Job Description

About the Company

EQWAL is a group now established throughout Europe, Oceania and North America. It is a global player in the Orthotics & Prosthetics (O&P) market. The group generates most of its sales on the downstream “service” part of the O&P value chain, through a large network of CPOs agencies, with leading positions across several geographies (#1 in France, #2 in Switzerland, Belgium, UK, The Netherlands and now with a strong presence in the US), built through strong organic growth and a solid M&A track record. It now presents a turnover of c.€450 million with more than 3,000 employees worldwide.

With its longstanding expertise, patient centric approach, an entrepreneurial culture and focus on tailor-made solutions (95% of products being tailor-made to answer all patients) applied to both its (i) products and services offering and (ii) organisation, EQWAL Group benefits from an outstanding reputation towards all prescribers, CPOs and patients.

About the Role

We are now looking for a LEGAL COUNSEL to continue and secure the development of our activities in the USA.

Report to our US Chief Executive Officer and to Eqwal Group General Counsel & Compliance (based in France) for corporate law, contracts, litigation, regulatory and ethics & compliance.

Based in the US head office in Bethesda, Maryland.

Responsibilities

To coordinate and manage the legal function of around 27 Eqwal subsidiaries in the United States of America and ensure that legal risks are adequately considered, managed and mitigated and the business is conducted ethically and in compliance with applicable regulations and Group internal rules.

YOUR ROLE

In liaison with the Head Office, the role involves performing the following primary functions with a focus on:

• Corporate and M&A,
• Contracts,
• Litigation,
• Regulatory,
• Ethics and Compliance,
• Intellectual Property,
• Significant labour law matters.

Coordinate and administer the corporate secretarial process and support in local M&A transactions:

• Ensure in coordination with local lawyers that that the legal secretariat of the subsidiaries is up-to-date in conjunction with the Head Office Legal team (Board resolutions, shareholder resolutions, notices of Board meetings and AGM papers of the U.S. entities),
• Ensure the communication of corporate documentation to the Head Office Legal team,
• Participate in local restructuring operations (mergers, transfers, creation of new structures, etc.) with a permanent objective of simplifying and optimizing legal structures,
• Ensure formalities to be compliant with the Corporate Transparency Act,
• Support in U.S. M&A transactions (review of NDA, LOI, SPA,…) in coordination with the Group General Counsel & Compliance.

Ensure contractual risks are highlighted and adequately considered before contracts are executed:

• Identify, analyze and assess key risks items in material contracts concluded at local levels and recommend risk mitigation measures,
• Provide support to local operational staff for the drafting, validation and negotiation of material agreements in compliance with Eqwal practices, policies and procedures,
• Draft responses to calls for tenders, general conditions of sale / purchase, partnerships, etc.,
• Provide training to operational staff on legal policy and business practices.

Ensure all disputes (general and commercial) are handled in the best interests of the Group and in compliance with the Group internal procedures:

• Contribute to the selection and choice of external lawyers,
• Inform concerned colleagues, customers and principal on evolution of disputes,
• Assist management in any social disputes or in the event of any dispute with a third party,
• Follow disputes / litigation in interface with lawyers in coordination with Head office.

Identify and analyze current and new regulatory requirements and enforce compliance:

• Monitor legal and regulatory development (such as Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and other regulations with Medicare), conduct impact analysis for the business of the Group and propose / take the required course of actions,
• Handle KYC requests from authorities, financial institutions or third parties related to subsidiaries,

Ensure the proper implementation of the global corporate ethics & compliance program and applicable laws and regulations relating in particular to anticorruption and antibribery, international sanctions and embargoes, competition law and personal data protection.

• Deliver regular training to the Group staff on ethics & compliance,
• Ensure proper application of the ethics & compliance internal rules,
• Identify risky subjects and provide regular quality and timely input report, and as requested, to the Group General Counsel & Compliance Officer on the operation and status of the ethics & compliance program in the designated region,
• Maintains records with respect to the ethics & compliance program,
• Ensure personal data protection in accordance with local regulations.

Qualifications

Postgraduate degree in law

Required Skills

• Minimum 3 to 5 years of post-qualifying experience in legal practice and/or as an in-house counsel in an international group, previous experience in the healthcare sector required
• Able to communicate clearly and present information in a succinct and clear manner
• Strong integrity
• Strong communication skills
• Good problem solver
• Able to develop presentations and training materials that are both informative as well as interesting.

Job Tags

Similar Jobs