General Counsel

Position: General Counsel – Europe

Location: London, United Kingdom

About the Company

Our client is one of the world's leading retail companies, publicly listed on the

NASDAQ

stock exchange, with a strong global presence across North America, Europe, Asia, and other international markets. Renowned for its customer-centric approach, operational excellence, and continued investment in innovation and growth, the company is committed to delivering exceptional value to its customers while upholding the highest standards of corporate governance, ethics, and compliance.

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced and commercially minded General Counsel to lead the legal function across Europe. Based in London, this executive leadership role will provide strategic legal counsel to the European leadership team and partner closely with the Global Legal organization to support the company's continued growth and operations across the region.

The General Counsel will oversee all legal, compliance, corporate governance, and regulatory matters across Europe while leading a high-performing legal team located throughout the region. This role will serve as a trusted advisor to senior executives, balancing legal risk with commercial objectives and ensuring the business operates in full compliance with applicable laws and regulations. The successful candidate will possess deep expertise in international commercial law, exceptional leadership capabilities, and a pragmatic, business-oriented approach to legal counsel.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Legal Leadership

• Serve as the principal legal advisor to the European leadership team on all legal, regulatory, and strategic business matters.
• Develop and execute the regional legal strategy aligned with the company's global business objectives.
• Partner with senior executives on strategic initiatives, market expansion, acquisitions, corporate restructurings, and transformation projects.
• Provide practical, commercially focused legal advice while effectively managing legal and regulatory risk.

Commercial \& Corporate Legal

• Lead the negotiation, drafting, and management of complex commercial agreements, including supplier, logistics, procurement, technology, licensing, marketing, distribution, and strategic partnership contracts.
• Support mergers \& acquisitions, joint ventures, investments, corporate reorganizations, and post-acquisition integrations.
• Oversee corporate governance matters for all European legal entities and ensure compliance with local statutory requirements.

Compliance \& Regulatory

• Ensure compliance with applicable European and local laws, including corporate, commercial, consumer protection, competition, employment, ESG, anti-bribery, sanctions, and data privacy regulations.
• Lead GDPR and broader privacy compliance initiatives across Europe.
• Develop and maintain robust compliance programs, policies, governance frameworks, and ethics processes.
• Monitor regulatory developments and advise the business on emerging legal risks.

Litigation \& Risk Management

• Manage significant litigation, arbitration, regulatory investigations, and disputes across Europe.
• Oversee relationships with external legal counsel and optimize legal spend.
• Develop strategies to minimize legal exposure while supporting business growth.

Employment \& HR Support

• Advise HR and business leaders on employment law matters, executive hiring, workforce restructurings, investigations, labor relations, and employee disputes across multiple jurisdictions.

Leadership

• Lead, mentor, and develop a geographically dispersed legal team across Europe.
• Foster a collaborative, high-performance culture focused on business partnership and continuous improvement.
• Build strong relationships with executive leadership, business stakeholders, and global legal colleagues.

Qualifications

• Qualified Solicitor, Barrister, or equivalent legal qualification in the UK or another European jurisdiction.
• Law degree (LLB or equivalent); postgraduate legal qualifications are advantageous.
• Minimum 15 years of post-qualification legal experience, including significant in-house leadership experience within a multinational organization.
• Previous experience as General Counsel, Regional General Counsel, Deputy General Counsel, or Head of Legal covering multiple European jurisdictions.
• Experience within retail, consumer products, e-commerce, FMCG, or another customer-facing multinational business is strongly preferred.

Experience \& Competencies

• Extensive experience managing complex cross-border legal matters across Europe.
• Strong expertise in commercial contracts, corporate law, regulatory compliance, employment law, data privacy, competition law, M\&A, and dispute resolution.
• Proven ability to advise Boards and executive leadership on strategic legal and commercial matters.
• Demonstrated success leading international legal teams within a matrix organization.
• Outstanding commercial judgment with a pragmatic, solutions-oriented mindset.
• Excellent negotiation, communication, stakeholder management, and influencing skills.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, highly regulated, multinational environment.

What We Offer

• Opportunity to join one of the world's leading NASDAQ-listed retail companies.
• Executive leadership role with significant regional and global exposure.
• Collaborative international environment with exceptional career growth opportunities.
• Competitive executive compensation package, comprehensive benefits, and long-term incentive opportunities.