Legal Counsel (Corporate - M&A) 18 month contract

This is a dynamic and varied role reporting to the Senior Legal Counsel. It is dedicated to supporting the Senior Legal Counsel on transaction workflows, including assisting with transaction due diligence, reviewing DD reports, populating SPA/APA DD risk findings, managing external counsel, negotiating NDAs, drafting CoSec PoAs, and preparing board resolutions, to streamline deal execution. Additionally, the role assists commercial legal workflows, supporting Marketing and Innovation, Group Procurement, Group IT, and Global Accounts.

The successful candidate will work closely with other members of the Legal team in the UK and elsewhere, supporting key functions across the business under the guidance of senior counsel to ensure compliance and effective risk management.

The primary expectation is to attend the office in Crawley one day a week and occasional work from our London Bridge office.

Major Responsibilities:

• Act as a legal advisor across the Group, assisting senior team members in providing pragmatic legal advice and risk management across key business initiatives, specifically M&A and commercial.
• Support the Senior Legal Counsel on corporate and M&A transaction workflows, including due diligence, reviewing DD reports, populating SPA/APA risk findings, counsel engagement, NDAs, CoSec PoAs, and board resolutions.
• Assist in providing legal support to Group Commercial team on standard customer and supplier contracts, third party agreements product development support, marketing claims, and own brand products under supervision.
• Assist on AI regulation/governance and contracting for M&A and commercial. 
• Assist with the development and maintenance of templates and playbooks for M&A and commercial.
• Manage the legal intake process and provide initial support across incoming group requests.
• Conduct horizon scanning for new legislation, regulation, and case law impacting the function.
• Assist the team in managing and gathering support materials for commercial disputes and litigation.
• Support broader Group corporate matters, including corporate finance, HR, and property.

• Degree or equivalent from accredited institution; qualified and licensed to practice law in England and Wales.
• Trained at a well-known firm or in a major corporation’s in-house legal department.
• Experience in reviewing, revising, drafting and assisting in negotiating general commercial contracts required.
• A background in technology and/or product development would be advantageous as would experience working in other legal areas (e.g. M&A, litigation, competition etc.).
• Experience advising on intellectual property matters (such as managing intellectual property assets, including applications, registration, renewals & defence), data protection/privacy and AI is a definite advantage.  
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills across international markets and at all levels of seniority.
• In-house experience would be an advantage but not a requirement, as would international experience.