Senior Legal Counsel

At Air Products, we reimagine what’s possible. By tapping into the motivation of our people and our collective experience, we create the ideas and innovations that drive us forward. When we come together – where every voice is heard and everyone knows they belong and matter – we create solutions that launch people into space, support lifesaving care in hospitals, and enable the construction of groundbreaking, world scale production facilities.

Reimagine What’s Possible 

Position Summary

The Senior Legal Counsel provides comprehensive in-house legal support for Air Products’ operations across Asia, with a primary focus on China. This is a broad, hands-on role covering litigation and disputes, commercial contracts, corporate and M&A matters, regulatory issues, risk management, compliance (including anti-bribery, competition law, conflicts of interest, compliance training), internal policy drafting, and the rollout and implementation of global corporate and regional initiatives.

The successful candidate will have proven experience to deliver practical solutions-oriented advice, support corporate administration, and operate effectively with a high degree of autonomy under remote supervision while collaborating closely with Asia General Counsel, the legal team in China (and other countries in Asia) and other stakeholders. Strong interpersonal skills, cultural fluency and the ability to maintain legal professionalism in a fast-paced, dynamic and challenging environment are essential.

Nature and Scope

Asia, including China, is an important growth region for Air Products’ industrial gases, chemicals, electronics, steel and petroleum / petrochemical businesses. This role involves providing strong legal and compliance support for the manufacturing, processing and sale of industrial gases and related equipment and services, including significant projects relating to joint ventures and business partnerships with multinational companies and state-owned enterprises.

In view of the businesses that we support, the attention to risk management within sales contracts is important.  To achieve this can be challenging, both internally and externally, in an environment that has previously been more focused on relationships than contractual language. The Senior Legal Counsel will be expected to actively contribute to the development of a systematic and accessible database of legal knowledge and precedents for China and Asia.

The Senior Legal Counsel will actively participate in negotiations with customers, suppliers, authorities and other related parties and he / she must also be able to provide strategic guidance to business with respect to the direction and content of such discussions where legally necessary. The Senior Legal Counsel must be able to “reality check” commercial proposals, manage complex internal and external negotiations, oversee external counsel and legal spend, and report risks and advise on potential mitigation measures in a timely manner.

Key Responsibilities & Position Requirements

• Quick learner, cross-cultural communicator, self-starter and disciplined team player who thrives in a multinational corporate environment;
• Qualified lawyer with substantial in-house or private-practice experience handling complex commercial, corporate, M&A, joint ventures, litigation/arbitration, regulatory, employment and compliance matters in the China and Asia;
• Experience in industrial gases, chemicals or similar industries is an advantage;
• Proven ability to operate as a practical, solutions-driven lawyer who can give clear, timely legal and commercial advice to senior management and other key stakeholders across different cultures;
• Advise on and drive risk-management, compliance and ethics programmes (anti-bribery, competition law, conflicts of interest, export licensing, etc) and support the implementation of global and regional policies and initiatives;
• Strong ability to draft, negotiate and review contracts and internal policies in both Chinese and English; develop and communicate standard forms and templates to business;
• Actively participate in and, where necessary, lead negotiations with customers, suppliers, authorities and joint-venture partners;
• Credibility and proven track record to support high-value, complex projects and disputes – and to interface effectively with internal stakeholders and external parties;
• Manage external legal counsel, control external legal costs and coordinate multi-jurisdictional advice;
• Deliver trainings to business teams on legal, compliance and risk topics;
• Contribute to the development of a systematic legal knowledge and precedent database for China and Asia;
• Work closely with the Asia General Counsel and the broader legal team while handling matters independently with minimal supervision when required;
• Fluency in written and spoken English and Mandarin Chinese is essential (fluency in any other Asian language is a strong plus);
• Willingness to travel.

Founded in 1940, Air Products is a world-leading industrial gases company and has a proud history of innovation, operational excellence, with an unwavering commitment to safety and environmental stewardship. Working together, we are taking our passion and diverse backgrounds forward to reimagine what’s possible and generate a cleaner future for our customers, our communities, and the world.