Head of Legal, Retail: Pets at Home

Pets at Home Group Plc has taken the UK pet industry by storm. Established in 1991 it has grown to 440 stores with a turnover exceeding £777m. It has won numerous awards for its entrepreneurial achievements and is recognised as one of the Best Big Companies to work for by the Sunday Times and as no. 7 'Best Large Workplace' in Great Places to Work UK.

The company takes great pride in what it does and passionately believes work should be fun. Perhaps this is why it is the UK's number one pet retailer. Working as part of an 11 strong legal team you will report in to the Group Legal Director and Deputy Company Secretary and be responsible for the development, implementation and maintenance of the Group’s strategic approach to all legal aspects of the Retail Division across all markets and segments including PAH Asia and our insurance products.

Your key responsibilities will be as follows:

- Take a lead role in respect of all legal matters relating to the Retail Division, including the roll out of on-going or new trading initiatives (e.g. point of sale, digital marketing consents, customer relationship management strategy, contracts, advertising approvals).
- Lead the Group's compliance programme in relation to retail regulations including, regulations imposed by the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations, the Consumer Rights Act and any other retail and consumer legislation together with any regulatory requirements needed to operate a pet retailer; work closely with the relevant business functions, ensuring that senior management and other key stakeholders are appropriately involved and/or informed of progress and developments; develop and implement appropriate policies and training programmes to ensure the business operates in compliance with all applicable regulations.
- Draft and negotiate contracts and other transactional documents required to enable the performance and completion of the Retail Division strategy together with the on-going operation of the retail business.
- Work closely with the wider Group compliance initiatives through the Legal Director and Deputy Company Secretary (e.g. data protection, anti-bribery) to ensure a consistent and compliant approach across the Retail Division.
- Support the Retail Divisions' junior in-house lawyers, and efficiently and cost effectively manage the Retail Division's relationships with relevant external lawyers.
- Manage other projects and assignments as determined from time to time by the Legal Director and Deputy Company Secretary

To succeed you will be a bright and engaging individual with solid experience gained to date from either a leading private practice law firm or similar in-house environment. A background in corporate or commercial law would be ideal for this role. Key is an enthusiasm to learn about our business and have the commercial foresight to see the bigger commercial picture - not just the legal requirements. This is an outstanding opportunity for a lawyer to develop their career in a leading company and legal team.

In addition to a great career opportunity, Pets at Home is offering a market leading salary and package to include: Car Allowance, Share plan (10% of salary), up to 30% bonus and Pension.

Pets at Home has retained Mark Levine of BCL Legal to handle this recruitment assignment on an exclusive basis and all direct or third party applications will be forwarded to him for consideration.

To apply, please email your CV, together with details of your current or most recent basic salary and package to Mark Levine.

PQE levels are purely for guidance

If you're interested in this role, please apply now or forward an up-to-date copy of your CV, or call us.
If this job isn't quite right, please contact us for a confidential discussion on your career.

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BCL Legal is an equal opportunities employer.