Legal Counsel Japan

Role Description

ASML is seeking a senior, business-oriented and hands-on Head of Legal & Compliance Japan to lead the Legal & Compliance function for ASML Japan. The role serves as the senior Legal & Compliance leader for Japan and provides strategic legal and compliance advice and business partnership across commercial, procurement, regulatory, ethics, governance and dispute matters. The successful candidate will support ASML’s commercial, customer-support, procurement, regulatory, ethics, compliance, corporate governance, and dispute-management needs in Japan, while acting as a key bridge between the Japan business, regional Legal & Compliance leadership, and global subject-matter expert teams.

This is a high-impact country leadership role requiring sound legal judgment, strong business acumen, integrity, cultural fluency, and the ability to operate effectively in a complex, highly regulated, technology-intensive, multinational environment.

Key Responsibilities

·Strategic legal business partnership

oAct as the trusted Legal & Compliance business partner to ASML Japan leadership and key business stakeholders.

oProactively provide practical, risk-based and business-oriented legal advice to support local business priorities while ensuring compliance with applicable laws, regulations, internal policies, and ASML’s Code of Conduct.

oAdvise on legal and compliance aspects of Japan customer-team matters, including commercial arrangements, customer communications, operational escalations, procurement issues, and regulatory considerations.

oAnticipate legal, regulatory, reputational, and operational risks affecting the Japan business and translate complex issues into clear, actionable guidance for local and global stakeholders.

oServe as a bridge between Japan stakeholders and global Legal & Compliance teams, ensuring alignment with global policies, playbooks, risk appetite, and strategic priorities.

·Commercial contracting and business transactions

oLead, review, draft and negotiate a broad range of commercial agreements, including customer-related agreements, procurement agreements, services agreements, NDAs, evaluation agreements, statements of work, license agreements, and other business contracts.

oSupport deal structuring and contract execution for Japan-related commercial matters.

oAdvise stakeholders on contract risk, liability positions, approval requirements, deviations from standard terms, and appropriate escalation.

oSupport the development, localization and consistent use of templates, contract playbooks, approval processes, and contracting controls.

oPartner with regional and global Legal & Compliance colleagues to ensure consistency of Japan contracting approaches with ASML’s broader legal strategy.

·Regulatory compliance

oMonitor and advise on legal and regulatory developments in Japan relevant to ASML’s business, including commercial, technology, manufacturing-support, procurement, competition, data, privacy, employment, anti-bribery, anti-corruption, sanctions/export-control adjacent issues, and other applicable regulatory areas.

oIdentify local compliance requirements, recommend priorities, and support implementation of appropriate controls, policies, processes and training.

oProvide strategic support for regulatory inquiries, audits, investigations, inspections, and related responses in Japan.

oWork with global and regional experts on specialized regulatory matters, including competition law, export controls, data privacy, ethics & business integrity, employment law, intellectual property, security, and corporate governance.

oHelp maintain strong documentation, process discipline, and audit readiness for Legal & Compliance-owned regulatory compliance topics.

·Ethics, integrity and compliance culture

oPromote a strong culture of integrity, accountability, speak-up, and ethical decision-making within ASML Japan.

oSupport implementation of ASML’s ethics and compliance programs in Japan, including training, awareness, risk assessments, policy implementation, and issue escalation.

oProvide advice on ethics and business integrity issues, conflicts of interest, gifts and entertainment, third-party risks, anti-bribery and anti-corruption, competition-sensitive conduct, and other compliance matters.

oSupport or coordinate internal investigations and remediation activities, in close collaboration with Ethics & Business Integrity, HR, Security, Finance, and other relevant functions.

oAdvise local management on responsible decision-making in high-risk or sensitive matters.

·Corporate governance and legal entity support

oProvide legal support for ASML Japan legal entities, governance processes, board/shareholder matters, powers of attorney, corporate registrations, local authorizations, and related corporate housekeeping.

oSupport corporate projects involving Japan, including reorganizations, entity changes, corporate approvals, strategic partnerships, customer-support structures, and cross-border initiatives.

oCoordinate with global corporate legal teams and external counsel to ensure timely and compliant execution of corporate actions.

oAdvise on governance implications of business decisions and support clear documentation of key approvals and decision-making.

·Disputes, claims and external counsel management

oManage or support litigation, disputes, threatened claims, customer/vendor escalations, regulatory matters, and other contentious issues in Japan.

oSelect, instruct and manage external counsel in Japan, including scope, quality, responsiveness, cost discipline, and alignment with ASML’s strategic objectives.

oMaintain oversight of Japan external legal spend and help ensure appropriate use of outside counsel.

·Leadership and stakeholder management

oRepresent Legal & Compliance on the Japan Country Management Team.

oBuild trusted relationships with Japan business leaders, regional Legal & Compliance leadership, global subject-matter experts, and cross-functional stakeholders.

oContribute to broader regional Legal & Compliance strategy, knowledge sharing, process improvement, and team development.

oOperate independently while knowing when to escalate material legal, compliance, reputational, regulatory, or business risks.

Required Education and Experience

Law degree or equivalent legal qualification. 10+ years of legal and compliance experience in multinational environments. Licensed attorney in Japan or another major jurisdiction. Experience in technology, semiconductor or industrial sectors desirable.

Required Skills

Strong legal judgment, business acumen, contracting and negotiation skills, stakeholder management, integrity, fluent Japanese and English language ability.

Travel and Mobility

Frequent domestic travel to other ASML Japan sites required, with occasional international travel.

Success Profile

Trusted advisor, pragmatic business partner, strong legal generalist, ethical leader, effective bridge between Japan and global stakeholders.

Inclusion and diversity

ASML is an Equal Opportunity Employer that values and respects the importance of a diverse and inclusive workforce. It is the policy of the company to recruit, hire, train and promote persons in all job titles without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity. We recognize that inclusion and diversity is a driving force in the success of our company.

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