Head of Legal

• Responsibilities: You will lead Costello Medicals 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 clear legal advice they need to make well-informed decisions
• Salary: In the region of 100000 to 120000 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 2026 and throughout 2027. 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

As Head of Legal and the highest point of legal advice in the organisation you will lead Costello Medicals global Legal Team at an important stage in the companys international growth. You will hold overall responsibility for the teams 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 companys 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 Teams strategy priorities and service model in alignment with the companys 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.

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 industrys 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 2017 the Boston Globes Top Places to Work list in 2025 and were proud to receive B Corporation accreditation in 2022. We are also a certified Disability Confident and menopause friendly workplace. Learn more about us our work and our mission on our website: You

We are looking for a legal leader who combines excellent technical judgement with strong 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 companys 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.

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 100000 to 120000 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
• Flexible 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:

You are required to submit your CV and a cover letter via our online application your cover letter you must explain why you think you would be suited to the role and why you would like to join Costello Medical with examples to support both. Your CV should clearly state the dates of all qualifications and grades achieved where applicable. If successful in reaching the next stage you will be asked to attend on-site for a multiple-component interview process.

As an equal opportunity employer we are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce and throughout the recruitment process there are a number of reasonable adjustments we can provide: note that whilst we embrace AI to innovate and improve processes your role may involve working with confidential data that cannot be uploaded to AI. Therefore it is important for us to assess your own skills and abilities so we recommend that you do not rely solely on this technology to generate any application materials.

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.

Required Experience:

Director