Legal Director - LATAM

About Us -

Founded in 1917, John Crane is a global leader in the design, manufacturing, and engineering of mission critical flow control solutions for increased efficiency, emission reductions and energy transformation. Our products include mechanical seals and systems, couplings, bearings, filtration systems and predictive digital monitoring technologies. John Crane customer service is accessed through a global network of more than 200 global sites in over 50 countries employing more than 6,000 employees worldwide. We partner with our customers and help them meet the latest environmental standards and keep their operations safe and controlled.

John Crane is part of Smiths Group , For over 170 years, Smiths has been improving our world through smarter engineering. Our technology benefits millions of people every day – making travel safer, supporting sustainable energy transition, efficiently heating, cooling our homes, and helping our world stay connected.

Now let’s hear it directly from the creators – About | John Crane

Connect with us on LinkedIn : John Crane : LinkedIn

Job Description

The role encompasses two key areas : (i) the day-to-day proactive management of legal and quasi legal matters (with a priority on customer contracts) across the risk spectrum in the region and (ii) delivering advice / support for the Legal Team’s clearly defined strategic initiatives.

Key to the role is getting to understand the John Crane business and developing close working relationships with employees across each layer of the organization including senior management and the business teams in order to shape and drive strategy and improve the identification, assessment and management of legal risk.

Duties & Responsibilities (not limited to)

• Being the day-to-day contact for all regional legal matters within LATAM – with a primary focus on commercial contracting and HR matters. The commercial contracting work involves analysis and negotiation of large customer contracts, which require a robust understanding of the Company’s preferred terms and close coordination with internal stakeholders such as the sales, engineering, compliance, and health & safety teams.
• Responsibility for routine legal reporting to senior management – including Senior Director, Sales (LATAM), senior executives responsible for the LATAM businesses and General Counsel, John Crane.
• Support for LATAM real estate work (including lease renewal negotiation and new lease negotiation), supporting JC Global Property Manager.
• Supporting local HSE team with responses to Government agencies as it relates to HSE compliance.
• Management of the Latin America legal budget to feed into overall John Crane Legal budget.
• Delivering training for John Crane colleagues across our Latin American businesses.
• Attendance and representation of John Crane Legal function at regional management and strategic meetings.
• Supporting the John Crane business on delivering its clearly defined strategic initiatives. Shaping future strategic direction.
• Working closely with the business units to support their material day-to-day needs across the risk spectrum – e.g., business development, commercial, corporate, contract (including with government and government prime / sub-prime contractors; and the ongoing compliance of such contracts), IP, dispute resolution, compliance, international trade, etc. – utilizing Smiths Group Legal resource or external counsel as appropriate.
• Delivering advice to a high standard, within timeframes required by the business and in a manner that meets commercial needs.
• Developing strong collaborative working relationships with senior management and the business teams and other relevant stakeholders.
• Travelling to John Crane sites as appropriate.
• Identifying / anticipating risks and opportunities across the John Crane business and helping to drive / foster pro-active behaviours and practices.
• Coordinating / supporting other members of the John Crane (and Smiths Group Legal) function as appropriate.
• Supporting the ethics, compliance, and governance processes; fostering and exemplifying a culture of integrity, credibility and best business practices.

Qualifications

Diversity Clause

We believe that different perspectives and backgrounds are what make a company flourish. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, economic status, disability, age, or any other legally protected characteristics. We are proud to be an inclusive company with values grounded in equality and ethics, where we celebrate, support, and embrace diversity.

At no time during the hiring process will John Crane, Smiths Group nor any of our recruitment partners ever request payment to enable participation – including, but not limited to, interviews or testing. Avoid fraudulent requests by applying jobs directly through our career’s website ( Search and apply | Smiths Group careers | Smiths Careers ) or LinkedIn.