JOB DESCRIPTION
MillerKnoll is looking for a dedicated and professionally skilled lawyer to take on the position as Senior Legal Counsel – Europe.
As head of Legal Europe, you will have overall responsibility for driving a range of legal agendas in the European market place including brand and design protection, structuring the commercial / legal models applied between distribution and sales channels corporate governance, and furthering our compliance agenda. Further you will handle all legal matters related to the HAY and Muuto brands in Denmark, and the gatekeeping role will extend to pan-European responsibilities across other MillerKnoll brands in Europe.
You will be challenged broadly on your professionalism in general business law and on your willingness and ability to acquire new competencies. On a daily basis, you will work closely with legal colleagues in MillerKnoll, and there will always be easy and direct access to sparring and discussion of tasks. Primary stakeholders are varied and dynamic across the entire organization subject to the task at hand.
You will be reporting directly to Vice President & Associate General Counsel Joanne Ede of MillerKnoll based in UK.
THE LEGAL TEAM
MillerKnoll’s global legal team consists of approx. 20 legal professionals located in Europe, USA and Asia that cooperate closely on furthering the ambition of being a strong strategic partner to the MillerKnoll business. The legal team places strong emphasis on running the legal function as a business and understanding the group’s activities, industries, and external environment to enable a solid understanding of priorities, potential challenges and industry developments. This is supplemented by a strong drive to proactively identify and manage legal risks and provide value adding recommendations wherever possible in order to achieve the best possible results.
The work in the global legal team is characterized by being truly international with a great cooperation between legal team members in various jurisdictions. Strong teamwork and enthusiasm are critical in this fast paced and international environment that offers excellent learning opportunities both legally and commercially.
The new role of Senior Legal Counsel – Europe is based in Copenhagen or Horsens with a reporting line to Vice President & Associate General Counsel (Joanne Ede) who heads the International legal team. In Denmark, the Senior Legal Counsel – Europe is supported by a Legal Business Coordinator.
AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY
As Senior Legal Counsel – Europe your responsibilities will include:
- Counselling and sparring with management and leaders in relation to legal issues within all areas of the business, e.g. Global Contracts, Retail and Digital
- Handling and securing European and global intellectual property rights including brand protection, trademark, and design interests.
- Handling commercial contracts and internal contracts between the companies within the group.
- Developing internal co-operations across the company to secure knowledge sharing and optimising legal issues and processes.
- Developing and administrating external relations and co-operations.
- Securing corporate compliance in all business areas, e.g. within the area of competition law.
- Handling GDPR issues as well as providing oversight of product compliance and supplier engagement and compliance.
- Handling judicial arrangements including formation, capital increase, management changes and other company judicial changes as well as handling judicial arrangements in foreign companies in co-operation with external co-operation partners.
- Aligning with MillerKnoll legal priorities in all relevant areas of global IP strategy, compliance, and outside counsel optimisation.
TITLE AND REPORTING
Reporting to: Vice President & Associate General Counsel – International, Joanne Ede
Your title: Senior Legal Counsel – Europe
IDEAL EXPERIENCE
Education: A master’s degree in laws (cand.jur., cand.merc.jur. or international equivalent).
Legal fields: IP law, data protection law, consumer protection law, corporate and commercial law, employment law and corporate governance. You might be a specialist in one area and have basic knowledge in others.
Work experience: A minimum of 5 years of post-graduate experience from a law firm with an established global trademark practice and as an in-house counsel (consumer products company preferred). Work experience within retail and/or digital would be a great advantage as would experience from an American-led company.
Business acumen: A strong business acumen that enables you to make clever legal choices and prioritisations, and a strong sense of driving for results and project progress. You are a strategical thinker.
Language skills: Strong English language skills and substantial experience with legal English.
PERSONAL CAPABILITIES
Organisational and time management skills: Strong organisational and time management skills. Capable of juggling multiple demands.
Responsible and independent: Natural inclination to take responsibility and drive a process. You thrive in an independent role, where freedom with responsibility is a motivating factor.
Co-operation and stakeholder management: Ability to inspire and build relationships and with an open-minded approach to coaching. Excellent team player with a strong sense of collaborative effort and pulling as a team, but also comfortable working alone and with remote teams.
Result orientend: Focused on delivering high quality legal and commercial results with the given constraints, priorities, and deadlines in mind. Capable of maintaining an overview in a fast-paced working environment without losing focus on the details.
Mindset: Hands-on and can-do approach, robust and willingness to learn.
Communication: Ability to communicate complex legal issues to leaders, stakeholders and employees in a clear and well-argued way, and to keep things simple by finding the right balance between important details and clear communication.
MILLLERKNOLL’S VALUE PROPOSITION TO YOU
At our office facilities in Copenhagen and Horsens, you will become part of a modern company with a unique and social internal culture that we do our best to nurture and cherish. You will be part of a cross border international legal team that gives you access to sparring and engagement.
MillerKnoll offers you a large degree of independence and flexibility in structuring your work and a competitive compensation package with various benefits and excellent professional and personal development opportunities.
ABOUT MILLERKNOLL
MillerKnoll is a leading design company with a global reach via its ownership of a leading collective of dynamic brands that comes together to design the world we live in. MillerKnoll owns 16 global design brands, including Colebrook Bosson Saunders, DatesWeiser, Design Within Reach, Edelman Leather, Geiger, Holly Hunt, KnollTextiles, Maharam, NaughtOne and Spinneybeck FilzFelt, and the Scandinavian brands HAY, and Muuto.
MillerKnoll’s brands are divided into 3 segments (Int. & Specialty, Retail, and Americas) that represent a global revenue of USD 4.09 billion across 16 brands, 70+ retail stores, approx. 1,100 contract dealers in 110 countries, and 11,000 employees worldwide* (*2023 figures). MillerKnoll, Inc. is listed on the Nasdaq exchange (NY).
Danish design company HAY (that forms part of the MillerKnoll Group by virtue of MillerKnoll’s shareholding in HAY) was established in 2002 as an innovative design company with the ambition of making quality contemporary design objects available to the widest possible audience. In 2018, a majority share in HAY was acquired by MillerKnoll, whilst retaining the same company vision of collaborating with talented designers from all over the world to create functional and refined designs. HAY currently employs approximately 278 staff in Denmark and abroad, and has 31 stores throughout Europe, Asia and USA.
HAY has always believed that good design is everyone’s right. That’s why, from the very beginning, co-founders and Creative Directors Mette and Rolf HAY committed to working with their generation’s best designers from all over the world to create high-quality products that would be available to a wide audience. This founding principle continues to motivate the HAY team today. From a toothbrush to a paper bin to a sofa, HAY products always offer a fresh take on the quotidian objects that are part of our everyday.
Muuto was founded by Kristian Byrge and Peter Bonnen in 2006. Byrge had previously been involved in the foundation of Noma. In August 2014, Maj Invest Equity acquired a 45% share of the company. In December 2017, it was announced that Knoll had acquired Muuto with effect from January 2018. Herman Miller bought Knoll in July 2021 and, in turn, Muuto became part of the MillerKnoll family. Muuto collaborates with leading Scandinavian designers who are paid through royalties. The products are sold through a series of partners in a multitude of different jurisdictions. In Denmark, the HAY and Muuto teams are situated in offices in Horsens and Copenhagen.
APPLICATION AND CONTACT
If you recognise the profile we are looking for in yourself and find this opportunity attractive please apply here and include a resume and other relevant documentation. To hear more about the position, contact Christina Schmidt from RESOLVA on tel: 30103918 or Mikkel Falkenberg from RESOLVA on tel: 29993065.
