This role is responsible for establishing and maintaining a robust legal, compliance, and operational risk management framework. Reporting directly to the CEO, this role serves as an independent function, ensuring adherence to regulatory requirements across international jurisdictions, with a primary focus on Switzerland, India, and the UK. This includes design and implementation of foundational operating policies and procedures, oversee contract management, and providing comprehensive legal support to all teams within GIST. This role demands a keen understanding of data protection laws, particularly within the EU, India, and the UK, and the ability to translate this understanding into actionable policies and procedures to safeguard GIST's data and insights provisioning services.
Comprehensive Legal Support: Provide legal guidance and support to all teams within GIST, ensuring compliance with relevant regulations and laws across multiple international jurisdictions.
Compliance Management & Policy Manual: Develop and maintain an updated policy manual, overseeing compliance management efforts to ensure adherence to regulatory requirements.
Contract Directory & Management: Maintain a contract directory and compliance tracker tool, overseeing contract management processes and ensuring legal robustness in all contracts, including commercial, supplier, and employment agreements.
Board Secretary Responsibilities: Fulfil board secretary responsibilities for GIST S.A., providing necessary legal support and ensuring compliance with corporate governance standards.
Design Legal and Compliance Framework: Design and implement GIST's legal, compliance, and operational risk management framework as an independent company function, reporting directly to the CEO.
Lead regulatory and cross-border legal strategy across ESG ratings and data services, including entity structuring, intercompany arrangements, and data governance frameworks (EU, UK, India).
Policy and Procedure Development: Develop and implement company-wide policies and procedures, including data protection frameworks, to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements across the EU, UK, and India and safeguard GIST’s data and insights services.
Contract Structuring and Drafting: Lead structuring, drafting and life-cycle management of contracts, including complex commercial agreements (data licensing, SaaS, APIs, and strategic partnerships) with global clients, financial institutions, and ESG platforms. .
Risk Management & Board Reporting : Lead the design and implementation of GIST’s legal, compliance, and risk management infrastructure, with direct reporting to the Board and investors on key risks, priorities, and mitigation strategies..
Expected Mind-set and Experience:
Commercial Mindset: Drive positive business outcomes while ensuring 100% compliance with all relevant regulatory requirements.
Effective 3rd Party Supplier Management: Deliver results quickly and at a controlled cost through efficient management of external support and outside counsel.
Proactive Problem-Solving: Take a proactive and positive approach to problem-solving, addressing challenges swiftly and effectively.
Collaborative Team Player: Collaborate effectively with internal and external stakeholders, fostering a culture of teamwork and cooperation.
Entrepreneurial Mentality: Demonstrate an entrepreneurial "roll up your sleeves" mentality, efficiently getting things done in a lean manner.
Attention to Detail: Possess excellent attention to detail, ensuring thoroughness and accuracy in all aspects of legal and compliance management.
Drafting Skills: Exhibit excellent drafting skills, with the ability to craft highly comprehensible and user-friendly legal prose.
Comfort with Complexity: Manage complexity and ambiguity within a fast-moving environment, adapting to changing circumstances with ease.
Industry Experience: Ideally, possess experience working within a fintech or similar enterprising/innovation space, demonstrating familiarity with relevant industry dynamics and regulations.
