Legal Counsel

Legal Counsel (Part-Time) – Thorne (Hybrid) 

Salary: Equivalent to circa £50k pro rata for 3 days per week + Car Allowance 

Flexible working pattern – 3 to 4 full days per week or 5 shorter days (minimum 25 hours per week) but please speak to us about your availability.

We’re looking for an experienced and commercially focused Legal Counsel to join our team on a part-time basis. Whether you prefer 3 to 4 full days a week or 5 shorter days (e.g. 5 hours per day), we’re happy to offer flexibility that suits your lifestyle. Ideally, you’ll be available on Tuesdays and Fridays, but working days and hours can be agreed to fit around the right person.

This is a great opportunity for a qualified solicitor with broad commercial experience who’s looking for variety, autonomy, and the chance to contribute to a fast-paced and growing manufacturing business.

About the Role

Reporting to the Head of Legal, you’ll provide expert legal support across a wide range of areas including commercial contracts, procurement, property, disputes, intellectual property, compliance, and data protection. You’ll work closely with senior leaders and operational teams to enable informed decision-making, manage legal risk, and support strategic and day-to-day activity across the group.

Key Responsibilities

• Drafting, reviewing and negotiating a wide range of commercial agreements including customer, supplier and confidentiality contracts.
• Advising on procurement and operational matters to ensure contractual and legal risks are properly managed.
• Supporting property-related transactions and liaising with external legal partners.
• Managing or advising on commercial disputes, including customer claims and supplier issues.
• Providing guidance on intellectual property protection, including trademarks and product design.
• Advising on data protection matters and supporting internal stakeholders to ensure compliance with UK GDPR and other privacy legislation.
• Contributing to wider legal governance by reviewing policies, supporting compliance initiatives, and delivering legal training as needed.

About You

• Qualified solicitor (UK) with at least 5 years’ PQE, ideally from a commercial or in-house environment.
• Strong commercial contracts experience with a practical, business-focused mindset.
• Comfortable managing a broad range of legal work independently.
• Experience across areas such as IP, property, data protection, and disputes.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to explain legal issues clearly to non-legal stakeholders.
• Organised and proactive with a flexible, can-do approach.

Why Join Us?

At The Compleat Food Group we’re on a mission to create tasty food that’s better for people and the planet — we call it ‘Food to Feel Good’.

We pride ourselves on being a business that gives equal emphasis to HOW we operate as well as the financial results we achieve.

Our 6000 (and growing) fantastic people make this possible. They are passionate about creating delicious products for UK consumers, leading retailers, and our exciting, market-leading brands, including Wall’s Pastry, Vadasz, Squeaky Bean, and Unearthed.

Benefits to Include:

• 33 Days annual leave (pro rata)
• 2 Employee Volunteering Days per year
• Online and High-street retailer discount scheme 
• Employee well-being and community support groups
• Informal and Formal training opportunities with personalised online LMS platform
• Charity Initiatives and Team events
• 24/7 Access to Grocery Aid (Free Financial, Emotional and Practical Support)
• Physical Wellbeing Benefits – Free on demand exercise hub and various gym discounts.
• Online Wellbeing benefits
• Free Financial wellbeing – mortgage calculators, budget tools, financial aid tools
• Holiday Discounts via Online Retail Discount

Ready to make a Compleat impact, and continue your professional career?

Apply today to join a company where your expertise will be valued, and your contribution will make a real difference to our fast growing manufacturing business.

The Compleat Food Group are proud to have built an inclusive and respectful culture where our colleagues feel safe, supported and valued. A place where they can bring their whole selves to work to achieve exceptional results and thrive. We continue to attract diverse talent into our teams, because we know greater diversity leads to exceptional results and provides a better working life. That’s why we’re committed to ensuring Fairness, Equity, Inclusivity, and Respect in all that we do. 

Recruitment Agencies We have an active and trusted Preferred Supplier List to assist us if required. We do not acknowledge any speculative CVs or unsolicited candidate introductions from agencies.