A. Legal Strategy & Business Partnering:

- Serve as the primary legal advisor to business and functional leadership teams.

- Provide strategic legal counsel on commercial, operational and business matters.

- Support strategic initiatives, business transformation programs, new business models, partnerships and growth opportunities.

- Enable informed decision-making by balancing business objectives with legal, regulatory and reputational considerations.

- Monitor emerging legal and regulatory developments and assess their implications for the business.

- Build legal awareness and capability across the organization.

- Lead the legal workstream for M&A and strategic transactions, including deal structuring, transaction documentation and oversight of legal due diligence. Partner internal teams and external advisors to identify, assess and mitigate legal contractual, regulatory and compliance risks across transaction lifecycle.

- Provide strategic guidance to Human Resources and senior management on handling performance issues, disciplinary actions, and grievance escalations.

B. Contract Management & Commercial Legal Support:

- Draft, review and negotiate commercial agreements including vendor contracts, customer agreements, distribution agreements, licensing arrangements, strategic partnerships, confidentiality agreements and service contracts.

- Ensure contractual arrangements appropriately protect organizational interests and mitigate risk.

- Establish contract governance mechanisms and approval frameworks.

- Drive standardization and simplification of legal documentation where appropriate.

- Advise stakeholders on contractual obligations, disputes and interpretation of commercial agreements.

C. Regulatory & Food Law Compliance:

- Provide legal guidance on food safety regulations, labelling requirements and FSSAI-related matters.

- Support business teams in ensuring compliance with applicable food, consumer protection and advertising regulations.

- Liaise with regulatory authorities and external advisors on legal and regulatory matters.

- Monitor changes in relevant laws and regulations and advise leadership on implications and required actions.

- Support the organization during regulatory reviews, inspections and investigations.

D. Intellectual Property Management:

- Oversee protection, registration, maintenance and enforcement of trademarks and other intellectual property assets.

- Provide strategic guidance on brand protection and intellectual property risk management.

- Manage trademark opposition, infringement and enforcement matters.

- Support business teams in protecting and maximizing the value of intellectual property assets.

E. Litigation & Dispute Resolution:

- Lead the management of litigation, arbitration and dispute resolution matters involving the organization.

- Develop legal strategies that effectively protect organizational interests.

- Manage relationships with external legal counsel and advisors.

- Ensure timely escalation and reporting of material legal disputes and risks.

- Drive cost-effective resolution of disputes while minimizing business disruption and reputational risk.

- High-Level Investigations: Lead or oversee sensitive internal investigations involving discrimination, harassment, executive misconduct, or whistleblower allegations.

- Litigation Management: Acting as the primary liaison between the company and External Counsel if an employee dispute escalates to litigation, tribunals, or regulatory investigations.

F. Governance, Corporate Secretarial, Compliance & Ethics Leadership:

- Provide strategic leadership and governance oversight across Legal, Corporate Secretarial & Compliance and Business Ethics functions.

- Partner closely with the Company Secretary & Compliance Officer and Business Ethics leader to ensure alignment on governance priorities, regulatory obligations and ethical business conduct.

- Provide legal counsel on governance, corporate compliance and regulatory matters impacting the organization.

- Support the strengthening of governance frameworks, policies, controls and compliance mechanisms across the organization.

- Promote a culture of integrity, accountability, transparency and responsible business conduct.

- Facilitate coordinated management of significant governance, compliance, regulatory and reputational risk matters.

- Support leadership in evaluating and mitigating risks arising from governance, compliance and ethics-related matters.

- Drive awareness and understanding of legal, compliance and ethical obligations across the organization.

G. Risk Management:

- Identify, assess and mitigate legal, regulatory and reputational risks across business operations and strategic initiatives.

- Support enterprise risk management processes from a legal and governance perspective.

- Ensure timely identification, escalation and resolution of material legal and regulatory issues.

- Protect the organization from legal, financial, operational and reputational exposure.

- Develop proactive risk mitigation strategies to support long-term business sustainability.