The Donkey Sanctuary is an international animal welfare organisation, offering care and protection to donkeys worldwide. Our vision is a world where every donkey has a good quality of life, and our mission is to improve the lives of donkeys every day. We will achieve this by transforming the lives of donkeys in need worldwide by fostering greater understanding, collaboration and support, and by promoting lasting, mutually life-enhancing relationships. 

These are exciting times for the charity, and we have an outstanding opportunity for a commercially minded and detail-oriented individual with strong influencing and organisational skills to join our Governance and Compliance Team. As Global Legal Contracts Manager, you will lead the strategic control and optimisation of global legal services across The Donkey Sanctuary, driving improved financial discipline, governance, compliance and quality assurance. Within this multifunctional and rewarding role, you will partner closely with Finance, Governance and senior stakeholders across the charity to ensure legal services are aligned with organisational risk, value, and strategic objectives.

About you:

• A qualified solicitor or legal executive in England & Wales, with substantial post qualification experience across a breadth of legal services, either in-house or with a reputable law firm.
• Significant experience in an in-house legal, contracts, or legal operations role within a global operation.
• A strong understanding of legal spend management, governance, and financial controls within a multi-jurisdictional international organisation.
• Experience of working with external legal panels and managing professional service providers.
• Proven ability to analyse cost data and develop practical, value-driven solutions.
• Strong stakeholder management skills with experience influencing senior leaders and cross-functional teams.
• Extensive experience of supporting and advising at Board and Executive level on corporate and legal affairs, both in the UK and internationally.

About the role:

Your principal duties and responsibilities will include –

• Working with key stakeholders to drive continuous improvement in the quality, consistency, and commerciality of legal services delivered across the organisation, advising on improvements and changes where necessary.
• Working with internal partners to support the review and optimisation of the charity’s legal function.
• Acting as the central point of control for organisational legal spend, ensuring consistency, transparency and value for money, and that legal costs are aligned with the organisation’s risk framework, complexity of matters, and business priorities.
• In partnership with key stakeholders track and analyse global legal casework in relation to legal risk and compliance.
• Working with Director Global Assurance and functional leads to support, develop and implement governance frameworks to improve oversight, approval processes and reporting of legal costs.
• Managing relationships with external legal providers, setting clear expectations on cost, service levels and outcomes, and monitor supplier performance, leading regular reviews to ensure value, quality, and continuous improvement.
• Leading, developing and performance managing the team, setting clear objectives aligned to the Charity’s strategic aims, ensuring accountability, capability building, and a clear understanding of the team’s contribution to organisational success.

What we offer in return:

Based in Sidmouth, Devon – an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – this is a full-time, 12-month fixed term role starting as soon as possible, working 08:30-16:30, Monday-Friday. This is a hybrid working position, combining onsite and home working under our guiding principles for such roles. The working pattern and requirement for site attendance be agreed between the line manager and post-holder.

Please refer to the FAQs section regarding travelling to work on our Candidate Journey page:

https://jobs.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/jobs/candidate-journey/

Benefits:  

Competitive pension.

Life assurance (4 x annual salary).

BUPA private health cover.

Sickness Income Protection (50% of salary)

31 days holiday (including Bank holidays), rising to 34 with each full year of service.

Wellbeing team.

Recorded Pilates and Yoga classes.

Long service awards.

Healthshield plan –

• Reimbursement of. some medical expenses up to the specified limits per membership.
• Offers, discounts and cashback on shopping, travel and entertainment from participating outlets.
• Access to a 24/7 GP and counselling service.

Free parking.

Subsidised restaurant and shop.

Closing date for completed applications: Tuesday 31 March 2026.

Please note: We reserve the right to close this vacancy before the advertised date and therefore encourage early applications.

The Donkey Sanctuary is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerable people (children and adults), and expects all staff and volunteers to undertake this commitment. Applicants will be subject to safer recruitment processes, including an application for a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check where required for the post.

The Donkey Sanctuary also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme and, for relevant posts, may request information from applicants’ previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment.

Please note: The Guaranteed interview scheme is only applicable to candidates who consider themselves to have a disability applying for roles based within the United Kingdom.

NOTE TO APPLICANTS: We look forward to receiving your application, but we do ask you to complete this in your own words, and not to employ an Artificial Intelligence (AI) writing tool or assistant. Applications that are considered not to be an applicant’s own work may not be shortlisted for interview.