Senior Legal Counsel

NEW LOOK; London; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading fashion brand in the UK is seeking a Senior Legal Counsel to join their dynamic legal team in London. This role involves managing key contracts, providing strategic legal advice across various business areas, and supervising junior members. The position offers a hybrid working model and a range of benefits including a generous staff discount and enhanced family policies.

Benefits

40% staff discount for employee and a loved one

Contributory private pension scheme

Profit-related bonus scheme

AXA Private Medical Scheme

Extra paid day off on birthday

Buy more holiday scheme

Free breakfast

Qualifications

• Approximately 8 years post-qualification experience.
• Significant in-house experience, ideally within retail or FMCG.
• Strong expertise in commercial contract law and intellectual property.

Responsibilities

• Draft, review, and negotiate a wide range of commercial agreements.
• Advise on compliance with relevant laws and regulations.
• Manage two direct reports, providing guidance on commercial and IP workloads.

Skills

Stakeholder management

Negotiation

Communication

Education

Qualified Solicitor

Job description

We're the feel-good fashion brand making style accessible and fun for over 55 years, on our website, mobile app and over 300 stores in the UK. By living our values - we play to win, customer obsessed, we are one and it starts with me - we deliver That New Look Feeling for our customers and each other.

The Role:

Join Our Dynamic Legal Team!

Are you a qualified Solicitor with approximately 8 years of post-qualification and management experience, ready to embrace a new challenge in a fun, fast-paced environment? We have an exciting opportunity for a Senior Legal Counsel to join our support centre in London on a 12month maternity FTC. This role offers a hybrid working model and reports directly to our General Counsel & Company Secretary.

As a trusted Senior Legal Counsel, you will advise and support various areas of the business, including ecommerce, marketing, procurement, customer service, BMD, and property teams. You will work on key complex contracts, transactions, and projects, and lead as a legal advisor on large and complex projects. Additionally, you will manage two direct reports, providing guidance and support on their commercial and IP workloads.

Being part of the New Look Team means you get access to a great range of benefits & perks ...

You'll *love* our generous staff discount - 40% off for you and a loved one, and 25% off for up to 12 friends and family members!

Get special access to hundreds of discounts from top retailers and gyms, along with free workout classes, on our rewards platform Runway.

Plan for you retirement while you work with our contributory private pension scheme.

We're all about celebrating our success, so we have a profit-related bonus scheme.

Our family-friendly policies include enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave, and share parental leave.

Receive quick access to consultations and treatments with AXA Private Medical Scheme, paid for by us.

Big trip on the cards? Unlock extra leave with our buy more holiday scheme.

Celebrate YOU! Enjoy an extra paid day off on your birthday each year.

Do your bit for the environment and save money with our Cycle2Work scheme.

Spread the cost of your commute with interest-free season ticket loans.

Running late? No worries, enjoy a free breakfast on us!

We're proud to partner with the Retail Trust and Fashion & Textile Children's Trust

Please note - these benefits and perks are non-contractual and may be changed from time to time.

What you'll be doing:

• Draft, review, and negotiate a wide range of commercial agreements.
• Provide strategic legal advice on branding and marketing materials.
• Support procurement, retail, and marketing teams with contract development and compliance.
• Oversee brand protection strategy including trademark portfolio management, enforcement of the New Look brand and third-party infringement claims.
• Advise on copyright, design rights, domain names, and trade secrets.
• Provide legal advisory services to all areas of the business on a variety of matters including competitions and promotions, advertising compliance, consumer law matters, dispute resolution, contract terminations/renewals etc.
• Ensure compliance with relevant laws and regulations.
• Collaborate with various teams to embed IP considerations from concept to execution.
• Manage external counsel on disputes, litigation, and specialist IP matters.
• Support the company governance framework and assist with company secretarial work.

Other Responsibilities:

• Managing upwards, keeping the General Counsel and other Commercial Solicitors in the team informed about important issues and be able to present clearly and precisely, enabling others to understand the key facts and issues.
• Provide training on relevant legal issues.
• Coordinate projects and manage external law firms.
• Working closely with other compliance related functions such as Data Privacy, Finance and HR where appropriate.

Who you are:

• Qualified Solicitor
• Approximately 8year PQE (level of PQE suggested, but we will consider applications from candidates with suitable experience with other levels of PQE)
• Significant in-house experience, ideally within retail, FMCG, or consumer brand environment
• Strong expertise in commercial contract law and intellectual property
• Excellent interpersonal and stakeholder management skills
• Excellent IT skills
• Excellent drafting, negotiating and communication skills

Desired Attributes

• Excellent technical skills across the full remit commercial and IP law
• Previous experience of managing junior members of a team
• Personable and confident, able to build relationships with partners / key stakeholders
• Resilient and calm under pressure. Adaptable and flexible approach.
• Ability to take responsibility and act autonomously with minimal supervision
• Commercially astute, pragmatic, and solutions-oriented
• Excellent organisational skills - ability to plan, organise and prioritise tasks and projects
• Ability to work under pressure, to prioritise tasks and manage deadlines
• Innovative, proactive and able to respond creatively and effectively in offering solutions whilst managing expectations
• Commercial awareness and ability to produce innovative and cost-effective legal solutions
• A high degree of professionalism and willingness to constructively challenge the status quo

Why New Look?

We care about you and the planet and believe fashion should be a force for positive change. We celebrate inclusion and diversity in everything we do. We're proud of our inclusive culture and our talented team members who embrace our shared purpose, behaviours and values.

We prioritise development, offering training to support your progression, so you can be your absolute best and achieve your goals.

We pride ourselves on being a flexible employer, our colleagues work a range of patterns. If you have a specific pattern in mind, we're keen to discuss this with you in line with the output needed for the role.

Please ensure that your CV is in simple format e.g. Microsoft Word when applying using your CV to ensure smooth application process