Job Description:

- Work Level: Individual Contributor

- Location: As per Hiring Partner Requirement

- Industry: Banking (BFSI)

- Education: LLB (Mandatory)

Role Summary:

We are seeking a high-stakes Senior Legal Manager with specialized expertise in the banking sector to govern legal compliance, vendor ecosystems, and mortgage documentation. In this role, you will act as a "Result-Driven" technical authority, managing the end-to-end lifecycle of legal vendors and ensuring the structural integrity of mortgage product documentation. You will lead critical title search verifications, ensuring SARFAESI applicability and clear marketable titles for borrowers.

From drafting regulatory addendums to advising collections teams on arbitration and property repossession, your mission is to mitigate legal risk while driving operational efficiency. The ideal candidate combines rigorous legal process implementation with the empathy required to lead cross-functional stakeholders through complex fraud identifications and litigation procedures.

Responsibilities:

- Vendor Ecosystem Governance: Assess, appoint, and renew legal vendors in strict accordance with bank policy, maintaining a comprehensive MIS for empaneled and dormant firms.

- Risk & Compliance Oversight: Track blacklisted legal firms and changes in vendor composition to ensure zero engagement with unauthorized partners.

- Mortgage Documentation Lifecycle: Author and update ultimate borrower documentation for various mortgage products, including the circulation of standardized sets to business and procurement teams.

- Regulatory Agility: Draft and circulate appendices or addendums in response to shifting regulatory requirements, ensuring continuous compliance before formal document updates.

- Title Verification Audits: Conduct sample-based title searches and ownership verifications across branches, focusing on marketable titles, continuity for specified years, and location-specific parameters.

- Legal Technical Advisory: Provide expert guidance to Product teams on new launches, Credit teams on legal report deviations, and Customer Service teams on legal notices.

- Litigation & Collections Strategy: Advise collections teams on initiating legal proceedings (Sec 138 / SARFAESI / Arbitration) against defaulting customers within strict timelines.

- Asset Repossession Management: Coordinate with external vendors on Next Date of Action (NDOA) and draft necessary letters for property repossession, public auction, and final disposal.

- Fraud Detection Engineering: Enhance legal verification processes to identify potential fraud at the document stage and advise business units on immediate mitigation steps.

- TAT & Invoice Management: Manage vendor Turnaround Time (TAT) from legal verification initiation to final report submission and oversee timely invoice processing.

- Compliance Reporting: Maintain a centralized summary of all legal cases and vendor performance metrics for monthly leadership reviews.

Technical Requirements:

- Banking Law Proficiency: Expert-level knowledge of SARFAESI Act, Negotiable Instruments Act (Sec 138), Arbitration and Conciliation Act, and Transfer of Property Act.

- Legal Process Implementation: 10+ years of experience in implementing legal frameworks within a BFSI environment, specifically for Loan Against Property (LAP) and mortgages.

- Vendor Management Systems: Proficiency in managing large-scale legal vendor empanelment and performance tracking via MIS and internal ERPs.

- Document Drafting Mastery: Strong capability in drafting technical legal agreements, addendums, and formal intimation letters for property auctions.

- Title Search Expertise: Advanced understanding of chain-of-title, encumbrance certificates, and regional land records across diverse Indian geographies.

Core Competencies:

- Result-Driven Execution: Ability to meet strict TATs for legal reports and invoice processing while maintaining high accuracy in document audits.

- Empathetic Leadership: Capability to handle customer-service escalations and internal team deviations with a balanced, professional approach.

- Analytical Problem Solving: High aptitude for identifying discrepancies in legal vendor reports and flagging potential fraudulent documentation.

- Stakeholder Coordination: Proven ability to collaborate across Business, Credit, Risk, and Collections teams to align legal strategies with commercial goals.