Legal Counsel in Wheathampstead

Based in St Albans / 50% WFH Permanent. We’re one of Britain’s biggest food companies with a broad stable of leading brands which you can find in around 94% of British households and a growing number of international markets. We are listed on the UK Stock Exchange, have annual revenues in excess of £1bn and employ over 4,000 colleagues across our 14 locations.

The UK Business Unit is responsible for developing our portfolio of leading brands in the following key categories: Flavourings & Seasonings, Cooking Sauces & Accompaniments, Quick Meals & Soups, Ambient desserts, Sweet Treats. The International Business Unit focuses on developing new markets for our brands around the world, including key strategic markets in Australia, USA, Ireland, the Middle East, South Africa and Canada.

The Role: The Legal and Secretarial Department’s role is to ensure that Premier Foods plc, and its subsidiaries, comply with their legal, regulatory and corporate governance obligations. This is a small central team that is highly-regarded, impactful and moves with pace and has a focus on business partnering. The job offers a great opportunity to gain a wide variety of experience in the domestic and international markets. We will provide support for continued development of your legal skills.

What we need from you:

• Admitted as a solicitor in England (or an equivalent international qualification) – ideally NQ‑4 PQE.
• Must thrive and enjoy working in a fast moving environment.
• Ideally Procurement experience.
• Must act in a professional manner at all times.
• Must be proactive, show initiative, with a hands‑on attitude.
• Must be able to multi‑task and instinctively deal with a wide range of contacts (internal colleagues, external suppliers, key stakeholders).
• Will have high standards and attention to detail and continually seek a better way to do things.
• Well‑developed verbal and written communication skills.

What you’ll be doing:

• Commercial Drafting, reviewing and negotiating a variety of legal documents (NDAs, letters of variation, extensions, procurement contracts, sales contracts, distribution agreements, terms and conditions of sale and purchase, letters of termination, etc.).
• Provide advice to the commercial teams on interpretation of contracts with a view to delivering the desired Premier position.
• Marketing and Advertising Review product packaging and liaise with the brand and regulatory teams, as necessary, to ensure compliance.
• Draft and review promotional terms and conditions and advertisements for legal compliance, creating solutions to change advertisements as needed to ensure compliance with the Code of Advertising Practice and other relevant laws.
• Compliance Support the implementation and ongoing monitoring of Premier’s compliance programme including Competition, Anti‑Bribery, Sanctions and Data Protection laws.
• Organise and create training materials, monitor attendance and spot compliance issues, answering questions raised by the business.
• Intellectual Property Draft NDAs / review NDAs received from third parties.
• Undertake trade‑mark clearance searches for UK and internationally, including assessing when external counsel is required for full clearance searches and managing external counsel.
• Review trade‑mark watch notices and escalates any potential issues to the relevant member of the legal team.
• Handle ad‑hoc queries from the International team on what trade‑marks we have registered and where.
• Draft letters of consent to use our brands.
• Draft trade‑mark licences.

What we offer you in return: Competitive salary, Car allowance, Bonus, Up to 7.5% pension, Life assurance, Wide range of online and in‑house training, Access to an employee discount scheme with hundreds of nationwide retailers.

Ready to apply? Click apply, submit an up‑to‑date CV tailored to this opportunity. We look forward to hearing from you.

At Premier Foods we believe in inclusion, authenticity and individuality. We aim to ensure all existing and future colleagues are given equitable opportunities and are respected, valued and encouraged to bring their true authentic selves to work no matter who they are, what they look like, who they love or what they believe in. Our culture is one where everyone is welcome.