Group Lead Commercial Counsel – Consumer and Fair Competition

Verisure is the leading European provider of professionally monitored security systems with 24/7 response services. We currently protect over 6 million families and small businesses across 18 countries in Europe and Latin America. Our mission is to provide our customers with peace of mind by protecting what matters most to them.

Verisure is seeking a talented, dynamic and versatile Counsel to provide leadership on consumer and fair competition matters across the Verisure Group’s European footprint. This new, combined role is a strategically important one. Compliance with ever-increasing EU and national rules on consumer protection and competition across Europe is vital; it is also a component of winning, building trust with and satisfying our customers. The Counsel will have pan-business oversight of these areas and the opportunity to develop and direct our strategy. The Counsel will have a high profile with legal peers and senior management across the Verisure Group. They will be a part of our fast-growing Legal team and will report to our Group Commercial and Innovation Legal Director. The successful candidate will thrive in a fast-paced, agile, international, and entrepreneurial business environment.

Key responsibilities:

• Provide strategic legal advice and leadership at Group level on consumer areas including marketing claims and pricing strategies; sales practices, processes and sales materials for Verisure’s core alarm system services and ancillary personal protection services; customer T&Cs and contracting models; and consumer-facing aspects of new methods of getting to market.
• Lead and develop our consumer and fair competition programme, involving guidance, templates and training materials on common topics; consumer protection audits; and close collaboration with the Group Compliance team on Group internal minimum standards, Group policy and standards.
• Support Verisure country counsel on complex regulatory inquiries as needed.
• Monitor, assess and share information about consumer and fair competition enforcement cases and trends as well as proposals for EU consumer protection legislation.
• Develop and lead a strategy of engagement with relevant external stakeholders, which may include consumer associations, trade associations, regulators and legislators, both at a national and EU level.
• Lead fair competition legal strategy for the Group, ensuring compliance across key business initiatives and monitoring fair competition in the market.
• Support Verisure country Heads of Legal and work with our Iberia & LatAm Competition Counsel to provide expert legal advice on antitrust and unfair commercial practices.
• Conduct internal audits and implement compliance programmes, as relevant.
• Act as primary Group Legal contact for internal Legal and business colleagues on fair competition topics.
• Manage external counsel and budget.

The ideal candidate must:

• Be a qualified lawyer in a European jurisdiction, with a minimum of five years of relevant experience.
• Have excellent knowledge of EU consumer protection and fair competition legislation and practical experience of its implementation in at least one of Verisure’s European operating countries.
• Have experience from consumer protection related litigation and enforcement actions of national consumer protection authorities.

It would be advantageous to have experience of:

• Commercialising technology and related services.
• Working as an in-house lawyer.

In terms of competencies, the ideal candidate will:

• Be adaptable and have the proven ability to thrive in dynamic and fast-paced environments.
• Have a pragmatic approach, seeing the legal function as a responsible business enabler.
• Have a proven track record of leading projects.
• Have very high EQ and level of judgment – be a strong, confident but humble leader that exerts influence through persuasion.
• Be enthusiastic and a high energy individual, with a strong drive to create a positive work environment.
• Be curious, creative and pragmatic.
• Be an independent problem solver that can set priorities, clearly articulate defensible opinions and enable efficient decision making.
• Have the ability and willingness to take a "hands on" approach, while maintaining an ability for a high level or strategic view of activities.

Finally, there must be a strong fit with our company DNA:

• Passionate in Everything We Do: Our people have a sense of energy that is unmistakable, one that drives us to delight our customers and focus on creating impact quickly.
• Committed to Making a Difference: When we say we will do something; we deliver with excellence. We are accountable, focused and operate with discipline.
• Always Innovating: We believe that Innovation can be big or small; it’s a continuous state of mind that inspires us to think differently and always make things better.
• Winning as a Team: Our people know that by leveraging one another’s strengths, investing in and developing our team’s capability and by collaborating well, we will win.
• With Trust & Responsibility: Operating with integrity is core to our success. We are humble, honest and value deep mastery and expertise.

Location: Geneva (Group head office) preferred, but it could be in any European city in which a Verisure country has its head office, subject to regular working visits to the Geneva office and additional travel to other European cities as required.

The Legal team consists of over 140 lawyers and other professionals across the organization that come from 18 countries, representing four continents, with a strong gender balance across all levels of the team. We are well-integrated, working closely together across countries as well as the organization to leverage each other’s experience, to develop best practices, and to deliver our colleagues best-in-class legal partnership.