Shabir Chandio

Strategic and results-driven Senior In-House Counsel and Corporate Affairs Executive with over 12 years of experience leading legal operations, international litigation, global M&A, and regulatory compliance across the FMCG and pharmaceutical sectors. Proven track record of managing multi-million-dollar cross-border disputes, establishing enterprise compliance frameworks, and advising C-suite executives on commercial, trade, and employee relations risks. Strategic partner adept at aligning legal operations with commercial objectives across domestic and international markets.

Head of Legal & Corporate Affairs at Shan Foods (Pvt) Limited (2020-09 – Present)

• Executive Leadership: Serve on the Extended Leadership Team (ELT), advising C-suite leadership on strategic business decisions, commercial risk mitigation, and enterprise legal policies.
• Global Legal & IP Operations: Direct contracts, corporate litigation, intellectual property, and regulatory affairs across Pakistan, GCC, KSA, USA, Canada, ANZ, and Emerging Markets.
• High-Stakes Multi-Million Dollar Litigation:
• California Prop 65 Victory: Successfully defended the company in California (USA) Proposition 65 litigation, protecting the enterprise from $3.4M in potential fines with zero compensation paid.
• Ontario Canada Litigation: Secured total defense victory in Ontario (Canada) litigation, saving $2M CAD with zero payout.
• AML & Criminal Inquiries: Defended enterprise integrity against Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) investigations, including anti-money laundering (AML) inquiries, maintaining clean corporate regulatory standing.
• M&A & Social Audits: Led legal due diligence for potential acquisition targets (including Shan Foods, Unilever, and Nestlé asset reviews) and directed international social compliance audits for major retail global buyers including Target, Walmart, and Costco.
• Regulatory & Industrial Policy: Conceptualized an industry-wide Regulatory Laws Tracker; co-founded and served as Executive Member/Treasurer for the Pakistan Association of Food Industries (PAFI), leading the drafting and advocacy of federal food legislation.

Senior Manager – Legal & Corporate Affairs at Shan Foods (Pvt) Limited (2020-01 – 2020-08)

• Risk Advisory: Managed legal functions across risk assessment, advisory, litigation oversight, and process improvement to align corporate governance with national statutory standards.
• Internal Investigations: Led high-risk internal investigations into fraud and employee misconduct, establishing legally defensible outcomes and updating internal HR protocols.

Manager – Legal at Shan Foods (Pvt) Limited (2016-09 – 2019-12)

• Regulatory Compliance: Oversaw international and local regulatory compliance, litigation, contract drafting, and IP portfolios with zero adverse regulatory findings during tenure.
• Industry Representation: Represented organizational interests across key industry forums including the Pakistan Business Council (PBC), KATI, and ACIF.
• Employee Relations: Restructured the Industrial Relations (IR) and Employee Relations (ER) frameworks to enforce full labor law compliance and mitigate workforce disputes.

Manager – Legal at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Pakistan Limited (2015-07 – 2016-08)

• Mergers & Joint Ventures: Spearheaded the local execution of the global GSK and Novartis Joint Venture—one of the largest JV transactions in pharmaceutical history.
• Corporate Restructuring: Executed M&A transactions including the BMS & Stifel integrations, the sale of the Animal Health Division, and the corporate restructuring of the GSK Consumer Healthcare Division into an independent legal entity.
• Anti-Bribery Frameworks: Designed and implemented an enterprise Anti-Bribery & Corruption Framework aligned with the UK Bribery Act 2010. Managed distributorship governance, trade control systems, and parallel export prevention protocols.

Record Retention Officer & Record Champion at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Pakistan Limited / HRSG (2006-01 – 2015-07)

• Project Leadership: Directed the Legal Department’s Record Retention Project ahead of schedule; drafted comprehensive SOPs, contract vetting frameworks, and document retention policies.

Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) – University of Karachi (2014)

Master of Business Administration (MBA) – PAF-KIET (2009)

Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) – Shah Abdul Latif University (1997)