Head of Legal

Collinson is the global, privately-owned company dedicated to helping the world to travel with ease and confidence. The group offers a unique blend of industry and sector specialists who together provide market-leading airport experiences, loyalty and customer engagement, and insurance solutions for over 400 million consumers.

Collinson is the operator of Priority Pass, the world’s original and leading airport experiences programme. Travellers can access a network of 1,500+ lounges and travel experiences, including dining, retail, sleep and spa, in over 650 airports in 148 countries, helping to elevate the journey into something special. We work with the world’s leading payment networks, over 1,400 banks, 90 airlines and 20 hotel groups worldwide.

We have been bringing innovation to the market since inception – from launching the first independent global VIP lounge access Programme, Priority Pass to being the first to sell direct travel insurance in the UK through Columbus Direct and creating the first loyalty agency of its kind in the travel sector with ICLP. Today we still invest heavily in innovation to ensure that we continue to deliver superior customer experiences.

Key clients include Mastercard, American Express, Cathay Pacific, British Airways, LATAM, Flying Blue, Accor, EasyJet, HSBC, Chase, HDFC.

Our mission is focused on doing good beyond profit, which for us means we seek out opportunities for our people to share in our success and that we give back to the communities and people within which we work.

Never short of ambition, the success of our business is delivered through the diverse and talented team of over 2,200 global colleagues.

Purpose of the role 

The Head of Legal is responsible for leading a significant operational arm of the legal function, managing a team and overseeing the delivery of high-quality legal services across assigned business units, countries, or regions. Embedding governance and risk management into day-to-day operations. Working under the direction of the Chief Legal Officer, the Head of Legal translates group-wide legal strategy into effective execution ensuring alignment with the VP Legal, ensuring alignment with business objectives and measurable impact on performance.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and manage a team or multiple teams of legal professionals, primarily through subordinate managers and supervisors.
• Translate global and regional legal strategy into local execution, ensuring operational effectiveness and business alignment.
• Senior stakeholder engagement, relationship building and ensuring Legal interests are appropriately represented to facilitate timely advice and support to the business.
• Oversee governance, compliance, and risk frameworks within assigned areas, ensuring consistency with group standards.
• Provide pragmatic legal support on corporate, commercial, compliance, and regulatory matters.
• Partner with operational functions (e.g., People & Culture, commercial teams) to ensure policies, terms, and conditions are legally robust and commercially sound.
• Drive continuous improvements in legal processes, templates, and operational policies.
• Collaborate with senior stakeholders to support decision-making and operational delivery.
• Ensure effective performance management, career development, and succession planning across the team, fostering a diverse and inclusive culture.

Knowledge, skills and experience 

• Qualified solicitor or barrister (or equivalent) with extensive post-qualification experience in commercial law and corporate law.
• Proven leadership experience managing large teams of legal professionals, including through subordinate managers.
• Strong operational and commercial acumen with the ability to balance risk management and business needs.
• Demonstrated ability to draft, review, and negotiate a broad range of corporate and commercial agreements.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and problem-solving skills.
• Experience working in fast-paced, international organisations with multiple jurisdictions.
• Adaptable, pragmatic, and hands-on approach to legal and commercial challenges.
• Commitment to collaboration, integrity, and high professional standards.

Collinson is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes differences in all their forms including: colour, race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, neurodivergence, family status, age, individuals with disabilities and people from all backgrounds, cultures and experiences as we strongly believe this contributes to our on-going success.

We are focused on continually evolving our purpose driven, high performing culture, providing an environment where our people have the opportunity to achieve their full potential and do interesting and meaningful work. Our company values are: Take Action, Do the right thing, One team and Be insight led. These help guide everything we do internally in terms of how we think, act and interact, right through to how we deliver value to our customers and clients.

In your application, please feel free to note which pronouns you use (For example - she/her/hers, he/him/his, they/them/theirs, etc).

If you need any extra support throughout the interview process, then please email us at ukrecruitment@collinsongroup.com