The Role
Leads the organization’s legal, litigation, compliance, licensing, regulatory affairs, contract review, and legal risk-management framework across a multi-location F&B, QSR, and retail business. Manages external counsel, litigation strategy, statutory compliance, licenses, government liaison, regulatory inspections, commercial agreements, legal records, dashboards, and governance processes while advising leadership and cross-functional teams on business expansion and legal risks.
Summary Generated by Built In
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.
Skills Required
- 10-15+ years of relevant legal and compliance experience
- Experience overseeing litigation, regulatory compliance, licensing, contracts, and legal risk management
- Experience managing external advocates, law firms, legal consultants, and regulatory stakeholders
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The Company
What We Do
abcoffee is an Indian grab-and-go coffee company focused on making high-quality beverages available quickly at rationalized prices. Founded by Abhijeet, the brand launched with a single café in Versova in 2022 and has expanded to more than 80 outlets across five cities. Its mobile app supports pre-orders, reduces waiting time, and provides customers with exclusive daily deals, combining convenient retail service with digital ordering.
