Senior Legal & Compliance Specialist

Role Overview

• Advise on franchise legal matters, including drafting and negotiating agreements, ensuring compliance and strong governance across franchisee relationships and supporting scalable business expansion.
• Support retail operations across owned and operated stores, providing legal guidance on store agreements, operational compliance, and regulatory requirements across markets.
• Advise on consumer protection laws and regulatory requirements, supporting operational teams in handling complaints and disputes in a compliant, efficient, and customer-centric manner.
• Provide guidance on competition and antitrust law, ensuring distribution, and supply chain practices comply with regulations while minimizing legal and reputational risks.
• Draft and manage supplier and vendor contracts, embedding compliance and ESG clauses to ensure legally sound, efficient, and sustainable commercial partnerships.
• Define and monitor legal risks, compliance standards, and contract performance, ensuring legal frameworks effectively support business growth and operational stability.
• Collaborate with Operations, Procurement, and Commercial teams to deliver pragmatic legal guidance aligned with business objectives and execution realities.
• Support Teams at Emma with advice on general commercial matters by preparing and reviewing legal documents (like contracts, court filings, etc.) of various kinds.
• Manage external legal counsel, ensuring efficient use of expertise, cost control, and high-quality support for complex or specialized legal matters.
• Proactively identify legal and business risks across all areas of responsibility, going beyond risk assessment to deliver clear, actionable recommendations and solutions — enabling business teams to make informed decisions with confidence.

Requirements

• You have a Bachelor's/Master's in Law.
• You bring 5+ years of experience in commercial, competition, or in-house legal roles, ideally within Franchise, FMCG and Retail businesses environments.
• Strong expertise in competition and antitrust law, particularly within EU frameworks, distribution models, and franchise-related legal considerations.
• Solid experience in drafting and negotiating complex commercial agreements, including suppliers, vendors, and franchise contracts within regulated environments.
• Experience in consumer protection law and retail operations, including store agreements and complaint handling, ideally across multiple markets.
• Familiarity with ESG regulations and supply chain due diligence frameworks is highly valued.
• Commercial mindset with the ability to translate complex legal concepts into clear, actionable business guidance that supports decision-making and operational efficiency.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence cross-functional teams and balance legal risk with business priorities.
• Fluent in English – mandatory, German or French is a plus.

Benefits

• The opportunity to create real impact, take ownership and accountability, and drive meaningful change.
• Continuous learning and development through hands-on experience, mentoring, formal training, and access to tools such as our Learning Hub and Nilo.
• A collaborative community of smart, driven people where you learn, contribute, and connect, every day and through team events.
• A global environment, working daily with diverse perspectives across 4 offices and 70+ nationalities.
• Private Health Insurance and 24 vacations days per year, with 1 extra day per year worked (until a limit of 29 days per year).
• A flexible hybrid setup with up to 22 remote days per quarter.
• A modern, pet-friendly office in Parque das Nações, Lisbon.