With prestigious in-house experience spanning multiple industries, Fiona Gumede served on Coca-Cola’s 2010 World Cup project team and established current employer Engen’s group-level legal function. Gumede also sits on Engen’s executive management team.

‘My role is right in the boardroom’, she says. ‘Legal is not only part of the decision-making, we also influence strategy’. Praised for her diplomacy, resourcefulness and technical flair, she has also championed diversity during her time at Engen. Like many corporate counsel in the region, she is quick to point out the difficulties of keeping up with the rapid pace of regulatory change.

‘The challenge is to strike a balance between ensuring that the business complies with legislation and creating an enabling environment for the business to achieve its objectives’, Gumede says. ‘We have developed a compliance framework, processes and programs to assist business in responding to these requirements in a proactive manner’. When it comes to outside counsel, she believes “value-adding services” such as training should be offered free of charge. She has introduced a “tiered approach” to panel selection, to facilitate selecting the right firm with the right expertise for each instruction.