Asian Paints - Manager - Legal

Role Objective:

To manage and oversee the Company's litigation, ensuring effective risk mitigation, strong stakeholder support, alignment with business objectives and coordinating with external counsels

Key Responsibilities KRAs:

1. Litigation & Dispute Management

- End-to-end ownership of civil, criminal, consumer, recovery, arbitration, and regulatory litigations across jurisdictions

- Experience in handling white collar crime, anti- trust matters/ issues

- Formulate litigation strategy in consultation with senior management and external counsels

- Draft, review, and finalize replies to legal notices, pleadings, affidavits, writ petitions, appeals, and settlement documentation

- Monitor case progress, ensure timely filings, and track key risks, exposure, and outcomes

- Maintain and review litigation MIS, trackers, dashboards, and management reports

- Drive the use and implementation of legal technology and AI-enabled tools to improve efficiency, accuracy, and turnaround time across litigation, contracts, compliance, and advisory workstreams

2. Contract Management & Legal Documentation
- Review, draft, and negotiate commercial contracts including leases, leave & license agreements, vendor contracts, NDAs, MOUs, settlement agreements, and business-specific arrangements

- Provide legal inputs on property due diligence, title verification, and risk assessment

- Ensure contractual documentation aligns with Company policies, risk appetite, and applicable laws
3. Business Advisory & Stakeholder Support
- Act as a trusted legal advisor to business teams including sales, marketing, supply chain, manufacturing, and support functions

- Proactively identify legal risks and provide practical, business-oriented solutions

- Handle contentious issues, escalations, and sensitive matters involving dealers, customers, vendors, and regulators

- Support senior management with legal opinions, notes, and presentations on complex matters
4. External Counsel & Vendor Management
- Appoint, manage, and evaluate external counsels and law firms across jurisdictions

- Negotiate fee structures, control litigation costs, and ensure value-driven legal spend

- Coordinate with counsels for strategy alignment, briefing, and outcome tracking

5. Team Management & Capability Building
- Lead, mentor, and review the performance of team members Assistant Managers/Executives

- Allocate work, review outputs, and ensure quality, consistency, and timelines

- Effective use of technology in the system Key Skills & Competencies
- Strong litigation and dispute resolution expertise

- Excellent drafting, negotiation, and legal analysis skills

- Commercially sound judgment and solution-oriented mindset

- Stakeholder management and leadership capability

- Strong communication skills written and verbal

- Familiarity with legal tech platforms, contract lifecycle tools, and AI-based research / review solutions

- Demonstrates strong curiosity, drive and a learning mindset

- Avid interest in research
Preferred Experience:
- Prior experience in a corporate legal department with strong litigation exposure

- Background in handling large litigation portfolios and external counsel coordination

- Experience in manufacturing setups or corporate environments/startups