Head of legal and Governance

Hartford Care Ltd.; Basingstoke; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Hartford Care Group is seeking a senior, standalone Legal & Governance Lead to own the group’s legal, governance and corporate compliance. This hands‑on role has no direct reports and will control contracts, company secretarial, insurance and data protection, with authority to challenge senior stakeholders.

You will oversee the contract register, overseeing entities, filings, and board approvals while coordinating external advisers and legal spend. The role reports to the CFO/Executive Team.

Qualifications

• Law degree or closely related qualification, or substantial senior legal/governance experience.
• Strong track record drafting, reviewing and negotiating commercial contracts with attention to risk.

Responsibilities

• Owns legal, governance and corporate compliance framework across all entities.
• Reviews and negotiates commercial, supplier, service and property-related agreements.
• Maintains contracts register with renewal dates, obligations and risk areas.
• Oversees legal entity structure, Companies House filings and board approvals.
• Manages disputes with external advisers and legal spend.
• Leads insurance governance including renewals and claims oversight.
• Acts as or supports the UK GDPR Data Protection Officer function.
• Supports governance policies and board/exec level reporting.
• Supports acquisitions, restructures and strategic projects.

Skills

Contract review & negotiation

Governance & compliance

Data protection (GDPR)

UK company & commercial law

Stakeholder challenge & risk awareness

Education

Law degree or equivalent

Job description

Hartford Care Group is creating a senior, standalone role to own legal, governance and corporate compliance across the Group. As Legal & Governance Lead you'll be the central point of control for contracts, company secretarial, insurance and data protection, and you'll have the authority to challenge senior stakeholders and stop commitments that haven't followed the right process. This is a hands‑on role with no direct reports and a lot of scope to put proper controls in place.

What you'll be doing

• Owning the Group's legal, governance and corporate compliance framework across all entities
• Controlling all material contracts and reviewing, drafting and negotiating commercial, supplier, service and property-related agreements
• Maintaining the Group contracts register, including obligations, renewal dates, termination provisions and risk areas
• Overseeing the legal entity structure, statutory registers, Companies House filings and Board approvals
• Managing disputes, claims and contentious matters through to resolution, and coordinating external advisers and legal spend
• Leading insurance governance, including renewals, claims oversight and coverage reviews
• Acting as the Group's Data Protection Officer and leading the UK GDPR and information governance framework
• Maintaining governance policies, delegated authorities and approval frameworks, and supporting the Board and Executive Team
• Reporting on legal, contract, claims, insurance, data protection and governance risks to the CFO and Executive Team
• Supporting acquisitions, restructures, refinancing and other strategic projects

What we're looking for

• A law degree or closely related qualification, or equivalent substantial senior legal, governance or company secretarial experience
• Strong experience of reviewing, drafting and negotiating commercial contracts and spotting material risk
• Demonstrable experience of corporate governance, Companies House requirements, statutory filings and legal entity management
• A strong grounding in UK company and commercial law, with experience of managing disputes and external counsel
• Working knowledge of UK GDPR and the confidence to act as, or support, the DPO function
• Insurance, claims or corporate risk experience (strongly preferred)
• Commercial judgement, independence and the credibility to challenge the CFO, CEO, Board and senior leaders
• High organisation, attention to detail, integrity and discretion with privileged and confidential information
• Comfort taking ownership of areas where records and controls may initially be incomplete