Interim Head of Legal – Retail/Commercial (Maternity Cover)

The role and what success looks like

We are looking for a Head of Legal to be responsible for partnering with and providing legal and risk management expertise to ASOS’ Retail/Commercial community. This is a high impact, commercially focused role – and you will be the most senior Retail/Commercial lawyer at ASOS.

The Legal Retail/Commercial division covers a lot of ground, and it can only do that by being flexible, adaptable and agile. You’ll need to be technically excellent, hands on and commercially minded, with a strong professional ethic, and the energy, interest and training to pursue a huge array of matters. ASOS is fast paced, so all employees also need to be able to cope with change pretty quickly, be enthused and excited about what’s around the corner for us, and able to take a step back and plot realistic timescales. To win our 1,000+ strong Retail/Commercial Team over, you’ll need to speak their language and move as quickly as them. You will need the ability to make quick, confident, commercial calls, at all times in the ASOS tone of voice.

You will be helping to ensure that the Legal Department meets the needs and requirements of all elements of ASOS’ business across the globe. It requires the ability to give pragmatic commercial as well as legal advice, to operate comfortably and effectively in many different jurisdictions, and to promptly identify risks and issues for escalation to appropriate senior stakeholders.

Responsibilities

There are several key elements to the role.

Retail/Commercial Function:

Working with our B&M, ethical sourcing and technical teams, you will, in particular, be required to:

• Lead and supervise the legal input in the Retail/Commercial Suppliers lifecycle process, including on-boarding, Ts&Cs negotiations, and exit. Support Retail/Commercial’s commercial negotiations with Retail/Commercial Suppliers as required. “Retail/Commercial Suppliers” means all ASOS retail suppliers (both third-party brands and suppliers to our own-brand range) that we sell globally.

• Assist with continued rollout of updated ASOS Ts&Cs and policies to ASOS’ current Retail/Commercial Supplier base.

• Support (as appropriate) on other Retail/Commercial contracts e.g. licensing and exclusivity arrangements, 3D printing, collaborations, testing, fit and packaging.

• Support with ensuring retail and compliance policies are kept up to date and adhered to by Suppliers.

• Be responsible for advising on key legal and regulatory developments impacting sale of products in our key territories and when supplying direct into new markets.

• Advise and assist on global compliance issues (chemical, packaging and labelling), in particular REACH and Prop 65, and product safety issues, including managing legal input for product recalls. Liaise with regulators and ASOS’ Garment Tech, QA and Chemical Compliance Teams as required.

• Ensure that escalated customer complaints are being properly supervised and managed, including in relation to consumer law, product safety and product defects. Where appropriate, review requests for new product categories.

• Advise on the regulatory framework in which ASOS operates and provide updates on upcoming issues which may impact the business. This includes competition and pricing rules.

• Manage UK and international contractual disputes including product issues and supplier compliance, administration and insolvency.

• Advise and assist on delivery issues, including supporting the Tax/Customs teams with customs compliance/seizures.

• Advise and assist the Sourcing, Ethical and Sustainability divisions of Retail/Commercial including in the context of Fashion With Integrity, policies, compliance and remediation.

• Support major projects, M&A and workstreams that impact the Retail/Commercial teams.

• Be a sounding board for senior Retail/Commercial stakeholders on strategic commercial issues and attend relevant Retail/Commercial management meetings.

• Where appropriate, support the PR team on issues relating to the above.

• Provide training to Retail/Commercial teams on relevant topics.

Senior Legal Team:

• Line management of one Retail/Commercial Senior Legal Counsel, one FTC Senior Legal Counsel, one Legal Counsel and (indirectly) 1-2 paralegals. You will help support their development and manage the allocation of work including holding regular meetings with the team and supervising their work, where appropriate. You will also supervise and work closely with other junior members of the ASOS Legal Team.

• Help foster an inspired and motivated working environment within the Legal Team, championing high-performance reflecting the company culture, values, and behaviours.

• Act as a role model for the ASOS Legal Department, encouraging collaboration across the business, and growing the credibility of the Legal Department and ultimately ASOS as a whole.

• Identify and provide training to the Legal Department and to the business on relevant legal and commercial issues.

• Identify the need for external legal advice and exercise appropriate cost management and control with all external partners used by the Retail/Commercial function of the Legal Department.

• Provide project management experience to drive projects forward with multiple stakeholders.

• Assisting in the maintenance and development of the ASOS contract database, agreement templates and contract playbooks.

• Assist the General Counsel (where required, but in particular as they relate to the job holder’s division) with any other matters relating to the ASOS Legal Department, such as:

  • Team Management: leading, training, inspiring, motivating, empowering and developing the ASOS Legal Department.

  • Professional Development and Team Building: delivering improved overall team performance by globalizing the team and creating a culture of growth, development, collaboration and accountability.

  • Communications: working collaboratively across the team to create consistent global processes, from on boarding to regular departmental updates.

  • Major projects, including M&A activity.

We’d love to meet someone with…

• A background as a seasoned senior commercial lawyer and legal project manager.

• Fashion/ retail and commercial contract experience, gained from both private practice and in-house positions.

• Product compliance experience (e.g. Prop 65 and REACH) is a plus.

• Previous experience working in a fast-growing, agile, adaptable environment is preferable.

• Will ideally suit someone who loves ecommerce retail.

• PQE Qualified Solicitor experience (PQE level is only a guide).

• Excellent IT skills, particularly in relation to the use of Sharepoint, Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and an early adopter of new Technology generally.  

• Great Communication, as our team members continually build relationships at all levels across the business, at the same time as working collectively to deliver what’s needed, when needed, by whatever means necessary. All Legal team members should be approachable & capable of adapting their approach and communications to ensure excellent interaction with the wide variety of people and personalities across the unique environment of ASOS.

What's in it for you?

We will give you a competitive salary, bonus scheme, staff discount, sample sales and pension matching but also a fantastic bunch of flexible benefits that focus on your health, wealth & inner self for you and your friends and family. 

We are all equal!

We’re committed to creating an inclusive workforce.  We believe in a world where you have the freedom to explore and express yourself without judgement, no matter who you are or where you’re from. Where you value yourself and feel proud of who you are. Where individuality is a source of confidence, because difference makes the world a better place.