Commercial Legal Counsel – Part-Time / Fractional

Commercial Legal Counsel – Part-Time / Fractional

Department: Executive / Commercial
Reports to: CEO
Location: UK-based, hybrid/flexible with occasional travel to our Wakefield HQ
Contract type: Part-time employment or fractional/consultancy arrangement
Working pattern: Approximately 2–3 days per week
Salary / Rate: Competitive, depending on experience and working arrangement
Start date: ASAP

About Boxbar Tech

Boxbar Tech is an award-winning, high-growth technology company transforming the way drinks are served across events, venues, stadiums, arenas and hospitality environments globally.

We have created automated self-service drinks technology designed to increase service speed, improve quality, reduce queues, drive operational efficiency and enhance the customer experience for our partners.

Our technology is already deployed across major events, venues, festivals, sports clubs and hospitality organisations internationally, and we are entering an exciting phase of growth across the UK, US, Europe, Australia and the Middle East.

We are a fast-moving scale-up operating at the intersection of technology, hospitality, events, operations and manufacturing. As the business grows, so too does the complexity and volume of our commercial contracts, partnerships and legal requirements.

We are therefore looking for an experienced Commercial Legal Counsel to work closely with our CEO and senior leadership team and help us manage legal risk while enabling the business to move quickly and commercially.

About the Role

This is a hands-on commercial legal role for someone who enjoys working closely with senior stakeholders and being directly involved in business decisions.

You will take ownership of much of Boxbar's day-to-day commercial legal work, helping us draft, review, negotiate and manage agreements across customers, suppliers, partners and international markets.

The role is not about creating unnecessary legal process or slowing the business down.

We need someone pragmatic, commercially minded and comfortable making clear recommendations — someone who understands the difference between a material legal risk and something the business can sensibly accept.

You will act as a trusted legal partner to the CEO and leadership team, while coordinating specialist external counsel where an issue falls outside your expertise.

Key Responsibilities

Commercial Contracts

You will:

• Draft, review and negotiate customer and client agreements.
• Review and negotiate supplier and subcontractor agreements.
• Support negotiations involving technology, software, hardware and service provision.
• Review commercial terms, liabilities, warranties, indemnities and termination provisions.
• Support the business with NDAs, confidentiality agreements and heads of terms.
• Advise on partnership, reseller, distribution and strategic collaboration agreements.
• Support joint ventures and other commercial arrangements where required.
• Help ensure commercial contracts appropriately protect Boxbar while remaining commercially workable.

Commercial Legal Advice

• Provide practical legal advice to the CEO and senior leadership team.
• Identify material legal and contractual risks before commitments are made.
• Help stakeholders understand risk clearly without unnecessary legal jargon.
• Provide recommendations that balance legal protection with commercial realities.
• Support negotiations with major customers, suppliers and strategic partners.
• Help resolve contractual disputes before they escalate where possible.

Contract Management & Legal Operations

• Improve Boxbar's approach to contract creation, approval and storage.
• Develop and maintain appropriate contract templates.
• Build simple legal playbooks and standard negotiating positions.
• Create clearer processes for contract review and approval.
• Maintain visibility of key contractual obligations, renewal dates and notice periods.
• Help improve consistency across the way commercial agreements are negotiated.
• Create greater legal self-sufficiency across the business by providing clear guidance to relevant teams.

International Growth

As Boxbar continues to expand internationally, you will:

• Support commercial arrangements across multiple jurisdictions.
• Identify when local or specialist legal advice is required.
• Coordinate external counsel where necessary.
• Support commercial agreements relating to the US, Europe, Australia, Middle East and other international markets.
• Help the leadership team understand legal risks associated with entering new markets, partnerships and commercial structures.

External Counsel

• Act as the primary internal contact for external lawyers where specialist advice is required.
• Ensure external counsel is used proportionately and commercially.
• Brief external lawyers clearly and manage legal matters efficiently.
• Help control external legal expenditure by ensuring routine commercial work is handled internally wherever appropriate.

About You

We are looking for someone who combines strong legal capability with commercial judgement.

You will be someone who:

• Gives clear, practical and decisive advice.
• Understands that the job of legal is to help the business make informed decisions, not simply identify risk.
• Is comfortable operating independently.
• Can work quickly without sacrificing quality.
• Enjoys negotiating and finding workable solutions.
• Can communicate complex legal issues simply.
• Is comfortable challenging senior stakeholders where necessary.
• Understands how to prioritise legal work in a fast-moving environment.
• Is comfortable working with ambiguity and building process where it does not yet exist.
• Enjoys being close to the commercial reality of a growing business.

Essential Experience

We would ideally like you to bring:

• Significant commercial contracts experience, ideally around 5+ years.
• Strong experience drafting and negotiating commercial agreements.
• Experience advising senior stakeholders on commercial legal risk.
• Experience with customer, supplier, technology and service agreements.
• Strong negotiation skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication.
• The confidence to work independently and take ownership of matters.
• A commercially pragmatic approach to legal advice.

A qualification as a solicitor in England & Wales or equivalent would be highly desirable.

Particularly Relevant Experience

Experience in one or more of the following would be advantageous:

• Technology or SaaS.
• Hardware or physical technology products.
• Manufacturing.
• Hospitality.
• Events, venues, stadiums or live environments.
• International commercial agreements.
• Partnerships, distribution or reseller arrangements.
• Scale-up or founder-led businesses.
• Working as an in-house lawyer.
• Fractional or portfolio legal roles.

You do not need to have worked in every one of these areas.

More important is your ability to understand a business quickly, exercise sound judgement and give practical commercial advice.

The Opportunity

This is an opportunity to have significant influence within a growing international business.

Rather than sitting within a large legal department, you will work directly with Boxbar's CEO and senior leadership team and have visibility across major commercial decisions.

You will have the opportunity to:

• Work closely with the founder and senior leadership team.
• Support major international customers and strategic partnerships.
• Shape how Boxbar manages commercial legal risk as it scales.
• Build better legal processes from the ground up.
• Work across technology, hardware, hospitality and international markets.
• Make a visible and measurable impact on the business.
• Work flexibly on either a part-time employed or fractional basis.

We are looking for someone who wants to become a trusted part of the team rather than simply provide legal advice from the sidelines.

Our Values

At Boxbar, our values underpin how we work with each other and our customers:

We're dependable
We do what we say we are going to do and take accountability for delivering.

We're innovative
We challenge conventional thinking, find better solutions and continuously improve.

We are partners
We work collaboratively with our customers, colleagues and suppliers to create long-term success.

Our Hiring Process

Our process will typically include:

1. An initial conversation with our Head of People & Talent.
2. A conversation with our CEO to explore your commercial legal experience and approach.
3. A discussion around relevant commercial scenarios and the type of working arrangement that suits both parties.
4. Final conversation and offer/engagement discussion.

We are open-minded about how the relationship is structured and are happy to consider candidates seeking either a permanent part-time position or an ongoing fractional arrangement.