**Role Overview:**

We are establishing the legal function of our Austrian Subsidiary and seek a hands-on, business-oriented Legal Counsel to build and manage local legal and compliance operations from the ground up.

This role combines operational legal support, contract management, compliance implementation, and governance design. The successful candidate will work closely with Business Team of Austrian Subsidiary to localize European legal and compliance frameworks while developing Austria-specific controls.

**Key Responsibilities**

1. Build and Structure the Austria Legal and Compliance Function

· Collaborate closely with Europe Regional Centre to set up local structure.

· Localize and implement internal legal processes, documentation standards, and approval workflows.

· Localize and implement contract lifecycle management structure and risk review procedures.

· Design local governance and compliance architecture aligned with EU and Austrian requirements.

2. Legal Advisory and Contracting

· Provide day-to-day legal advice to management and business teams including but not limited to supply chain, logistics, dealership, employment.

· Conduct legal risk assessments and propose commercially sound compliance solutions.

· Draft, review, negotiate and manage various commercial contracts and legal documents.

3. Compliance and Control

· Localize pan-European compliance initiatives by implementing Austria-level compliance programs (covering data protection, competition law, trade compliance, ESG, labour law, advertising and consumer law) in collaboration with Legal Team of Europe Regional Centre.

· Contribute to Europe-wide internal control and risk management framework.

· Support regulatory filings and authority communications when necessary.

4. Daily Operation Support

· Support corporate governance affairs of Austria Subsidiary by drafting, filing, and archiving.

· Manage disputes and advise and represent business interests before authorities.

· Source, instruct, and manage Austrian external law firms.

· Control local legal budget and ensure cost-efficient outsourcing.

· Propose creative, scalable approaches to contract management, compliance monitoring, and documentation workflows.

· Support legal affairs of designated jurisdictions or Legal Counsels from Europe Regional Centre and other subsidiaries upon request.

**Candidate Profile**

Education and Experience

· Master en droit in Austrian Law.

· Minimum 3 years of legal experience from law firm and/or in-house, with demonstrated ability to work independently.

· Experience in manufacturing, automotive, supply chain, logistics, or regulated industries strongly preferred.

· Experience in setting up processes or working in fast-growing environments is a strong advantage.

Language and Professional Skills

· (Near-)Native German and fluent English are mandatory, Chinese or other language is a plus.

· Excellent contract drafting and negotiation skills.

· Demonstrated ability to build legal processes and governance structures.

· Structured, risk-aware, and commercially pragmatic.

About You and What We are Doing

· Respectful and principled with integrity.

· Willing to embrace a multi-cultural business environment.

· Open to innovative approaches and experiment with AI tools for legal work.

· Excellent analytical abilities and communication skills, with strong attention to detail.

- We are a new Legal Team building up a brilliant in-house system from the ground up. It will not be an easy journey. But will be a great one. Join us and BE PART OF IT.