Legal Director - EIMEA

WD-40 Company (UK); Milton Keynes; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company seeks a legal expert to lead the EIMEA legal function, ensuring compliance with contracts, privacy, and governance. This role collaborates with global teams, manages legal risks, and oversees contract administration, contributing to the company's strategic objectives.

Benefits

Life-enhancing health programs

Generous pension contributions

Paid holidays

Additional paid week off between Christmas and New Year

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in commercial contract law.
• Experience leading a small internal legal team.

Responsibilities

• Leads EIMEA legal function ensuring compliance and governance.
• Acts as expert advisor for EIMEA contracts.
• Manages legal risk and compliance in the region.

Skills

Communication

Leadership

Education

Law degree from a recognized University

Job description

This role leads the EIMEA legal function. Ensuring that EIMEA’s legal requirements pertaining to contracts, privacy, intellectual property protection and maintenance, ethics and compliance (Code of Conduct) standards are managed and fully implemented, and that associated enterprise risks are mitigated. The position requires attention to good governance standards and compliance.

This role will be a key partner with other members of the global Legal team to provide legal advice for EIMEA and, as needed, global matters. This role will be a member of ETC (European leadership team) and will also work closely with all functions across EIMEA. Contribution impacts extend over

multiple years (3-10).

This role will lead EIMEA programs that involve complex interdependencies of support service firms, vendors and customers to ensure that objectives are met aligned with our company values. The role is responsible for prioritization of resources in the execution of the functions, so that truly material matters receive the appropriate allocation of time, talent and treasure, while still ensuring that less material matters are dealt with as efficiently as possible.

What You’ll Be Doing

Contracts

• Acts as the expert advisor for EIMEA contracts in negotiations to provide appropriate legal perspective and to prevent acceptance of undue risk.
• Leads and manages the regional contract administration programs.
• Establishes, implements and maintains contract templates, forms, and administration regionally.
• Collaborates with EIMEA trading bloc leaders and staff on the successful use of consistent contract content that meets legal and business needs.
• Independently and collaboratively drafts various complex agreements with internal stakeholders and external legal partners for all parts of the organization in support of their objectives, including sales agreements, strategic supply agreements, collaboration/joint venture agreements, IT agreements, co-marketing agreements and term sheets.
• Assists regional offices with contract analysis, assessment of risk and decision-making as to the need for local outside counsel support.
• Directly and indirectly leads internal legal, contract, and administration team members in the support and execution of contracts required by the regional business.
• In consultation with coach, oversees appropriate use of outside counsel, including limited engagements with international firms retained regionally for contract drafting, negotiation and review functions.
• Partners with our Corporate Legal team and other Regional Legal teams to ensure we have a consistent global approach in the way we work with our sales teams.

Company Secretary

• Performs all required Company Secretary duties for the UK Limited Companies including annual disclosures and resolutions.
• Serves as Company Secretary for UK entities and oversees corporate governance matters relating to UK and EU entities and branches.

Ethics and Compliance Oversight

• Responsible for maintenance of the company’s ethics and compliance program (Code of Conduct, anti-corruption, third party risk, etc.) to ensure it is relevant, current and embraced regionally.
• Leads internal and vendor-provided education and compliance programs regionally, as needed.
• Manages legal risk and ensure compliance with legal and regulatory compliance requirements in our geographies, working in partnership with external counsel as necessary.

Privacy

• Works with external privacy counsel to ensure compliance throughout the EIMEA region.
• Advises executives, leaders and others on data protection and data privacy regulations and compliance.
• Ensures applicable data processing measures, consents, and impact assessments are implemented.
• Manages and negotiates data processing agreements and templates.

Other

• Serves as a member of the ETC executive leadership team. Collaborates with executive team in the advising, guiding, and decision making behind short and long term strategy development, planning and prioritization.
• Provides support for strategic activities, leadership and planning for functional and enterprise-wide risk management to include design, recommendation, implementation, documentation and maintenance of risk management programs that considers business continuity risk, financial statement risk and other significant risks.
• Provides support for mergers and acquisition transactions, as needed.
• Builds and leads the EIMEA legal function, assessing hiring and development needs that will enable us to grow in the future.
• Provides advice internally on employment matters in collaboration with HR and external counsel. Responsible for reporting employment related litigations risks and actions.
• Develops and leads training programs to ensure trading bloc is aware and compliant with applicable legal policies, procedures, and regulations.
• Collaborates with business leaders in EIMEA to ensure compliance with Anti-Trust and competition legislation.
• Manages and plans for EIMEA Legal primary budget. Obtains and allocates resources required within established budgets, including overseeing vendor selection process.
• In coordination with Global Brand Protection team, assists with maintenance and protection of company’s intellectual property and IP portfolio in EIMEA, including trademark and patent prosecution, prevention and litigation of IP counterfeiting, infringement and theft to protect brand equity; oversees the local managing law firm, investigation firms, and EIMEA wide employees towards the objective of carrying out the company’s brand protection strategy.
• In coordination with Global Brand Protection team, engages with regional marketing, R&D team. QA team and with outside counsel in assuring appropriate use of product claims and serves as secondary reviewer of regional artwork, labeling, packaging and branding elements that relate to trademarks, copyrights, trade dress and related intellectual property.

Leadership: Demonstrates servant leadership in the attainment of corporate, department and personal goals through developing and leading a highly effective team. Lives the Company’s stated Values and Code of Conduct that others can emulate. Provides ongoing coaching/training, experiential learning, and talent development plans to optimize performance outcomes, growth, and engagement. Identify and provide necessary resources and information to overcome barriers to success and accomplish goals. Performs other related activities as needed to support corporate objectives. Acts in the best interest of the company by applying stated company values/code of conduct and acting in congruence to company strategies and priorities.

What You’ll Bring To The Role

• Law degree obtained in a European jurisdiction (preferably a UK jurisdiction) from an internationally recognized University/law school.
• Ongoing professional education as required to maintain the license to practice, plus business-related educational seminars and/or coursework.
• Extensive progressively responsible and varied post-graduate legal experience.
• Extensive experience in commercial contract law inclusive of global in scope.
• Experience leading small internal legal team while partnering with external counsel.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively and efficiently on complex matters, in written, verbal and presentation media.
• Broad experience in a multi-national, public corporation environment, either as in-house counsel, or external counsel.

Total Rewards

Our competitive and comprehensive benefits package provides you protection, security, and peace of mind. We offer life-enhancing health, wellness, and financial programs, including profit incentive rewards, healthcare, generous pension contributions. In addition, we want you to recharge and take time off, so enjoy short-day Fridays, paid holidays, and an additional paid week off between Christmas and New year to spend with family and friends!

About Us

At WD-40 Company, we believe that purpose-driven and values guided people create amazing outcomes. Our "why" is refreshingly simple - we exist to create positive lasting memories in everything we do.

Why You Should Apply

• A strong values-aligned organization where contributions are acknowledged and rewarded, and where 91% experiences a sense of belonging.
• A learning-based culture where 85% of our people believe they can achieve their career objectives .
• Over 94% employee engagement as of the Februrary 2025 global employee survey results.
• 99% of our people report that they “love to tell people that they work for WD-40 Company”!

Please, only consider employment with WD-40 Company if you feel as strongly about our values as we do: We live, breathe, and play by our values every day.

Thank you for considering WD-40 Company in your career search!

#PositiveLastingMemories

At WD-40 Company we foster a culture of inclusion where all individuals are recognized, valued, respected, and experience a sense of belonging. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to individual characteristics that make us unique such as our backgrounds, experiences, qualities, talents, traits, beliefs, and preferences.