Senior Lawyer (German Speaking)

Overview

​The primary function of this position is to provide legal advice and support to Cook Medical’s European operations working closely with the Director and Corporate Counsel EMEA. The role offers the opportunity to support the breadth of Cook Medical’s European operations including manufacturing sites, shared services and sales entities across the region. Areas of responsibility will include legal support for HR, third party contracting, confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements, public procurement and other general business areas.

Responsibilities

• ​​Work under the guidance of, and in conjunction with, Director and Corporate Counsel EMEA, with the capacity and expertise necessary to independently provide sound legal advice and support regarding a wide range of legal issues. 

• ​Advise the business across the European region on a wide range of corporate, commercial, employment and compliance related legal issues and associated legal risk. 

• ​Provide legal support to Cook Medical’s European business including HR, Divisions, Customer Support and Delivery, Engineering, Marketing, Finance, Quality Assurance, Regulatory Affairs and Operations. 

• ​Participate in, and where appropriate, lead, global continuous improvement and maturation projects for the Cook Legal Function, working with colleagues across regions to develop and roll out best practice. 

• ​Provide strategic and effective legal support on employee relations matters working closely with the business and HR teams. 

• ​Maintain a strong focus, and take an active leadership role, in maximising the operational efficiency of the Cook Legal Function globally, including the development and tracking of legal metrics to demonstrate and drive performance. 

• ​Leverage AI to drive efficiencies and capability of the legal function in compliance with applicable internal and external standards. 

• ​Prepare, review and negotiate various legal documentation including confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements, service agreements, procurement, supply agreements and obtain expert legal advice when required.  

• ​Liaise with and update colleagues in the Global Legal Function to ensure unity of purpose and direction. 

• ​Represent Cook Medical’s position and views at appropriate public affairs forums and meetings where required. 

• ​Liaise with and manage relationships with external legal advisors as appropriate. 

• ​Provide legal support in relation to any threatened or actual litigation in Europe. 

• ​Ad hoc reporting/project work. 

• ​Work largely independently under standard practices, while collaborating closely as part of a small, high-trust European legal team.   

• ​Act as a designee for the Director & Corporate Counsel EMEA who is based in Limerick, Ireland 

• ​Ensure that Cook’s Code of Conduct is considered in all business matters carried out on Cook’s behalf.  

Qualifications

• ​​Formal legal qualification and qualified to practice law in Germany or Ireland; German qualification is preferred. Candidates qualified in Ireland must bring substantial, hands-on German working experience. 

• ​5 years + post qualification experience - private practice or in-house - with the independent judgment, maturity and capability expected of a senior in house lawyer. 

• ​In-house experience is an advantage but is not essential. 

• ​Fluency, and the ability to work seamlessly in English and German. 

• ​Role is hybrid from Limerick, Ireland, to enable regular in-person collaboration, though remote from elsewhere in Europe is also possible for the right candidate. 

• ​Excellent interpersonal skills, and the ability to work well both independently and as part of a small, collaborative team. 

• ​Fluency in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data concepts, including the ability to critically evaluate AI outputs, improve workflows using approved tools, identify and mitigate bias or inaccuracies, and communicate AI-driven insights clearly and responsibly to peers and managers 

• ​The ability to add value by providing solution-oriented legal services based on a sound understanding of the legal and business environment. 

• ​Thinks creatively and strategically to generate solutions for optimizing key processes, with a particular focus on developing and applying legal metrics to track and improve the performance of the legal function. 

• ​Promotes and guards business integrity; finds ways to achieve business aims without compromising applicable standards. 

• ​Guides, facilitates and supports the Cook legal function in learning and gaining, capturing, sharing and exploiting knowledge to achieve world-class performance. 

• ​Takes accountability for the achievement of results and shows determination to achieve Cook Medical’s objectives. 

• ​Synthesizes and analyzes complex data to provide creative, reliable and valuable legal guidance in simple language to support business decisions. 

• ​Presents well-reasoned, convincing propositions; identifying key legal issues. 

• ​Excellent organisational skills. 

• ​High self-motivation. 

• ​Willingness and availability to travel on company business as required.