Head of Commercial Law
Salary: Competitive Plus Benefits
Location: London Store Support Centre and Home, London, EC1M 6HA
Contract type: Permanent
Business area: Corporate Services
Closing date: 16 April 2026
Requisition ID: 400055932
About the team
Sainsbury’s Commercial Law team sits within the Legal Services Department, part of the wider Corporate Services Division which serves Sainsbury’s Legal, Health & Safety and CoSec needs. The team works across almost every part of the business – from food and general merchandise to our loyalty scheme, Nectar – partnering with senior leaders to enable strategy, manage risk and deliver commercial outcomes that matter to customers and colleagues.
You’ll be joining a friendly, collaborative, forward‑thinking Department which is respected as a key business partner that combines technical expertise with a strong understanding of retail. The Department is actively embracing legal tech and ever more efficient ways of working in a landscape evolving at speed.
More about the role
As Head of Commercial Law, you’ll lead a team of commercial lawyers supporting complex, high‑impact commercial activity. You’ll advise on a broad range of strategic and business‑as‑usual matters, including commercial, technology and outsourcing arrangements, while also playing a key role in major corporate projects. Working closely with senior stakeholders up to Board level, you’ll guide decision‑making by clearly articulating risk, shaping solutions and enabling progress at pace.
Alongside this, you’ll be responsible for ensuring the right mix of resourcing and tools are in place to support the business effectively – from team capability and external legal panel management to contracting models, playbooks and automation. A notable focus of the role is exploring and embedding legal technology and AI within commercial contracting, helping improve productivity and create smarter, more efficient ways of working across the Department and the wider business.
More about you
You’re a qualified legal professional with demonstrable experience advising on a wide range of commercial matters in a complex, fast‑moving organisation. You’re comfortable operating at senior levels, explaining complex legal issues in clear, pragmatic terms and constructively challenging where needed to support robust decision‑making. You bring sound judgment, commercial awareness and the ability to manage multiple high‑profile matters simultaneously while maintaining pace and quality.
You’ll also bring experience of leading, developing or stepping into leadership of talented legal teams, with a genuine commitment to coaching, inclusion and building a positive, high‑performing culture. You’re curious about innovation and motivated to play an active role in shaping how a Legal Department helps support the future of retail.
Essential criteria
- Qualified solicitor or barrister with demonstratable experience advising on complex general commercial matters within a large or complex organisation.
- Proven capability in drafting, negotiating and advising on a broad range of commercial, technology and outsourcing contracts.
- Demonstratable experience, or appetite, influencing and advising senior stakeholders, including explaining legal risk and solutions at executive or Board level.
- Evidence of leading, developing or contributing to the leadership of a legal team, other lawyers or experts, with accountability for capability, performance or ways of working.
- Practical experience of, or clear track record in, improving contracting processes, resourcing models or the adoption of legal tools or technology.
#LI-UH1
We are committed to being a truly inclusive retailer, so you’ll be welcomed whoever you are and wherever you work. Around here, there’s always the chance to try something new - whether that’s as part of an evolving team or somewhere else across the business - and we take development seriously and promise to support you. We also recognise and celebrate colleagues when they go the extra mile and, where possible, offer flexible working. When you join our team, we’ll also offer you an amazing range of benefits. Here are some of them:
Starting off with colleague discount, you'll be able to get 10% off at Sainsbury's, Argos, TU and Habitat after 4 weeks. This increases to 15% off at Sainsbury’s every Friday and Saturday and 15% off at Argos every pay day. We've also got you covered for your future with our pensions scheme and life cover. You'll also be able to share in our success as you may be eligible for a performance-related bonus of up to 65% of salary, depending on how we perform (in cash and shares).
Your wellbeing is important to us too. You'll receive an annual holiday allowance, and you can buy additional holiday. We also offer other benefits that will help your money go further such as season ticket loans, cycle to work scheme, health cash plans, pay advance (where you can access some of your pay before pay day) as well access to a great range of discounts from hundreds of other retailers. You'll also receive a company car cash allowance unless you are going to travel 10,000 business miles in your role, then you'll be able to choose a car. And if you ever need it there is also an employee assistance programme, you will also be eligible for private healthcare too.
Moments that matter are as important to us as they are to you which is why we give up to 26 weeks’ pay for maternity or adoption leave and up to 4 weeks’ pay for paternity leave.
Please see www.sainsburys.jobs for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibility criteria may apply).
