Negotiable
Undetermined
Hybrid
London, England, United Kingdom
Summary: The Head of Legal role is a 12-month fixed-term contract position within a global professional services business, aimed at leading the legal function during a maternity leave. The position is based in Central London and operates on a hybrid model, requiring two days a week in the office. The successful candidate will manage a diverse legal team and engage with senior stakeholders while overseeing compliance and strategic projects.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead the legal function during a maternity leave period.
- Manage and develop the legal team in the UK and internationally.
- Take the lead on key deals and provide day-to-day leadership to the team.
- Engage with Board level stakeholders and contribute to strategic projects.
- Ensure regulatory compliance and training across various areas.
- Manage the financial budget for the legal division.
- Oversee relationships with external law firms.
- Involve in hiring additional team members planned for 2026.
Key Skills:
- Accomplished commercial lawyer with ideally 15PQE+ experience.
- Experience as a General Counsel or Head of Legal managing a mid-size to large in-house legal team.
- Proactive mindset and empathetic style to assist the team with challenges.
Salary (Rate): undetermined
City: London
Country: United Kingdom
Working Arrangements: hybrid
IR35 Status: undetermined
Seniority Level: undetermined
Industry: Other
Professional services business with a global presence requires a Head of Legal for a 12 month period to lead the legal function during a period of maternity leave. The offices are based in Central London and this would be on a hybrid model (2 days/week in the office). You must be available to start by w/c December 8th. Unfortunately, at this stage, applicants requiring a January start date cannot be considered.
The team covers a broad-ranging workload including corporate M&A, franchising, regulatory, commercial, dispute resolution, crisis management, privacy, IP and much more besides. The Head of Legal will be in charge of managing and developing the legal function (both in the UK and internationally), taking the lead on key deals and providing day-to-day leadership to all members of the team. You will have the chance to engage with Board level stakeholders and provide your input into strategic projects and workstreams across the group.
You will be working closely with other leaders across the organisation to ensure regulatory compliance and training in a number of areas. The remit will also include managing the financial budget for the legal division, overseeing relationships with external law firms, and involvement in making a couple of additional hires that are planned for the team in 2026.
The successful candidate will be an accomplished commercial lawyer (ideally 15PQE+ but applications from all levels will be considered on merit), with experience as a General Counsel/Head of Legal managing a mid-size to large in-house legal team. This role requires an individual with a proactive mindset and empathetic style to be able to assist the team with whatever challenges they’re facing.
Robert Walters Operations Limited is an employment business and employment agency and welcomes applications from all candidates.