KEY JOB ACCOUNTABILITIES
1. Strategic Legal Leadership
- Serves as the primary legal advisor to the Zone President, Country Manager, Regional Management Committee, and functional heads.
- Provides proactive, business-oriented legal advice across all areas of the business (marketing, sales, supply chain, manufacturing, distribution, digital, e-commerce, purchasing, R&I, sustainability, finance, public affairs, corporate communications).
- Closely collaborates with HR, Ethics, Internal Control and Scientific Regulatory.
- Actively participates in executive leadership discussions, challenging and guiding decision-making to ensure legal and ethical soundness.

2. Governance and Compliance
- Leads local implementation of L’Oréal Group’s Data Privacy, anti-bribery and corruption standards, competition law compliance, and other global policies.
- Ensures L’Oréal's legal compliance and certainty in regard to its activities, in connection with the developments of the standards in force (legislative, regulatory, jurisprudential, internal, etc.).
- Designs policies and legal practices relevant to his/her field of expertise, passes them on, and trains people concerned, whether legal or not.
- Oversee and strengthen internal controls, contracts, and regulatory compliance in alignment with both local laws and Group standards.
- Ensure timely remediation of any compliance gaps.
- Through the Company secretary who reports to the General Counsel manages statutory compliance with the Companies Act, 71 of 2008
- Is a member of the following committees: Employment Equity, B-BBEE, Public Affairs, Contributor to Social and Ethics, Corruption Committee
- An employer appointed trustee to the L’Oréal Provident Fund board of Trustees

3. Contract Management & Commercial Support
- Draft, review, and negotiate commercial contracts (distribution agreements, supplier contracts, marketing partnerships, e-commerce arrangements, manufacturing).
- Anticipate and mitigate legal risks in business transactions, campaigns, promotional competitions and launches.
- Train commercial and marketing teams on legal considerations for product claims, influencer marketing, and digital campaigns.

4. Dispute Resolution & Risk Management
- Manage disputes, litigation, and regulatory investigations in collaboration with external counsel.
- Implement strategies to prevent and resolve conflicts efficiently, minimising risk to brand and business.

5. External & Internal Stakeholder Engagement
- Build strong working relationships with regulators, industry bodies, and external counsel, where relevant
- Work closely with Paris/HQ legal teams, ensuring local legal priorities are aligned with Group strategy and policies.
- Act as a bridge between headquarters and local operations, ensuring two-way communication and alignment.
- Acts as mentor and coach to the legal team

PROFESSIONAL & TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES
1. ACTS AS A PROACTIVE BUSINESS PARTNER
- Understands the organisation’s strategic objectives and enables legal team to meaningfully contribute towards its execution
- Knows brands, products, markets and related issues
- Understands his/her clients’ organizations, roles and processes to act with more efficiency
- Develops proximity with his/her clients to facilitate awareness and appropriate reflexes on legal issues
- Keeps continuously informed of relevant legal evolutions and internal norms to provide his/her clients with relevant advise
- Ensures the right implementation of Law and regulations to secure the business
- Takes part in the development of internal control initiatives, ensuring compliance of operations, making actors aware of points of vigilance

2. DECODES AND INFLUENCES
- Listens actively and decodes facts/situations to qualify the right diagnosis
- Imagines alternative options/solutions to match business needs
- Clarifies and simplifies concepts to match the point and advise efficiently to facilitate action and decision making

3. PUTS LEGAL EXPERTISE TO THE SERVICE OF BUSINESS PERFORMANCE
- Ensures the legal team are resourced in a manner to enable business objectives
- Takes initiatives to share his/her knowledge