Global Head of Legal

Koala is a global furniture brand bringing Australian design and innovation to the world. We create forward-thinking products that solve problems for people and homes everywhere, driven by our purpose to make the world a more comfortable place.

We’ve always believed in doing things differently, whether in the way we develop products, how we do people and culture, or the way we bring the brand to life. That mindset has fuelled our growth, helping us disrupt categories in ways that are creative, bold and often unexpected. While we’re a household name in Australia, our journey on the global stage is only just beginning.

Since launching in 2015, our furniture has reached homes across Australia, Japan, the US and the UK. As a B Corp-certified, customer-obsessed, and data-led company, we’re committed to revolutionising furniture for generations to come through design, innovation, and meaningful sustainability.

Role Description

Koala is opinionated on product, ambitious on growth, and committed to marketing and doing things differently. That same energy applies to how its support functions operate.

This is the most senior legal appointment in the business. The Head of Legal reports directly to the CFO, sits on the Global Leadership Team, and holds joint Company Secretary responsibility alongside the CFO. The role is the primary legal partner to the Board, CEO and CFO.

The function is deliberately lean, supported by a managed panel of external firms. The incoming leader will not build a large department but will build one that delivers through strong playbooks, smart use of external counsel and AI-enabled tooling, and through business relationships deep enough to give fast, calibrated advice.

Koala has four markets, each at a different stage of scale and maturity, each under a different legal jurisdiction, and each carrying a different risk profile. AU is the largest and most mature; Japan is established and growing; the US is scaling fast; the UK is early stage. Good legal advice here means calibrating the response to the context, not applying a single standard uniformly, and not letting perfect be the enemy of what is commercially sensible in each market.

The business needs pragmatic, solution-centric advice that starts from the commercial objective; a risk posture that is calibrated and proportionate, not reflexively conservative; and a trusted partner relationship with the leadership team that is built quickly and maintained consistently. The incoming Head of Legal will be valued by being the person who makes decisions easier.

The incoming Global Head of Legal will reshape how the legal function operates; the playbooks, the relationships, the standards, rather than simply maintain what exists. There is no layer of hierarchy between this role and the decisions being made.

Key Responsibilities

Commercial Legal Advice

The majority of legal time is consumed by commercial work across four markets. AU is handled primarily in-house; JP, US and UK through in-market external counsel under the Head of Legal's direction, with Legal acting as the central coordinator across all external instruction and internal business advisory.

• Lead on high-value commercial agreements: master supply agreements, brand partnerships, major sponsorships, technology platform agreements, B2B and corporate partnership structures

• Manage M&A and corporate transactions: coordinate due diligence, instruct specialist external counsel and manage legal workstreams through to completion

• Own IP strategy and execution globally: manage trademark portfolio decisions, filing and registration, enforcement actions and take-downs, and defend against third-party claims across all markets, instructing external IP counsel as required

• Provide clear, fast legal input on marketing and promotional activity: competition rules, advertising claims, T&Cs for sales events and campaign copy, prioritising material risk and building business capability for routine sign-off

• Support product compliance obligations across all markets: APCO/ARL packaging, US EPR obligations, product safety and regulatory labelling requirements

• Manage property matters across all markets: retail, office and warehousing leases, make-good obligations and landlord negotiations, instructing specialist external counsel as required

• Cover employment legal support across all markets: compliance, policy frameworks, disputes, misconduct investigations, ESOP and STIP documentation, restraints of trade and WHS

• Provide legal support on technology and data matters: platform and SaaS agreements, data processing arrangements and privacy compliance, including legal response to regulatory changes and breach events across all markets

• Own contract playbooks and self-service templates for high-volume commercial work, reducing turnaround time and enabling the business to handle routine matters without senior legal involvement

• Build legal awareness across the business: advise teams on material risks in their domain and develop in-house capability to identify and escalate issues early

• Lead crisis response when legal issues escalate: ACCC complaints, consumer law disputes, tribunal proceedings and matters carrying reputational or regulatory consequence

Company Secretariat & Board Governance

As Joint Company Secretary alongside the CFO, the Head of Legal is accountable for the substance of Koala's governance. Automic Group handles mechanical filings and registry management.

• Own the annual governance calendar and forward agenda across the Board, Audit & Risk Committee, and People, Culture and Remuneration Committee — meeting cadence, paper quality and deadlines

• Own and operate the continuous disclosure framework: maintain the disclosure register, advise the CFO and CEO on disclosure obligations in real time, and ensure all ASX obligations are met accurately and on time

• Administer the Securities Trading Policy: pre-clearance requests, blackout periods, notifications and any suspected breach

• Maintain the Delegations of Authority framework — current, communicated and enforced across the business

• Own Board and Committee minutes: accurate, appropriately detailed and signed off within the agreed timeframe after each meeting

• Review and maintain Board and Committee charters and terms of reference

• Manage all ASIC and ASX regulatory filings, corporate records and statutory registers in coordination with Automic

• Manage equity scheme administration in coordination with the CFO and P&C: ESOP, LTIP, option grants, vesting schedules and associated disclosure obligations

• Support shareholder communications: AGM logistics, investor queries with legal dimensions and disclosure-sensitive communications

• Coordinate director education on duties and governance obligations

Risk, Compliance & Regulatory

Koala operates a distributed compliance model: ELT members hold ownership of compliance obligations within their domain. The Head of Legal owns the compliance infrastructure, the obligation register, the policy framework, the risk register and the board/ARC reporting cadence, and provides legal support, regulatory interpretation and legal response when matters escalate.

• Maintain the compliance obligation register across all four markets: the shared infrastructure that gives ELT owners and the Board visibility of obligations by domain, jurisdiction and risk rating

• Maintain the corporate risk register: reviewed quarterly and reported to the ARC on an exceptions basis

• Participate in regulatory horizon scanning: advise ELT domain owners on material legal and regulatory changes in their areas, and flag emerging obligations with sufficient lead time to respond

• Own the corporate policy framework: develop, maintain and retire policies in collaboration with the relevant business owner, ensuring compliance accountability sits clearly with the right ELT member in each case

• Support ELT owners in their compliance domains: regulatory interpretation, legal sign-off on compliance positions, and legal input where obligations are ambiguous or contested

• Coordinate ELT compliance sign-offs for Board and ARC reporting, providing a consolidated view of compliance status across all domains

• Lead the legal response when compliance matters escalate: regulator enquiries, investigations, breach notifications and any matter carrying legal consequence

• Own ESG-related legal obligations where Legal holds direct ownership

• Manage the corporate insurance program in coordination with the CFO: maintain adequate coverage across all markets, support renewal processes and manage claims where legal input is required

• Maintain the whistleblower program and ensure escalation pathways are clear and accessible across all markets

Function Leadership & GLT Partnership

The Head of Legal leads a small team and sits on the Global Leadership Team. The function is judged on the speed and quality of legal support it delivers, and on the extent to which the Head of Legal is commercially engaged across the full GLT agenda, not just matters with an obvious legal dimension.

• Lead, develop and retain the legal team, providing direction, development feedback and meaningful work

• Build the function's capability through contract playbooks, self-service templates and legal training, reducing dependence on the Head of Legal for routine matters and freeing senior legal time for high-value work

• Contribute to GLT discussions with commercial perspective and ensure Legal is consulted before material decisions are made

• Build a direct relationship with the Chair and independent NEDs, providing governance advice and ensuring the Board has what it needs to discharge its obligations

• Manage the external legal panel with commercial discipline: select the right firm for each matter, brief them well, hold them accountable on cost and quality, and avoid unnecessary external spend

• Lead adoption of AI and legal technology tools to improve the speed, quality and cost-effectiveness of the function

Ideal background

• Admitted as a legal practitioner in Australia with a current unrestricted practising certificate

• Minimum 10 years' post-admission experience, with a significant in-house component - ideally spanning both private practice (top or mid-tier firm) and in-house leadership (preferably at a high-growth/scaling organisation and with some retail/consumer goods experience)

• Demonstrated exposure to listed-company or equivalently governed environments — direct ASX or listed-company experience, a law firm advising on public markets and continuous disclosure, a subsidiary of a listed parent, or a pre-IPO business operating under institutional governance with board-level rigour. Strong candidates from any of these backgrounds will be considered.

• Breadth across commercial law, employment, IP, regulatory and compliance, and corporate governance - this is a generalist leadership role, not a specialist one

• Experience working across multiple jurisdictions; comfort managing matters through in-market external counsel rather than requiring personal expertise in each legal system

• Experience managing or operating with a lean team and a managed external panel - not building or running a large in-house function
  

Treehouse Perks and Privileges

Koala is only great when its employees are happy; and we’re one happy bunch!

• Hybrid working - We’re mixing it up with ~3 days back in the Alexandria Treehouse (office) and work from bed/home (WFB)

• Take a break - Generous time off - volunteer, parental, Koala life leave and more to help keep your work-life balance, balanced.

• Treehouse goods - Fully stocked kitchen with an emphasis on healthy local produce, think bougie brekky, salad bar, kombucha on tap, monthly barbies and more.

• Pet-friendly - The Koala Treehouse is as pet-friendly as they get!

• Surprise & delight - The two-word combo at the core of everything we do. All Koalas can expect to enjoy free Koala products with ‘mates rates’ for your friends and fam.

• Support & wellbeing - Our employee experience respects and embraces all families, formed, found and evolving. You’ll have access to our Employee Assistance Program, which includes unlimited sessions for financial, work, relationship, family or wellbeing support.

• Accelerate your career - via our Learning Management platform, as well as individual and team growth budgets and dedicated days.

• Community & connection - We believe that simply doing ‘no harm’ isn’t good enough So, how are we doing our part? BCorp Certified, WWF Partnership, volunteer days, a member of SoftLanding, 1% and so much more.

All in all, the Koala Community is a great place to hang out and belong to!

Why Join Koala?

At Koala, we do things a little differently and we don’t shy away from the fact that we expect a lot from our employees! We have no ego; we seek feedback that grows us; and we have a strong bias for action. We want you to challenge expectations, always look to make a difference and give us something different from the norm. We want people that bring great energy, that have a long-game focus and are always trying to find new angles and approaches to the way we work. We're a team full of entrepreneurial spirit and have a relentless focus on 'what's next' but while always reviewing 'what's been done' and learning, growing and adapting. Honesty and empathy drive everything we do, as well as a total focus on exceeding our customers’ expectations. So if you feel like this could be you... well what the bloody hell are you waiting for? Drop us a line, and let's see what you've got! ;)

There’s no such thing as a ‘perfect’ candidate, Koala is a place where everyone has opportunity. So however you identify and whatever background you bring with you, please apply if this is a role that would make you excited to come into work every day. We’re an equal opportunity employer, and recognise that a diverse workforce is crucial to our success as a business.

To read more, check out our careers, LinkedIn, or the great work we do with Work180.