Role Purpose

The Legal Counsel supports GS1 AISBL and GS1 Global Office by providing high-quality legal advice across corporate governance, membership, system integrity, contracts, public policy, and emerging areas such as AI governance. The role contributes to the effective functioning of GS1’s global governance and supports the Global Office as well as Member Organisations worldwide on legal and governance matters.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide legal advice on GS1 AISBL corporate matters, including as to Belgian corporate law.

• Support interpretation and implementation of Internal Regulations.

• Lead legal aspects of new Member Organisation admissions, including strategic considerations.

• Respond to legal and governance queries from Member Organisations.

• Support different teams across GS1 Global Office on legal and regulatory matters.

• Oversee contracts workstream, standardisation, and automation.

• Oversee technology-related topics, AI governance and AI-related applications.

• Advise on unauthorised use of the GS1 system and system integrity, and Intellectual Property matters together with the IP and Legal Counsel.

• Provide community support on legal matters by developing FAQs, guidance, and training materials.

• Provide induction and training to GS1 Global Office and to Membership Organisations.

• Coordinate legal developments and updates.

Profile & Skills

• Strong legal professional with sound judgment, a proactive mindset, and the ability to anticipate issues and deliver pragmatic solutions in a complex international environment.

• Comfortable working in a federated, governance-heavy global organisation with senior executives, balancing global consistency with local and regional context.

• Clear and constructive communicator who translates complex legal concepts into practical guidance for non‑lawyers.

• Able to collaborate effectively across departments, functions, and cultures with colleagues and stakeholders at all levels.

• Trusted advisor who is highly responsive and able to manage competing priorities while maintaining quality, accuracy, and attention to detail.

• Technologically curious and digitally savvy, with an interest in the responsible use of technology in legal and governance contexts.

• Professional, collegial, and approachable, with a positive impact on team dynamics and collaborative culture.

Experience & Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of relevant legal experience, gained in private practice, an international organisation, an association, or an in-house legal role, with exposure to governance, corporate, regulatory or international matters.

• Experience in Belgian corporate law, competition law, commercial law and contracts. IP experience is a plus.

• Law degree from a recognised university; bar admission is an asset but not a prerequisite.

• Experience or strong interest in working at the intersection of law, governance, technology and standard setting, including emerging areas such as digital transformation, AI governance and system integrity.

• Excellent command of English; working knowledge of French and/or Dutch is an asset.

This job may require up to 10% global travel.

This is a hybrid role with a minimum of 4 to 8 days per month in the Brussels office.

GS1 Overview

GS1 develops and maintains the most widely used supply chain standards that are fundamental to numerous enterprises around the world. The best-known symbol of GS1 standards is the barcode, named by the BBC as one of “the 50 things that made the world economy”. Five decades ago, we started by helping food retailers do business more efficiently and reduce consumer prices. Today, GS1 standards improve the efficiency, safety, and visibility of supply chains across physical and digital channels in 25 sectors, including retail omnichannel and e-commerce, healthcare, transport and logistics, food service, technical industries, and humanitarian logistics. Our scale and reach – local Member Organisations (MO) in 120 countries, 2 million user companies, and 10 billion transactions every day – help ensure that GS1 standards create a common language that supports systems and processes across the globe.

IMPORTANT! Please do not contact hiring managers.

GS1 is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We will never unlawfully discriminate on the grounds of race, religion, belief, ethnic origin, colour, nationality, gender, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, age, disability, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy, maternity, or political opinions.