Head - Legal

Head – Legal, Litigation, Compliance & Licensing Location: Mumbai Function: Legal & Compliance Industry: F&B / QSR / Retail Experience: 10–15+ years Reporting to: Leadership Team
About the Role We are looking for a Head – Legal, Litigation, Compliance & Licensing to own the organisation’s legal, litigation, regulatory compliance and licensing framework across its growing multi-location business. The role will work closely with Business, Operations, Real Estate, Projects, Finance, HR and senior leadership , while managing external legal counsel and government/regulatory stakeholders.
Key Responsibilities
1. Litigation & Legal Matters
- Own and oversee all civil, criminal, commercial, labour and regulatory litigation involving the organisation.
- Manage external advocates, law firms and legal consultants.
- Review legal notices, claims, disputes and court/regulatory matters and drive timely resolution.
- Develop litigation strategy in consultation with senior leadership and external counsel.
- Maintain a central litigation tracker with status, risks, timelines and financial exposure.
- Identify potential legal risks and provide practical business-oriented legal advice.

2. Legal Compliance
- Build and oversee the organisation-wide legal and statutory compliance framework .
- Ensure compliance across corporate, labour, commercial, F&B, retail and other applicable regulations.
- Monitor changes in laws and regulations and assess their impact on business operations.
- Conduct periodic compliance reviews and identify gaps, risks and corrective actions.
- Partner with internal teams to ensure timely closure of compliance issues.
- Establish compliance trackers, SOPs and governance mechanisms across locations.

3. Licensing & Regulatory Affairs
- Own the end-to-end licensing and regulatory framework across all business locations.
- Oversee new licences, renewals, amendments, statutory approvals and regulatory submissions.
- Ensure timely renewal and validity of all location-specific licences and approvals.
- Maintain a central database of licences, approvals, validity dates and renewal timelines.
- Lead government liaison with departments including Shop & Establishment, FDA, Fire, Health/Trade, State Excise, Electrical, Registration, Police, Traffic and Labour , as applicable.
- Represent the organisation before regulatory authorities and manage inspections, notices and regulatory matters.

4. Contracts & Business Advisory
- Review and negotiate commercial agreements, vendor agreements, leases, licences, NDAs and other business contracts.
- Partner with Real Estate, Projects, Procurement, Finance and Operations on legal aspects of business expansion.
- Identify contractual risks and recommend appropriate mitigation.
- Support leadership on legal implications of new business initiatives and expansion plans.

5. Legal Governance & Risk Management
- Build a proactive legal risk-management framework for the organisation.
- Create dashboards covering litigation, licences, compliance gaps, notices and regulatory risks .
- Escalate critical legal and compliance risks to senior management.
- Develop SOPs and governance processes to minimise recurring legal and regulatory exposure.
- Ensure proper maintenance of legal records, licences, notices, agreements and regulatory correspondence.