Head of Legal

The Head of Legal is a management and delivery role responsible for the day-to-day running of the legal function. The role sits between the General Counsel and the wider legal team, providing the operational management layer that allows the function to deliver consistently, responsively and to a measurable standard. It is distinct from the General Counsel role, which retains strategic legal oversight, board-level risk management and executive advisory responsibilities.

The successful candidate will bring order, discipline and a clear service model to a function that currently lacks a dedicated management layer, and will act as the first point of escalation for the team and the business.

• Lead the day-to-day management of the legal team, including workload allocation, matter triage, prioritisation and tracking
• Own the UK, Prague and India operating model, including handoff discipline, escalation rules and cross-border coordination
• Provide people management for the team, including regular one-to-ones, coaching, performance monitoring and developmentand
• Act as the first escalation point for the team, resolving matters at the appropriate level and escalating only genuinely strategic matters to the General Counsel

 

STAKEHOLDER SERVICE:  
• Own stakeholder service delivery, including response standards, communication discipline and adherence to agreed service levels
• Maintain clear ownership of matters so that business stakeholders always know who is responsible for their request
• Build and sustain effective working relationships with business unit leads across Sales, Marketing, Professional Services, Finance and HR

 

EXTERNAL COUNSEL AND COST CONTROL :
• Manage and oversee external counsel spend, including instruction, oversight and cost management; and
• Operate a clear mandate and approval framework for matters referred externally, reducing unmanaged outsourcing
 
OPERATING DISCIPLINE AND IMPROVEMENT
• Own the matter tracker and feed the function's KPI dashboard, managing the team to agreed standards of responsiveness, quality and backlog health
• Implement and maintain intake standards, service tiers and triage rules
• Drive process improvements, template standardisation and legal operations discipline
• Execute legal risk controls, identify emerging risks and escalate them appropriately