Head of Legal & Compliance Switzerland

Department

Established in 1929, Robeco is an independent global asset management company headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Robeco has its own fund products and is mainly active in investment management of segregated accounts, investment advisory, and the distribution of its own products. Worldwide, Robeco has 15 offices across Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Robeco Switzerland Ltd. is the FINMA-licensed Swiss office. Robeco Switzerland holds a license as manager of collective assets. The Swiss office employs around 90 people, covering Sales, Investments, Research, and Corporate Services.
 

The Head Legal & Compliance Switzerland is responsible for the oversight and execution of the Swiss compliance management framework and fostering a culture of integrity, ensuring Robeco Switzerland remains in full alignment with local regulatory requirements and global standards.

As a senior, hands-on leader, you will be the designated primary interface with the FINMA, safeguarding the Swiss license. While global legal matters are managed at HQ level, you act as the essential local legal partner, ensuring Swiss-specific nuances are integrated. You will act as a trusted advisor to the local management team and a key collaborator within the global Compliance and Legal functions to ensure a seamless execution of the group framework within the Swiss jurisdiction.

Position & Requirements

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead, develop and mentor the Legal & Compliance team (3.7 FTE incl. Head L&C); create an environment in which team members can grow and develop in their own professional careers. Maintain an efficient way of working with clear responsibilities, strong execution power and high quality outputs. Ensure strong collaboration within the team in Switzerland and the global Compliance and Legal teams and with other stakeholders in the organization.
• Act as Head of Compliance under Swiss financial market law, ensuring full compliance with Swiss legal and regulatory requirements. Main contact for FINMA and external regulatory auditors and internal audit manage all regulatory filings, license conditions, supervisory reviews and closure of audit findings.
• Locally implement, maintain and continuously improve the global Compliance Management Framework (regular risk assessments, policies, training and awareness, monitoring plans, annual reporting); ensure full coverage for Robeco Switzerland of all compliance risks under the Robeco’s risk taxonomy.
• Be the local contact for global policy reviews; provide Swiss regulatory input and support local implementation of global policies and compliance tooling.
• Act as local Anti-Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO). Promote a strong compliance culture. Manage and conduct integrity incidents; advise management on compliance incidents and staff-related matters.
• Acts as the contact person for Swiss data protection matters under the nDSG, including controller/processor classification, data processing agreements and data protection impact assessments.
• Act as the primary legal point of contact and "local desk" for Swiss business units. Provide pragmatic advice on day-to-day inquiries and "Swiss-proof" global templates and agreements  to ensure alignment with local mandatory law and FINMA requirements.
• Monitor, assess and implement Swiss regulatory developments (e.g. FinSA, FinIA, CISA, AMLA, FINMA circulars and ordinances) conform the Regulatory Change & Adherence Framework.
• Coordinate and manage the interface between the Swiss business and Global Legal/Tax teams to ensure the seamless execution of group-led initiatives and intragroup arrangements (e.g., transfer pricing, service agreements) within the Swiss market.
• As part of the Global Legal Function, provide legal advice on commercial, financial, regulatory, corporate and governance matters. Draft, review, negotiate and approve agreements, including investment management agreements (IMAs), service agreements, intragroup transfer pricing agreements, licence agreements, NDAs, distribution and vendor/outsourcing arrangements. This includes agreements without a specific Swiss nexus.
• Main advisor on local governance questions for management. Act as Deputy Corporate Secretary. Manage relationships with external legal counsel, auditors and regulator.
• Act as a strategic partner to the business. Understand the business and important dynamics. Contribute to development and implementation of new strategy, and being well connected and provide support to strategic initiatives. Strike the right balance between acting as an advisor and providing counter vailing power to the business regarding management of compliance & integrity risks. Collaborate with other teams or global compliance team in various regional or global projects. 
• Advise the Board of Directors, Executive Management and committees on compliance and legal matters. Regular reporting to the Risk & Compliance Committee (incl. Executive Committee), Board of Directors and global stakeholders. Relevant stakeholder for Internal Audit and in litigation matters (e.g. employment law cases or other proceedings).

Qualifications & Competences:

Required:

• Swiss law degree (lic. iur., MLaw, or equivalent)
• Minimum 8 years of professional experience in legal and/or compliance roles within asset management, banking, or financial services, with at least 3 years in a leadership or team-lead capacity
• Deep expertise in Swiss financial market regulation (FinSA, FinIA, CISA, AMLA, FINMA circulars) and strong working knowledge of the EU regulatory framework (MiFID II, AIFMD, UCITS, SFDR)
• Experience reviewing and negotiating investment management agreements and other agreements
• Hands-on experience managing FINMA regulatory relationships, including licence applications, supervisory reviews, and regulatory reporting
• Proven ability to work autonomously and lead a small team in a fast-paced, matrix environment within a global organisation
• Fluent in English and German (both spoken and written)
• Excellent stakeholder management and the ability to communicate complex regulatory topics clearly to senior management and non-legal audiences
• Proven ability to manage competing priorities across multiple regulatory frameworks and jurisdictions
• High degree of integrity, professional judgement, and discretion
• Collaborative leadership style with a commitment to developing team members
   

Preferred:

• Experience with regulatory technology tools and compliance workflow automation (e.g. MetricStream GRC, or similar platforms)
• Interest in or exposure to technology, AI-assisted workflows, or process optimisation within a Legal and Compliance function

Robeco Recruiting Team