LexisNexis® WOMEN TO WATCH 2023

Doris Chen

Senior Legal Director, Head of Legal APAC & India

Firmenich

Doris Chen has defied gender norms in a patriarchal environment and attained extraordinary achievements through diligence and perseverance. Doris started her career as a Legal Associate in Beiten Burkhardt Shanghai Office in 2006, and she was later seconded to GE Consumer & Industrial as China Counsel in 2009. In 2017, Doris joined Firmenich as a Legal Director. In just 5 years, she has risen through the ranks to become a Senior Legal Director and Head of Legal for APAC & India with 5 subordinates. Doris is recently nominated to join the company’s Group Senior Leadership Team which consists of the top 150 employees across the globe. In 2022, Doris led an incredibly complicated acquisition project for the company in China and closed a majority stake in April. This has enabled the company to open up new avenues of growth in its most strategic market in the world. The project showcases Doris’s ability to handle complex regulatory and compliance gaps between the industry standards in China and Europe.

Doris is also passionate about nurturing her team members. She is well aware of their personalities and this knowledge is important in the formation of her management styles. Doris believes that leadership is about developing people based on their own objectives by offering sincere suggestions. In 2022, Doris won an Outstanding Influence Award from LAW DO. AWARDS. This annual ceremony initiated by WeLegal recognises corporate legal talents who have demonstrated a professional influence in the industry and have played an important role in developing talents.

In her private life, Doris is very enthusiastic about giving back to the community and helping other people. She has been supporting less fortunate students in rural areas in China for more than 15 years. Doris also participated in a programme to support refugee children’s education in Malaysia.