Legal Commercial Team Lead

Overview

The organization is seeking a Commercial Legal Team Lead to lead the in-house legal team and support the business across international markets. This role combines team leadership with direct, business-close legal guidance on contracts, products, payments, and regulatory matters, while helping teams respond to legal and regulatory change and launch new products and business models with appropriate legal foundations.

This is a remote role open to candidates who are willing to work in the European time zone and are qualified to practice law in England & Wales, the US or an EU Member State.

Responsibilities

Team Leadership

• Lead and develop the in-house legal team, set priorities, and ensure the business receives clear, timely advice.
• Take the lead on complex legal matters and coordinate external counsel across multiple jurisdictions.
• Support the professional development of junior and mid-level legal team members.
• Lead cross-functional legal projects and collaborate with stakeholders across the business.

Commercial Contracting

• Draft and negotiate commercial agreements, including partnership, B2B and B2C, licensing, and technology agreements.
• Advise teams on contractual structures, identify key legal and commercial risks, and recommend practical solutions.
• Support strategic transactions and international commercial arrangements.

Product and Business Support

• Work with product and business teams on travel products, booking flows, customer journeys, ancillary services, cancellations, refunds, and payment solutions.
• Advise on the legal aspects of new products and business models.
• Support market entry and international expansion, including local regulatory assessments.

Regulatory, Payments, and Risk Management

• Advise on payment flows, merchant models, PSP integrations, and the legal aspects of cross-border payment structures.
• Help the business navigate rules affecting online travel, including consumer protection, e-commerce, package travel, intermediary liability, payments, digital platforms, and privacy.
• Track changes in laws and regulations and help the business understand and address their impact.
• Help ensure operations comply with relevant requirements, including GDPR and ePrivacy.

Disputes and Cross-Border Matters

• Support dispute resolution, including pre-litigation matters, arbitration, and cross-border litigation.
• Manage complex legal matters across jurisdictions, working with internal stakeholders and external counsel.

Requirements

• Qualified to practise law in England and Wales or an EU Member State, or holds a degree from a university in one of these countries.
• 8+ years of post-qualification experience, including substantial in-house work with an international consumer technology, digital platform, or travel technology business operating across the EU and UK.
• Experience working with an online travel agency (OTA), bedbank, travel marketplace, travel distribution platform, or travel technology company.
• Experience leading or managing a legal team, or taking ownership of major cross-functional legal projects.
• Strong commercial contracting experience across common-law and civil-law jurisdictions.
• Sound understanding of the rules affecting online travel businesses, including consumer protection, e-commerce, package travel, intermediary liability, payments, digital platforms, and privacy.
• Experience advising on commercial and product matters across several European jurisdictions.
• Confidence managing complex cross-border matters and working with external counsel.
• Strong project management skills and the ability to work effectively with teams across the business.
• A practical approach to legal advice: able to explain risks clearly and help colleagues decide what to do next.
• Fluent English, both written and spoken (C1 or higher).
• Fluent Russian, both written and spoken is a plus.

Preferred Qualifications

• None specified beyond the requirements listed above.

Compensation & Benefits

• Partial compensation for participating in external training and conferences.
• Corporate English school: group and individual lessons, speaking clubs with colleagues from all over the world.
• Corporate prices on hotels and travel services.
• MyTime Day Off: an extra non-working day without loss of compensation.

Location

• Remote
• Must be willing to work in the European time zone
• Qualified to practice law in England & Wales, the US or an EU Member State