British American Tobacco Vietnam - Legal & External Affairs
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Legal & External Affairs
Legal & External Affairs comprises of following sub-functions: Legal, Corporate Communications, Security, AIT and Government Affairs, playing an important role in the company business.
The legal team at BAT entities in Vietnam provides strategic advice and support in all fronts from corporate governance to marketing and regulatory compliance. Moreover, the opportunity to advise other markets in the East Asia Area (including Vietnam and Cambodia) and participate in cross-market working groups in the regional and global legal team enable the lawyers to build international/cross-market experience. This is part of the roadmap for you to become not only a great lawyer but also a great leader with a global career. With the industry’s complex legal environment , the Legal function at BAT in Vietnam presents many challenges that can stimulate your thinking and inspire you to constantly upgrade your knowledge and engagement skills.
In addition, experts in the Corporate Communications deal with key external stakeholders from media agencies to commercial organisations and other business partners on a daily basis. When working in these fields for BAT in Vietnam you will be challenged to raise the bar of your communications and engagement skills as well as strategic stakeholder management.
My career journey with BAT started over 16 years ago with amazing experience of various positions both within the country and market above. I joined BAT in 2007 as Senior Legal Counsel, Corporate Services for Vietnam, subsequently rotating to the role of Senior Legal Counsel, Marketing and Regulatory, and then I was promoted to the position of Head of Legal and External Affairs for Vietnam, before again promoted in 2018 to be the first Regional Head of Compliance for BAT’s Asia Pacific and Middle East and now, I’m the Head of Legal and External Affairs for Vietnam Cluster.
As the leader of the Legal and External Affairs function, I make decisions every day and many of them require boldness as they are often made in circumstance where regulations are incredibly vague, stringent constraints of compliance requirements must be satisfied with, or potential reaction from relevant stakeholders is either unclear or unknown. To confidently make any decision in such circumstances, it is very important for me to consider all inputs (both pros and cons) from relevant functions as well as the leadership team in order to analyse the concerns, constraints and ambiguity that could affect the decision outcome. Fortunately, this required support is always there as BAT employees are encouraged to openly share and contribute their views. Although I am anxious sometimes, the important thing is to take a decision and face the consequences. I know I will make mistakes from time to time but at the same time I also know BAT will allow me to learn from these mistakes and become stronger! This is better than avoiding or running away from making a decision as I will never know the outcome if I quit or don’t try.
One of the things I love about BAT is the encouragement and direction it provides to its employees for think thoroughly about their career development in the long term. This forces you to visualise your future path and continuously improve your skills to be ready to face upcoming obstacles as well as to grasp future opportunities. At BAT, you have to earn your rewards and it is you who must play the key role in your career development. From my years of experience, I could confidently say that if you are constantly improving and developing yourself, your career at BAT will take care of itself!
As the leader of the Legal and External Affairs function, I make decisions every day and many of them require boldness as they are often made in circumstance where regulations are incredibly vague, stringent constraints of compliance requirements must be satisfied with, or potential reaction from relevant stakeholders is either unclear or unknown. To confidently make any decision in such circumstances, it is very important for me to consider all inputs (both pros and cons) from relevant functions as well as the leadership team in order to analyse the concerns, constraints and ambiguity that could affect the decision outcome. Fortunately, this required support is always there as BAT employees are encouraged to openly share and contribute their views. Although I am anxious sometimes, the important thing is to take a decision and face the consequences. I know I will make mistakes from time to time but at the same time I also know BAT will allow me to learn from these mistakes and become stronger! This is better than avoiding or running away from making a decision as I will never know the outcome if I quit or don’t try.
One of the things I love about BAT is the encouragement and direction it provides to its employees for think thoroughly about their career development in the long term. This forces you to visualise your future path and continuously improve your skills to be ready to face upcoming obstacles as well as to grasp future opportunities. At BAT, you have to earn your rewards and it is you who must play the key role in your career development. From my years of experience, I could confidently say that if you are constantly improving and developing yourself, your career at BAT will take care of itself!
Do Hoang Anh – Head of Legal & External Affairs, Vietnam Cluster
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