Director & Counsel, Development – Asia Pacific

The Global Legal Team is responsible for administering the Company’s legal activities to ensure maximum protection while engaging in global business and ensuring compliance with the Company’s legal obligations. As the Director & Counsel, Development – Asia Pacific, you will provide legal support to the Company’s managed and franchised hotel development teams as they work to grow and maintain the Company’s hotel portfolio throughout the APAC (excluding China) region. The ideal candidate will have experience with the hospitality industry and the franchise business model. Review, draft, and negotiate a variety of agreements relating to system hotels, including management and franchise agreements with hotel owners and finance-related agreements with lenders of such hotels. Provide legal advice and counsel to business partners on areas of subject matter expertise. Support the Company’s relationships and transactional dealings with owners of system hotels throughout the lifecycle of the contractual relationship, including negotiating contract amendments and resolving issues. Manage outside counsel and implement local law advice from a variety of jurisdictions with different legal systems. How you will collaborate with others. Protect the Company’s commercial interests while developing and implementing legal strategies to address development issues. Formulate and deliver training programs and self-service tools for business partners. Support the APAC Legal Team to partner with colleagues in the Americas and EMEA, in the coordination, deployment and implementation of global initiatives and priorities of the Legal Development team. Work within the standard systems and procedures of the Company and the Global Legal Team, and contribute to the continuous improvement and updating of these systems. Assist with drafting and maintaining standard form agreements/ documents for the APAC Legal Team. At least 5 years of post-qualification experience, which should include practicing law at a leading law firm or in-house as a transactional attorney. Law degree from a reputable university. Experience negotiating contracts and reviewing legal documents. Experience interacting with business partners and developing trust. Detailed understanding of key legal concepts and can seamlessly relay them to business partners. A problem solver who has a real passion for finding new and creative solutions to hard problems. Self-motivated, with a strong work ethic and desire to consistently perform at the highest level. Strong writing, communication, and leadership skills. The ability to communicate clearly and effectively with people from different backgrounds and cultures. A creative and business-minded individual with strategic methods for problem-solving and performance improvement within the department. An innate desire to support an inclusive and diverse workforce. The drive to provide outstanding customer service, with consistent attention to detail and the initiative to ensure responsive support. The ability to prioritize and undertake multiple projects and critical tasks with contending pressures in a fast-paced environment. Experience in an in-house legal department of a company operating across multiple jurisdictions. Experience with the hospitality industry, particularly in relation to management and franchised agreements, but also in relation to operations. Experience with franchise business models. Exposure to legal frameworks in multiple jurisdictions and comfort with cross-border legal issues.