As the General Counsel and a member of the leadership team, she is responsible for leading Legal and Corporate Secretarial affairs at Sun Life Asia Service Centres, in addition to heading the Information Technology Contracting Centre, the Knowledge Services Legal Vertical, which provides legal support to various geographies on technology contracts. She is responsible for shaping legal strategy with the rapid advancements in the IT/ITES industry, is focussed on Corporate Governance and is a key contributor to organisational planning and the decision-making team. She remains passionate about leveraging technology for automation and digitisation of Legal and Corporate Secretarial processes. She advises leadership and management not just on law and related matters but helps shape discussion about business issues. She renders support and advisory for driving various organisational and functional initiatives for transformation and innovation and towards building a future-ready organisation. She is also the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion representative of Sun Life Asia Service Centres.
Pooja has 20 years of experience and prior to joining Sun Life, she was the Legal Counsel, Company Secretary and Ethics & Compliance Officer at Suez. She also worked with Sanspareils Greenlands, as their Legal Counsel and Company Secretary.
Pooja is credited for setting up legal departments and spearheading the legal and risk processes for complex projects and transactions. She has also handled issues related to data privacy, contract and competition laws, labour and employment laws, contract management, litigation and arbitration matters.
“She truly believes passionate work coupled with strong ethics and integrity shows and creates a positive influence and impact.”
She believes General Counsels have to be ready for a continuous journey of learning and unlearning. Sound business knowledge and understanding of organisation’s culture and strategy is key. In-house lawyers have to operate as business partners and business enablers adopting a solution-oriented approach. Adaptability to change, resilience and proactive approach while providing sound legal advice and highlighting the risks is crucial. One would also need to focus on building relationships, stakeholder management, creating visibility of the In-house Legal department so that lawyers can connect at various levels of the organisation to bring about legal awareness.
She continually uses her authentic skills and expertise and proactively shares her opinions to evolve as a seasoned leader. With an objective approach, she has remained focussed on building a reputation of action and integrity. She inspires and empowers her team to enhance and augment their legal expertise to upscale with the changing business needs.
