Job Description

City : Rotterdam State : Zuid-Holland (NL-ZH) Country : Netherlands (NL) Requisition Number: 43298
Are you a highly experienced legal professional specializing in global freight, seeking a pivotal role where your expertise directly shapes business strategy and operational success within a leading global trade company? At an exciting time following our recent merger, we are looking for a Senior Legal Counsel to join our dynamic legal team, providing crucial guidance across our international freight value chain.
This is a pivotal opportunity for a seasoned lawyer ready to make a significant impact. We are considering candidates who are eligible to work and are looking for a role in either Rotterdam or Geneva. You will be an integral part of our global freight legal function, offering key support to our European regional teams and fostering a truly collaborative environment.
The Role
This role demands a dynamic blend of strategic legal leadership and hands-on operational excellence:

• Strategic & Commercial Counsel: Provide comprehensive legal counsel for all global freight activities, proactively identifying risks, ensuring compliance, and advising on strategic opportunities.
• Lead Dispute Resolution: Manage and oversee complex commercial disputes, litigation, and arbitrations within the freight sector, coordinating both in-house and external legal efforts.
• Contractual Expertise: Draft, review, and negotiate a wide array of critical freight-specific commercial documents, including charterparties, bills of lading, guarantees, and agency agreements.
• Business Partnership: Embed deeply with the freight value chain and European regional teams, acting as a trusted legal partner to understand business needs and integrate legal advice seamlessly into operations and strategy.
• Legal Operations & Development: Optimize legal processes, manage external counsel relationships and budgets, provide internal legal training, and leverage legal technology tools for efficiency.

Who We're Looking For:
A pragmatic, commercially astute, and collaborative legal colleague with:

• Experience: 5-10 Years Post-Qualification Experience (PQE) as a solicitor (UK qualified preferred). If your qualification/admission is not from the UK, comparable English and common law experience is essential.
• Specialized Background: A minimum of 2 years of dedicated experience in an international law firm and/or as in-house counsel, focused on commodity trading, in particular Freight / Shipping.
• Core Competencies: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, exceptional communication (oral and written English), and a proven ability to work cooperatively, build relationships, and manage complex tasks through excellent research, analytical and problem-solving skills, even under pressure.
• Behavior & Mindset: Improve Bunge's outcomes by making data-driven decisions, keeping the customer at the forefront of you they do, and proactively gaining insight into the global strategy. Collaborate, effectively communicate with others and take initiative to continually develop themselves. Pursue opportunities to solve problems and take action while maintaining the ability to manage work, even in times of challenge or change.

Why Join Our Team?
This role offers a genuine opportunity to leverage your specialized legal knowledge in a leading global enterprise. You will tackle real-world, complex legal challenges, directly contributing to our operational success and strategic objectives within a dynamic, international commercial environment.
#LI-MV1
Interested in making an impact? Please apply via the link with your resume and motivation on the particularities of the role. For specific questions regarding this role, connect with Marinke van Stekelenburg at .
Unsolicited candidate submissions from third parties and acquisition will not be considered.
At Bunge (NYSE: BG), our purpose is to connect farmers to consumers to deliver essential food, feed and fuel to the world. As a premier agribusiness solutions provider, our team of ~37,000 dedicated employees partner with farmers across the globe to move agricultural commodities from where they're grown to where they're needed-in faster, smarter, and more efficient ways. We are a world leader in grain origination, storage, distribution, oilseed processing and refining, offering a broad portfolio of plant-based oils, fats, and proteins. We work alongside our customers at both ends of the value chain to deliver quality products and develop tailored, innovative solutions that address evolving consumer needs. With 200+ years of experience and presence in over 50 countries, we are committed to strengthening global food security, advancing sustainability, and helping communities prosper where we operate. Bunge has its registered office in Geneva, Switzerland and its corporate headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri. Learn more at Bunge.com.
Every day our people exemplify these values, which represent Bunge at its core:

• We Are One Team - Collaborative, Respectful, Inclusive
• We Lead The Way - Agile, Empowered, Innovative
• We Do What's Right - Safety, Sustainability, With Integrity

If this sounds like you, join us! We value and invest in people who believe in our purpose and are excited to live it every day - people who are #ProudtoBeBunge
Bunge is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, national origin, citizenship, age, disability or military or veteran status, or any other legally protected status.

Skills Required