Senior Legal Counsel - Data Privacy & Compliance

Senior Legal Counsel – Data Privacy & Compliance

Salary:                  £90,000 - £95,000 + bonus + 10% matched pension + health care etc.          

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

Function:              Legal

Reports To:          Legal Director

Are you a proactive, solutions‑driven lawyer 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.

Why this role matters

Whitbread (and its brands, Premier Inn hotels, Beefeater, Brewers Fayre, Bar + Block etc) handles vast amounts of customer and employee data (we have 35,000 employees). As we evolve our digital capabilities, enhance our consumer experience and introduce new technologies including AI, robust data protection and compliance has never been more important.

We’re now 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.

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.
• Advise on CRM, digital marketing, cookies, and marketing consent.
• 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.

What makes you a great fit

We’re looking for someone who is not only technically excellent but also brings drive, initiative and the ability to build structure.

You’ll bring:

• Qualified lawyer, 5+ PQE
• 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

And importantly, you are:

• Positive, energetic and proactive
• Pragmatic, commercially minded and solutions‑focused
• Ready to “pick things up”, create structure, and drive change
• Excited by the challenge of being the go‑to person for data protection and compliance in a major consumer brand

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 #10 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.