Senior Legal Counsel

Dunstable, UK

Posted Friday 6 February 2026 at 01:00

Senior Legal Counsel - Data Privacy & Compliance

Location: Dunstable, h ybrid working with a minimum 3 days per week in our office and 2 working from home/another location

Reports To: Legal Director

We're hiring a Senior Legal Counsel dedicated to Data Privacy & Compliance - someone who doesn't just interpret policy but shapes it. We're looking for someone who can build infrastructure, create clarity, influence stakeholders, and confidently guide a highly consumer centric business through a rapidly changing legal landscape.

Are you a proactive, solutions driven with a passion for data protection, emerging tech, and building best in class compliance frameworks? Do you bring positive energy, high ownership, and the ambition to shape the future of legal governance in a complex, consumer focused organisation?

If you're ready to take the lead on data privacy and wider compliance at one of the UK's most recognisable hospitality groups, this is a rare and exciting opportunity to make a significant impact from day one.

What you'll lead

You'll own a broad, impactful remit covering approximately 60% data protection and 40% wider legal compliance, including:

Data Protection (UK led, with international reach)

• Lead on UK data protection compliance, advising across Whitbread's end to end consumer and employee data lifecycle.
• Develop, maintain and embed group wide policies, procedures and data governance frameworks.
• Manage and optimise our relationship with the UK's outsourced DPO.
• Provide best practice guidance to operations in Ireland, Germany and China
• Deliver DPIAs, ROPAs, DSAR handling, and data related litigation management.
• Draft and negotiate data processing/sharing agreements.
• Guide IT teams to ensure privacy is embedded from the very beginning of any change or initiative.

Compliance & Governance

You will own and evolve a broad compliance portfolio, including:

• Code of Conduct governance and communication
• Competition law risk and training
• Anti bribery & corruption framework and controls
• AI governance, supporting policy development and advising stakeholders on emerging regulation
• Supporting the Legal Director with compliance reports for the Audit & Risk Committee and ongoing risk reviews.

You'll bring:

• Deep expertise in UK data protection law (EU desirable)
• Experience handling large volumes of consumer and/or employee data (B2C essential)
• Strong policy writing skills - capable of building frameworks from scratch and owning them
• Experience in drafting and implementing procedures, controls and compliance programmes
• Comfortable engaging with senior stakeholders and influencing across the business
• Ability to operate with a high level of autonomy and enthusiasm
• Private practice background welcome; in house experience is a bonus, not a requirement

If you're energised by shaping compliance in a fast moving, consumer centric business and want a role where your expertise truly matters - we'd love to hear from you.

We are proud to have been recognised as a Top Employer for 14 consecutive years, voted a top apprenticeship employer by Department of Education and Rate my Apprenticeship, this year we placed in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index for our commitment to LGBTQIA+ inclusion at Whitbread and have been awarded as a Top 25 Exemplary Employer in the Investing in Ethnicity Parliamentary Matrix as the only hospitality company leading the way in terms of Inclusion.