Legal Counsel – Thailand

Job description

Job Description Are You Ready to Make It Happen at Mondelēz International? Join our Mission to Lead the Future of Snacking. Make It Matter. You are responsible for the company’s legal activities in a region, business units and /or sub-function areas in the country or across multiple countries. To support commercial and corporate initiatives, you identify business needs and design and implement our legal strategy through the service delivery model. You advise the business on risk, anticipating and addressing internal and external factors and apply your legal specialty area experience to collaborate with other legal colleagues to address legal issues or concerns. How you will contribute You will develop and ensure the implementation of legal strategies to enable Mondelēz International to compete aggressively, and protect our people, assets and reputation while complying with legal requirements and standards of ethical conduct. You will provide guidance and support to ensure managers are making reasonable and informed decisions regarding legal risks; manage the legal strategy with outside counsel, including spending without compromising financial and reputational risk; and provide in-house and external legal expertise to address the increasingly complex legal environment by partnering with business units, regions and global stakeholders to identify and advise on applicable laws and regulatory changes for a given country and/or across multiple countries. What you will bring A desire to drive your future and accelerate your career with experience and knowledge in: Legal experience, ideally in a large matrixed multinational company Strong analytical, strategic vision, decision-making, and problem-solving skills Experience assessing, advising on risk, advising/coaching and dispute resolution in a multinational company Highest level of integrity and trust; highly credible and willing to express Excellent written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills Resourcefulness, including relevant new technologies and systems License to practice law in relevant jurisdiction(s) More about this role SUMMARY You are responsible for the company’s legal activities in a region, business units and /or sub-function areas in the country or across multiple countries. To support commercial and corporate initiatives, you identify business needs and design and implement our legal strategy through the service delivery model. You advise the business on risk, anticipating and addressing internal and external factors and apply your legal specialty area experience to collaborate with other legal colleagues to address legal issues or concerns. You are responsible for the company's legal activities in or related or relevant to Thailand, including the broader SEA business units and functional areas. You identify business needs and design and implement our legal strategy through the service delivery model. This role goes beyond traditional legal advisory to serve as a trusted strategic business partner who is courageous, proactive, and digitally fluent. You will provide guidance to ensure that business and functional leaders make reasonable and informed decisions on legal risk, while acting as a forward-looking enabler of sustainable business growth in the Thai market. HOW YOU WILL CONTRIBUTE Legal Strategy & Business Enhancement: You will develop and ensure the implementation of legal strategies to enable Mondelēz International to compete aggressively, protect our people, assets and reputation, and comply with legal requirements and standards of ethical conduct. Specifically, you will: Design and execute country-level legal strategies that are directly aligned with Thailand’s and SEA’s business growth targets and strategic roadmap. Provide guidance and support to ensure stakeholders make reasonable, risk-informed decisions; translate complex legal risk into clear, commercially meaningful advice. Partner with stakeholders to identify and advise on applicable laws, regulatory changes, and market developments affecting Thailand and, where relevant, broader SEA operations. Manage the legal strategy and relationship with outside counsel — driving value, controlling spend, and protecting financial and reputational risk. Serve as in-country legal anchor for cross-border transactions, regulatory submissions, and government engagements. Proactive Risk & Regulatory Intelligence : Acting as a forward-looking risk advisor, you will: Monitor and synthesize multi-market regulatory developments in Thailand including labor law, antitrust, data protection, marketing regulations, and ESG-related requirements. Maintain a live regulatory intelligence dashboard to brief senior business leaders efficiently and accurately. Anticipate regulatory changes before risks materialize — shifting from reactive compliance to a proactive, predictive legal operating model. Build and maintain strong relationships with Thai regulatory authorities, external counsel, and industry bodies. Digital, Technology & Legal Operations : You will drive digital transformation within the legal function: Champion the adoption of legal technology including CLM platforms, AI-assisted contract review, and automated workflow tools. Lead the digitalization and standardization of Thailand contract templates and legal processes, transitioning away from manual, email-dependent workflows. Leverage AI-powered legal research tools to enhance speed, accuracy, and insight in legal analysis. Contribute to the SEA Legal digital operations roadmap by piloting and scaling legal tech solutions in Thailand. ESG, Sustainability & Enterprise Culture : You will ensure Thailand operations are anchored in responsible business conduct: Drive compliance with Thailand's evolving sustainability and supply chain regulations; contribute to the SEA ESG compliance roadmap. Support labor law compliance and proactively address people-related legal risk — targeting zero material labor law violations. Reinforce Anti-Bribery & Anti-Corruption frameworks, whistleblower protection mechanisms, and ethics compliance programs. Provide crisis communication support and help build organizational resilience against reputational and regulatory risk. Stakeholder Engagement & Capability Building. You will: Serve as a trusted advisor and thought partner to Thai business leadership, influencing decisions without formal authority. Proactively train and upskill commercial teams on antitrust, data protection, marketing compliance, and contract management. Share knowledge generously across the SEA Legal team; contribute to regional legal playbooks, training modules, and best practices. Mentor junior legal colleagues and co-develop country-level succession and capability plans. WHAT YOU WILL BRING A desire to drive your future and accelerate your career. The following, qualifications, experience and future-fit characteristics reflect the profile we are looking for: Future-fit mindset and approach Courage : You speak up and take calculated risks Proactive & Predictive : You anticipate issues Strategic : You think ahead and shape direction You are business-savvy and create value Digital & Technology Fluency AI/Automation Literacy : Including AI-assisted contract review, legal analytics dashboards and data-driven decision-making tools Legal Tech Adoption : Hands-on experience with CLM platforms, contract management systems and legal research tools Digital-First Operations : Ability to migrate manual, email-dependent legal processes to automated, standardized digital workflows AI-Powered Research : Proficiency using AI research tools to accelerate legal research quality and speed Business Acumen and Commercial Thinking P&L Literacy : Strong understanding of how legal decisions impact business profitability, cost structures and competitive positioning Growth Strategy Alignment : Ability to link legal strategy directly to Thailand and SEA business growth targets and commercial priorities Negotiation & Deal Structuring : Experience in M&A, joint ventures, licensing, and complex commercial negotiations Value Creation Orientation : Mindset shift from cost center to business growth enabler; demonstrates measurable value to the business Regulatory Agility & Market Intelligence Multi-Market Regulatory Mapping : Demonstrated ability to simultaneously track relevant laws, regulations, requirements and shifts (particularly labor law, antitrust shifts, ESG requirements, and PDPA compliance) across Thailand and SEA markets Regulatory Intelligence Systems : Experience building and maintaining regulatory monitoring dashboards and briefing materials for business leaders Proactive Compliance Mindset : Track record of anticipating regulatory changes before risk materializes and presenting pre-emptive solutions Government & Regulatory Networks : Established relationships with Thai regulatory authorities, industry associations, and peer legal networks Diversity & Local Market Expertise Deep Local Knowledge : Strong in-country roots with knowledge of Thai legal, cultural, business, and regulatory landscape Language Capability : Fluency in both Thai and English is essential for regulatory monitoring, stakeholder engagement, and regional collaboration Specialist + Generalist Balance : Holds a blend of specialist legal expertise in priority growth areas and broad generalist capability to address diverse business needs Thinking Diversity : Demonstrates a blend of analytical and creative thinking; equally effective in proactive and reactive legal modes Soft Skills & Leadership Qualities Cross-Cultural Communication : Excellent verbal and written communication across Thai and international business environments Stakeholder Influence : Proven ability to influence senior business leaders and cross-functional teams without formal authority Agile Mindset : Comfort with ambiguity; rapid learner; demonstrates resilience and iterative problem-solving Mentoring & Capability Building : Active commitment to developing junior team members and sharing knowledge broadly Emotional Intelligence : Understands team dynamics; manages conflict constructively; builds trust with diverse stakeholders Integrity & Credibility : Highest level of professional and personal integrity; willing to express views with courage and conviction Qualifications & Legal Experience Law degree (LLB, LLM or equivalent) with a license to practice law in Thailand Minimum 12 years of legal experience, preferably including in-house experience in a large matrixed multinational company Strong analytical, strategic vision, decision-making, and problem-solving skills Experience assessing and advising on risk, coaching business clients, and managing dispute resolution in a multinational environment Track record of managing outside counsel relationships and legal spend effectively No Relocation support available Business Unit Summary Mondelēz International in Southeast Asia is in five countries serving 19 markets with more than 18 nationalities and 7,500 employees. This group is emerging as one of the fastest growing regions in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and we are proud of consistently producing high quality products in nine manufacturing sites. We are market leaders in key snacking categories, making and selling brands like Oreo and Tiger biscuits, Kinh Do mooncakes, Jacob’s crackers, Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate, Tang powdered beverage, Halls candy and Eden cheese. We set the benchmark in being a responsible business and contributing to the communities in which we operate. Mondelēz International is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or preference, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Job Type Regular Legal Business Growth Partners and Services Legal