Senior Legal Associate

Job Title: Senior Legal Associate

Location: Bangalore

ABOUT UNILEVER:

Be part of the world’s most successful, purpose-led business. Work with brands that are well-loved around the world, that improve the lives of our consumers and the communities around us. We promote innovation, big and small, to make our business win and grow; and we believe in business as a force for good. Unleash your curiosity, challenge ideas and disrupt processes; use your energy to make this happen. Our brilliant business leaders and colleagues provide mentorship and inspiration, so you can be at your best. Every day, nine out of ten Indian households use our products to feel good, look good and get more out of life – giving us a unique opportunity to build a brighter future. Every individual here can bring their purpose to life through their work. Join us and you’ll be surrounded by inspiring leaders and supportive peers. Among them, you’ll channel your purpose, bring fresh ideas to the table, and simply be you. As you work to make a real impact on the business and the world, we’ll work to help you become a better you.

Every individual here can bring their purpose to life through their work. Join us and you’ll be surrounded by inspiring leaders and supportive peers. Among them, you’ll channel your purpose, bring fresh ideas to the table, and simply be you. As you work to make a real impact on the business and the world, we’ll work to help you become a better you.
Our Legal team focuses on high-impact strategic business partnering and has recently been recognised as Most Innovative In-House Legal Team in Europe. We are at the forefront of innovation and digital transformation, leveraging GenAI tools, data, and hubs to shape the future of Supply Chain Legal.
We have established four Legal Powerhouses in Bangalore, Mexico City, São Paulo and Barcelona, which form an integral part of the Legal Function and provide defined, structured services to our other lawyers and to the wider business.

Where this position fits-into the team:

• Part of the Unilever Legal Powerhouse – a team we’re currently building, which consists of around 65 colleagues in Bangalore

• Part of the Supply Chain, Business Services, Digital & Technology Legal Team

• Integral part of the Unilever’s Legal Function - a global operation consisting of approximately 500 lawyers and specialists

• Based alongside the UniOps Function in Bangalore – a wider team of 1,600 that powers Unilever’s compass strategy through world class business operations enabled by technology and innovation

Role Purpose

• To support Supply Chain, Business Services, Digital & Technology team with the review, negotiation, and drafting of bespoke or push-back clauses within, terms and conditions with 3rd party suppliers with whom Unilever business, by both influencing them to accept our own standard templates or, alternatively, negotiating the use of their templates, with changes that suit Unilever’s interests.

• To ensure there are adequate terms and conditions and schedules included in the supplier contracts so that the contract risk profile of 3rd party suppliers providing or supporting Unilever’s operations is adequately managed and addressed.

• To interact with other members of the Unilever legal team who own the contracts’ subject matter expertise in order to ensure that up to date version of clauses, templates and schedules are used.

• To support the fact-gathering and timeline creation processes for commercial contract disputes and claims, made against or to be made by Unilever, and support the identification of likely relevant contract terms, for further analysis by claims subject matter experts.

• Undertake other Legal research, analysis and operational tasks as required.

Governance & Compliance

• Support the operation of governance schedules and processes for key suppliers.

• Support the operation of required ongoing compliance activities for key suppliers.

• Understand changes to standard clauses, and highlight deviations and risks, if outside of standard clauses.

• Ensure the organization’s internal contract document templates are accurate and up to date.

• Identify opportunities to improve current contract processes and devise plans to implement these changes

Stakeholder Management

• Support the development and management of stakeholder relationships within Unilever and with key third parties, including within Legal, Customer Operations, Procurement, Finance, Marketing, Business Operations Sustainability, HR, local Data Protection Officers and other businesses.

Key Interfaces

• Supply Chain, Business Services, Digital & Technology Legal (including external legal counsel)

• Data Privacy and Cybersecurity teams

• Media and Marketing teams

• Procurement

• Supply Chain teams

• Customer Operations

Skills and Experience:

• Professional qualification in Law

• Minimum of 6 years of hands-on experience in drafting, reviewing and negotiating high-complexity contracts

• Strong skillset and experience with using Generative AI contracting

• Minimum of 6 years of law firm or FMCG/supplier industry experience working within a large complex business environment requiring analysis of contracts and supporting data and making balanced risk recommendations

• Minimum of 6 years of experience as a commercial lawyer in one or more of the following procurement areas:

• Logistics (e.g. road freight, rail freight, ocean freight, warehouse services).
• Business Services (e.g. HR, R&D, Finance services)
• Marketing and/or Media Services (e.g. marketing and media agencies, PR, packaging design, events and activations, field marketing services, AdTech, Ad production, social platforms)
• Digital & Technology Services (e.g. SaaS, software licensing, IT services)
• Raw & Packaging materials or production items
• Capital Expenditure (e.g. manufacturing equipment and services, construction or civil works)
• 3rd Party manufacturing

• Significant experience providing risk-based advice and risk reporting on different types of contracts and aggressive and defensive commercial claims.

• Foundational capability in drafting, reviewing, and negotiating commercial agreements, especially in supply chain, procurement, manufacturing (CM/3PL), capex, logistics, raw and packaging material partnerships, IT procurement, and digital/technology matters

• Ability to support supplier performance issues, including disputes and claims

• Ability to support audits, remediation actions, and drafting of guidance materials for compliant tech use

• Ability to support the development of training materials, guidance and playbooks, expansion of knowledge management platforms, template simplification, digitisation of contracting processes, and creation of self service workflows

• Ability to deliver clear, pragmatic guidance in ambiguous, high velocity, multi stakeholder environments

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

• Excellent stakeholder management

• Attention to detail, proven ability to draft accurately and effectively in a legal register of language

• Strong collaboration skills to support multiple functions and ability to work with colleagues across multiple time zones, cultures and countries.

• Achieving outcomes and results by influencing the way resources and personnel not in your control are utilised

Preferable

• Prior and substantial understanding of FCMG supply chain processes and the legal aspects of FCMG supplier relationships

• GenAI Capability, Adoption & Responsible Innovation

• Demonstrated capability to actively use GenAI tools (e.g., Copilot and AI enabled contract drafting solutions) to increase speed, accuracy, and quality of legal work

• Ability to leverage GenAI for first draft creation, issue spotting, clause comparison, risk highlighting, summaries, training materials, knowledge extraction, and document simplification — while applying sound legal judgement to validate outputs.

• Commitment to continuous learning in AI enabled legal practice, staying updated on new tools, features, and internal AI capabilities to enhance productivity and support rapid transformation of SCO legal processes.

• Understanding of Agentic AI policies, Golden Rules, and responsible use frameworks, and ability to apply them diligently in day to day activities, including managing “digital co workers” and identifying generative AI related legal risks.

Leadership Behaviors

• Care deeply

• Focus on what counts

• Stay 3 steps ahead

• Deliver with excellence

At HUL, we believe that every individual irrespective of their race, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, nationality, caste, disability or marital status can bring their purpose to life. So apply to us, to unleash your curiosity, challenge ideas and disrupt processes; use your energy to make the world a better place. As you work to make a real impact on the business and the world, we’ll work to help you become a better you!

"All official offers from Unilever are issued only via our Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Offers from individuals or unofficial sources may be fraudulent—please verify before proceeding."