Group Senior Legal Counsel

Valeo Foods Group is one of Europe’s fastest-growing food companies, specialising in sweets, snacks and treats. At Valeo Foods, we love to make everyday moments taste better and we are home to over 90 brands including Balconi, Pedro, Horalky, Rowse, Bernard, Barratts and Kettle Chips.  

We operate in over 100 countries serving major retailers, discounters, e-commerce, convenience stores, wholesalers, and foodservice operators. With revenues exceeding €1.8 billion, we employ over 5,400 people across more than 30 facilities in the UK, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, Slovakia, Czech, and Canada. Valeo Foods Group is owned by Bain Capital.

To bring our purpose to life, we uphold five core behaviours that define how we work and what we stand for:

• Accountability • Agility • Disciplined • Transparency • Teamwork.

These behaviours shape our culture and drive us towards excellence.

We are committed to building a sustainable future for our people, clients, communities, and the planet. We drive efforts to reduce environmental impact, invest in health and safety initiatives, enhance training and development, and nurture an inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive.

This is a rare opportunity to join a fast‑growing, international consumer business at a genuinely formative point.

As our first incremental hire at Group Legal level, this role is about building as much as advising. You won’t be stepping into a fully‑formed function, you’ll help shape how Legal operates as the business scales, embedding smart, commercial legal support at the heart of decision‑making and growth.

From day one, you’ll work closely with our central teams across Procurement, IT, People, Finance/Treasury and ESG, alongside ad hoc support for our international divisions. It’s a hands‑on role, drafting and negotiating commercial, procurement and technology contracts, and helping teams move faster with clear, practical guardrails in place.

As we continue to grow through acquisition, you’ll also support M&A activity and post‑deal integration, helping translate deal intent into practical, scalable outcomes.

The scope goes well beyond transactions. You’ll contribute to governance frameworks, litigation oversight, delegations of authority, IP protection and regulatory awareness, as well as helping roll out workable compliance and data protection approaches in partnership with People and IT.

What truly sets this role apart is the chance to build. Working alongside our Group Head of Legal, you’ll help design legal intake and triage, create templates and playbooks, establish clause banks, and implement tools that allow Legal to scale efficiently, enabling self‑serve for low‑risk matters while keeping focus on what matters most.

We’re looking for a commercially minded, pragmatic lawyer who enjoys being close to the business and thrives in environments where not everything is fully defined. You’ll be comfortable switching between drafting, advising, designing processes and influencing stakeholders across functions and jurisdictions. You’ll care about outcomes, not perfection. Translating legal risk into clear, usable guidance that helps teams move faster and make better decisions.

You don’t need to have done everything before. If you bring strong commercial contracting experience, sound judgement, curiosity and a builder’s mindset, we’ll support you to grow into the full breadth of the role as the team evolves. Collaborative and clear in your communication, you’ll be someone who enjoys long‑term partnerships and takes pride in doing the right thing for the business, our brands and our people.

• Competitive Salary + Bonus + Car Allowance
• 25 days + Bank Holidays
• Matched pension scheme
• Private Medical Cover
• Death in service
• Retailer discount platform