Head Of Legal

Note: Partly is headquartered in the UK, with a Product and Engineering HQ in Christchurch, New Zealand, and an early presence in San Francisco, USA . If you are based outside of a Hub, we will fly you to the nearest Hub for 1 week per quarter for our “Season Openers” (we pay for your travel and accommodation).

🚀 Our story

Partly's mission is to connect the world's parts, building the first global platform for replacement parts — starting with auto parts. Our big vision is to accelerate the world toward a sustainable future where anyone can fix anything.

Founded by ex–Rocket Lab engineers, we use cutting-edge technology to solve complex, high‑impact problems in a $1.9 trillion industry. We’ve more than tripled our team in the past year and plan to double again. Our team spans Europe and Australasia, delivering a scalable digital infrastructure used by the world’s largest businesses and most exciting startups.

We’re backed by world-class investors including Blackbird Ventures, Square Peg, Octopus Ventures, Icehouse, Peter Beck (Rocket Lab), Akshay Kothari (Notion Co‑Founder) and Dylan Field (Figma Co‑Founder).

At Partly, we’re building an environment where people do the best work of their lives.

Want to learn more about the problems we're solving and the culture we're building at Partly? Hear directly from our team here: https://shorturl.at/iAFUX

🖍️ This role

The Head of Legal will own and scale Partly’s legal function so the company can move faster and reduce risk as we expand globally. Reporting to Nathan Taylor (Co‑founder) , you’ll be the single point of ownership for commercial contracting, dispute management, and external counsel coordination. You’ll partner closely with our regional teams to ensure that legal operations scale efficiently with our growth, without adding unnecessary bureaucracy.

This is a hands-on, high‑ownership role suited to someone who loves building from first principles and turning legal process into business leverage.

💻 What will you do

• Own and deliver commercial contracting across jurisdictions * Drive end‑to‑end ownership of customer, supplier, vendor, and partner contracts. Review, draft, and negotiate agreements to enable faster execution while maintaining smart risk control.

• Establish scalable legal systems * Develop and maintain contract templates, playbooks, fallback positions, and a streamlined contracting process that scales globally.

• Manage disputes and escalation * Lead response and resolution strategies for disputes. Coordinate external counsel interventions where appropriate and ensure learnings feed back into playbooks.

• Coordinate external counsel and manage outcomes * Identify, engage, and coordinate external counsel across NZ, UK, and US markets. Ensure effective cost management, consistent matters tracking, and quality outcomes.

• Empower internal teams * Partner with Product, Engineering, Ops, and Finance to embed good legal practices in their workflows — enabling faster decisions and compliant build processes.

• Act as a trusted business advisor. * Provide pragmatic, commercially‑savvy legal advice to leadership and cross‑functional teams, balancing risk, impact, and speed.

🥷 Your skills

• Broad in‑house legal experience * You’ve operated as an in‑house counsel or Head of Legal, ideally in a fast‑growth or tech‑driven environment. You understand the demands of supporting dynamic product and commercial teams.

• Strong commercial judgment * Proven ability to balance business speed with risk management, with a bias for practical solutions rather than theoretical perfection.

• Excellent contract drafting and negotiation ability * You can structure clear, concise agreements and anticipate key issues across jurisdictions.

• Systems‑builder mindset * You create scalable templates, playbooks, and processes that evolve with the business.

• Executive communication and influence * Able to translate complex legal positions into actionable business advice, building trust with senior leaders and cross‑functional partners.

• Experience with external counsel management * Skilled at selecting and directing outside counsel to maximise value and maintain consistency across markets.

• (Preferred) Exposure to multi‑jurisdiction operations * Familiarity with NZ, UK, and/or US legal frameworks is a plus.

• (Bonus) Startup or scale‑up experience * You’ve been the first or second lawyer in a company and know how to build a structure that enables, not constrains, growth.

Please note : if you don’t meet every criterion but believe you’d excel, we want to hear from you. Many excellent candidates — particularly from underrepresented backgrounds — self‑select out of opportunities unjustly. Please let us learn more about you.

Our Benefits

• Healthy, Catered Lunches - Enjoy fresh, healthy lunches every workday in our Auckland, Christchurch, London and San Francisco offices. With no meal prep needed, you can eat, connect, and refuel with your team. (And yes, snacks and drinks are always on hand.)

• Healthy Body, Healthy Mind - We care about performing at our peak. Every team member gets a $1,500 annual wellness allowance (or local equivalent) on a Partly-branded card. Use it on things such gym memberships, rock climbing, physio, massage, GP visits, prescriptions; anything that you or your family, need!

• Family Comes First - Primary caregivers receive 3 months of fully paid parental leave, plus a flexible return-to-work (four days on full pay for your first three months back).

• Getting Here Is On Us - If you commute to a Partly office or co-working space, choose from a paid 24/7 car park or commute allowance. One less thing to think about!

• Workspaces That Inspire - Our brand new, architecturally designed offices are built for collaboration and creativity, with great coffee, social spaces, and some of the best cafes a few steps away.

• Office-First with Flexibility - In cities where we have an office (Christchurch, Auckland, London, San Francisco), we default there every day. This let's us move faster, make better decisions and build strong relationships. We also operate with a very high trust environment, so you can manage your time around your life, and flex your schedule to get your best work done.

• We Celebrate Together - From weekly happy hours and monthly lunches to quarterly season openers and an annual global offsite, we make time to connect, celebrate, and have fun as one team.

🛬 Relocation

If you are relocating from overseas or domestically to Partly HQ, we offer a generous relocation allowance to support your move.