Legal Counsel

Summary: Our client in the FMCG industry is seeking a Legal Counsel Operations professional for a contract role focused on providing legal support for a specific programme. The position involves engaging with legal teams, managing contracts, ensuring compliance, and collaborating with various stakeholders. The ideal candidate will have strong commercial contracts experience and the ability to operate independently in a fast-paced environment. This role is dedicated to a project with limited flexibility to support the wider Ops Legal team.

Key Responsibilities:

• Engage with regional and local legal teams to assess legal and regulatory implications of proposed supplier changes
• Support consistent interpretation of legal constraints raised by markets
• Drive alignment across jurisdictions while allowing for local requirements
• Support re-opening and amendment of existing supplier contracts, including payment term changes
• Provide legal input into contractual mechanisms (amendments, variations, side letters)
• Review and support development of standardised contractual approaches and templates
• Maintain oversight of contract changes, legal sign-offs and key issues
• Track progress against programme timelines and escalate delays or risks
• Support reporting into programme governance forums
• Identify and manage key legal risks, including local law/payment term restrictions, contract enforceability, and supplier engagement risks
• Ensure compliance with governance frameworks such as UKCAP and SoDA
• Partner with Procurement, Finance and programme leadership
• Support development of supplier communication strategies and negotiation positions
• Act as a pragmatic legal advisor within a fast-paced programme environment

Key Skills:

• Qualified lawyer (or equivalent professional experience)
• Strong commercial contracts experience, ideally within procurement or supply chain
• Experience managing multi-jurisdictional legal matters
• Ability to operate independently with minimal supervision
• Strong stakeholder engagement and communication skills
• Experience supporting global transformation or cost optimisation programmes
• Familiarity with indirect procurement and supplier contracting models
• Highly organised with strong tracking and delivery discipline
• Pragmatic, solutions-oriented and commercially focused
• Comfortable operating in a high-profile, fast-paced global project
• Collaborative and able to work across functional and geographic boundaries

Salary (Rate): £600.00 Daily

City: Southampton

Country: UK

Working Arrangements: undetermined

IR35 Status: undetermined

Seniority Level: undetermined

Industry: Other

Detailed Description From Employer:

Our client, a prominent player in the FMCG industry, is currently seeking a Legal Counsel Operations professional to join their team on a contract basis. This role is focused on providing dedicated legal support on a specific programme.

Key Responsibilities:

Legal Coordination (Global & Markets)

• Engage with regional and local legal teams to assess legal and regulatory implications of proposed supplier changes
• Support consistent interpretation of legal constraints raised by markets
• Drive alignment across jurisdictions while allowing for local requirements

Contracting & Commercial Support

• Support re-opening and amendment of existing supplier contracts, including payment term changes
• Provide legal input into contractual mechanisms (amendments, variations, side letters)
• Review and support development of standardised contractual approaches and templates

Programme Tracking & Governance

• Maintain oversight of contract changes, legal sign-offs and key issues
• Track progress against programme timelines and escalate delays or risks
• Support reporting into programme governance forums

Risk & Compliance

• Identify and manage key legal risks, including local law/payment term restrictions, contract enforceability, and supplier engagement risks
• Ensure compliance with governance frameworks such as UKCAP and SoDA

Stakeholder Engagement

• Partner with Procurement, Finance and programme leadership
• Support development of supplier communication strategies and negotiation positions
• Act as a pragmatic legal advisor within a fast-paced programme environment

Job Requirements:

Essential Skills & Experience

• Qualified lawyer (or equivalent professional experience)
• Strong commercial contracts experience, ideally within procurement or supply chain
• Experience managing multi-jurisdictional legal matters
• Ability to operate independently with minimal supervision
• Strong stakeholder engagement and communication skills

Desirable Skills & Experience

• Experience supporting global transformation or cost optimisation programmes
• Familiarity with indirect procurement and supplier contracting models

Personal Attributes:

• Highly organised with strong tracking and delivery discipline
• Pragmatic, solutions-oriented and commercially focused
• Comfortable operating in a high-profile, fast-paced global project
• Collaborative and able to work across functional and geographic boundaries

Additional Information:

• Contract role to end-2027
• Dedicated to a Project (primary focus), with limited flexibility to support wider Ops Legal team if required

If you are a qualified legal professional seeking a dynamic role within a global organisation, we would love to hear from you.