Role Summary
Responsibilities
: You will lead Costello Medical's global Legal Team, providing pragmatic, commercially focused advice across commercial contracts, compliance, data protection, employment law, risk and governance.
You will run the Legal Team as a well-designed, measurable service to the company, build a sustainable team, and give colleagues the transparent legal advice they need to make well-informed decisions
Salary
: In the region of £100,000 to £120,000, dependent on experience
Benefits
: Discretionary profit share bonuses paid twice per year, hybrid and flexible working options, generous holiday allowance, private medical insurance, critical illness cover, income protection, full funding for external training, and more
Role Type
: Full-time, permanent role
Start Date
: We have start dates available every month of the year, including December **** and throughout ****.
Please state your availability within the application form
Application Deadlines
: Whilst there are no set application deadlines, we strongly recommend applying as early as possible.
The role will close when a suitable candidate is found
Location:
This role is available in our Global Headquarters in Cambridge, with opportunities to travel to our other UK offices
About the Role
As Head of Legal and the highest point of legal advice in the organisation, you will lead Costello Medical's global Legal Team at an important stage in the company's international growth.
You will hold overall responsibility for the team's performance and development, ensuring that legal support is responsive, proportionate and aligned with our commercial objectives and values.
The role spans commercial contracting, global compliance and data protection, corporate governance, intellectual property, employment law and the legal aspects of enterprise risk.
You will combine sound legal judgement with a pragmatic, solution-focused approach, building trusted relationships across the company to understand colleagues' needs and deliver an excellent service.
You will also develop scalable processes, playbooks and training that protect the company while enabling international growth, innovation and new service offerings.
Key responsibilities will include:
Leading, developing and motivating a high-performing Legal Team, with clear accountability and effective resourcing
Designing, measuring and optimising the Legal service by clear process design and defined responsibilities, effective collaboration with internal and external partners, measuring the quality of the service and taking a data-driven approach to service improvement
Overseeing the timely review, drafting, negotiation and lifecycle management of client, supplier and other commercial agreements, including NDAs, MSAs, leases and office fit-out contracts
Developing and embedding pragmatic contract playbooks, templates, workflows and escalation routes that improve consistency, turnaround times and risk-based decision-making, as well as acting as the key decision-maker for contracting issues outside of playbooks
Advising senior leaders and the Board on legal risks, regulatory obligations, the legal requirements of good corporate governance, and maintaining clear records and reporting
Ensuring proportionate global compliance across areas including data protection, privacy, healthcare communications, pharmacovigilance compliance, anti-bribery, competition, employment and emerging AI regulation
Protecting the company's intellectual property and overseeing disputes, litigation, regulatory enquiries, insurance matters and other material legal risks
Supporting international expansion,



new entities, partnerships, innovations and service offerings with timely advice on legal structures, local requirements and commercial risk
Managing external counsel and the Legal Team budget to secure high-quality, cost-effective specialist support
Building legal capability across the company through accessible guidance, training and self-service tools, while fostering an ethical culture and compliance with contractual commitments
Supporting with the management of employee incentive schemes
Alongside our Operations, Finance and External Engagement Directors, building and delivering the Legal Team's strategy, priorities and service model in alignment with the company's long-term goals
Hybrid Working Policy:
We believe that having face-to-face time in the office holds many benefits and is central to ensuring that the community we have created, where people have a workplace they belong to and feel part of, is never lost.
At the same time, we recognise that homeworking can improve work life balance, reduce commuting times and costs, and provide the opportunity to juggle personal commitments.
Therefore, we offer flexible working arrangements that allow our colleagues who have passed probation to work from home up to half their time, measured across a 2-week rolling period.
About Costello Medical
Costello Medical is a rapidly growing, employee-owned global healthcare agency specialising in medical communications, market access, and health economic and outcomes research.
We work with a wide range of clients, including the industry's most successful pharmaceutical and medical technology companies, patient and public health bodies, and charitable organisations.
We have been listed in the Top 100 Best Companies to Work For list since ****, the Boston Globe's Top Places to Work list in ****, and were proud to receive B Corporation accreditation in ****.
We are also a certified Disability Confident and menopause friendly workplace.
Learn more about us, our work, and our mission on our website: /
About You
We are looking for a legal leader who combines excellent technical judgement with solid commercial acumen and a practical, solution-oriented approach.
You will be comfortable operating across a broad and evolving remit, communicating complex issues clearly and building trusted relationships at every level of the business.
You will see Legal as a highly effective advisory service to the wider company.
You will be motivated by new ventures and commercial challenges that you can help enable through pragmatic legal advice.
You will take pride in delivering an excellent, innovative service to colleagues, clients and suppliers, while maintaining high ethical standards, appropriate challenge and a clear focus on the company's best interests.
Essential requirements for the role are:
A qualified solicitor, barrister or Chartered Legal Executive in England & Wales (oran equivalent qualification in another common law jurisdiction with substantial experience working with English law)
Around 10 years' post-qualification experience
Substantial experience advising on, drafting and negotiating complex commercial contracts, with the judgement to balance legal risk and commercial priorities




Demonstrable leadership experience, including developing people, managing competing priorities and improving the performance of a legal function
Strong commercial acumen and a pragmatic, solution-focused approach to enabling business activity without compromising material risk controls
A broad grounding in the areas of law relevant to our business, such as data protection, intellectual property, employment law, corporate governance, healthcare regulation and AI-related regulation, as well as the judgement to know when and how to seek specialist advice
Excellent communication and influencing skills, including the ability to explain complex legal matters clearly to non-legal audiences and advise senior stakeholders confidently
A collaborative approach to processes that span Legal and other teams
Strong strategic, analytical and organisational skills, with experience designing, measuring and optimising a legal service, including policies, processes, reporting and risk-based escalation mechanisms
High levels of integrity, tact, discretion and professionalism when handling confidential or sensitive information
The resilience, adaptability and curiosity to remain abreast of legal, regulatory and industry developments across a broad international remit
Desired requirements for the role are:
In-house legal experience within a multinational organisation or professional services environment
Deeper expertise in one or more of the areas of law relevant to our business
Experience in the pharmaceutical, healthcare, medical communications or life sciences industries
Experience advising across multiple jurisdictions, particularly the UK, Europe, US and Asia-Pacific region
Experience supporting international expansion, new entities, partnerships, technology products or new commercial service offerings
The role includes responsibilities across the whole spectrum of legal needs within a multinational professional services business, but we realise that no candidate is likely to have extensive experience or technical knowledge in all these areas.
We will, therefore, be interested to hear how and when you would plan to make use of external legal support.
What We Offer
Alongside our award-winning company culture, where every team member is celebrated, respected, and has their voice heard, we are proud to offer a comprehensive benefits package that includes:
A starting salary of £100,000 to £120,000 per annum, depending on your previous experience, as well as a discretionary profit share bonus paid twice per year.
Please note that we have established salary bands to ensure a fair and consistent approach for all applicants
25 days' annual leave plus bank and public holidays, as well as a holiday buy and sell scheme
Flexible working hours and the chance to work from home for up to half of your working time after passing probation
Versatile benefits scheme offering cash payments, additional pension contributions and more
Private Medical Insurance which offers comprehensive cover on a "medical history disregard" basis
Paid study leave and funding for external qualifications
Critical Illness Cover, Income Protection and Life Assurance
Paid sabbaticals based on length of service
Learn more about our full reward package and the other benefits of working for Costello Medical: /
Visa Sponsorship
We can provide visa sponsorship for eligible candidates for our Head of Legal role.
You will be asked to provide details of your right to work in the UK within your application, however this will have no impact on the processing of your application.
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📌 Head Of Legal (Western Australia)
🏢 Costello Medical
📍 Western Australia