Senior Legal Counsel

Role & Responsibilities :

1. International Tax Advisory

• Advise on international tax structuring for cross-border operations, projects, and commercial arrangements.
• Assess withholding tax exposure and recommend appropriate contractual and operational treatment.
• Advise on GST, VAT, indirect tax, and related registration or compliance implications across jurisdictions.
• Support transfer pricing matters, including alignment of intercompany arrangements with business activities and applicable policies.
• Review double tax treaty considerations and support the practical application of treaty relief where relevant.
• Identify permanent establishment and other cross-border tax risks arising from project delivery, employee deployment, or service arrangements.
• Coordinate with internal Fina nce and Tax teams and external advisors on complex matters, audits, notices, and regulatory queries.

2. Commercial Contracts & Risk

• Review, draft, and negotiate commercial agreements, including client contracts, consultancy agreements, sub-consultancy agreements, NDAs, confidentiality agreements, and service agreements.
• Advise on tax clauses, payment provisions, warranties, indemnities, liability, insurance, intellectual property, termination, governing law, and dispute-resolution terms.
• Provide clear risk and compliance advice to business leaders, translating legal and tax issues into practical commercial options.
• Prepare concise contract-review summaries, risk assessments, and recommended negotiation positions.
• Ensure contractual positions are aligned with internal approval requirements and applicable legal, tax, and compliance obligations.
• Support contract lifecycle management, including approvals, execution, renewals, key obligations, and document retention.

3. Cross-Border Corporate & Compliance Support

• Advise on cross-border corporate structuring and support the establishment, maintenance, and compliance of international entities.
• Coordinate corporate records, statutory filings, governance documentation, and local corporate-secretarial requirements.
• Monitor relevant legal, regulatory, tax, and compliance developments affecting NV5s international operations.
• Support internal compliance initiatives and provide briefing notes or guidance on emerging risks.
• Partner with business leaders on new markets, operating models, and international project arrangements.

4.Stakeholder & Team Collaboration

• Work closely with legal and tax teams in Hong Kong and USA location to ensure consistent advice and alignment.
• Build effective working relationships with APAC business leaders, Finance, HR, Operations, and external advisors.
• Manage priorities across multiple jurisdictions and provide timely, solution-oriented support.
• Support knowledge sharing, templates, playbooks, and standard clauses to improve the efficiency and consistency of legal and tax support.
• Provide guidance to junior team members or coordinators, where required.

Education and Experience :

• LLB with specialization, certification, or substantial professional experience in international taxation. An LLM, tax qualification, or equivalent advanced credential will be advantageous.
• 8 to 15 years of relevant post-qualification experience covering international tax and commercial legal matters.

Required Skills:

• Combined experience in a reputable law firm and an in-house legal, tax, or commercial function .
• Demonstrated exposure to international tax structuring, withholding tax, GST/VAT, transfer pricing, and cross-border corporate matters.
• Strong experience reviewing and negotiating commercial contracts and advising on risk and compliance.
• Experience supporting multiple countries or regional stakeholders, preferably across APAC.
• Excellent written and spoken English, with strong drafting, negotiation, research, and stakeholder-management skills.

Preferred Experience

• Working knowledge of employment law across APAC jurisdictions.
• Experience in engineering, consulting, professional services, infrastructure, data centres, or another project-based international business.
• Comfort working with US-based Legal and Tax teams and managing matters across international time zones.
• Experience building practical templates, clause libraries, processes, or guidance for regional business teams.