General Counsel

Minor DKL Food Group — home to iconic brands including The Coffee Club,  Nomad Coffee Group, Black Bag Roasters, Veneziano Coffee Roasters, Blend Co and Flight Coffee.— is seeking an experienced and commercially minded General Counsel & Company Secretary to join its executive team.

Reporting directly to the CEO, this newly elevated role will provide strategic and practical legal advice across the Group, ensuring we manage risk effectively while enabling smart, commercial decision-making. You'll oversee all aspects of legal, compliance, governance, and risk, and act as a trusted partner to senior leaders as the business continues to evolve.

This role is responsible for leading the legal, governance, and commercial functions of the business. As General Counsel/CoSec you will provide strategic legal advice across all areas of the business as well as ensuring compliance with corporate governance obligations and support the Board. Additionally, you will drive commercial strategy, manage key contracts, and support business growth initiatives, particularly within the franchising model.

We are looking for someone who will:

Legal & Risk Management

• Provide proactive legal advice on corporate, commercial, franchising, employment, IP, and regulatory matters.
• Manage litigation, disputes, and external legal counsel relationships.
• Oversee compliance with consumer law, and other industry-specific regulations.

Company Secretarial & Governance

• Act as Company Secretary to the Board and its Committees.
• Ensure compliance with statutory obligations under the Corporations Act.
• Prepare Board papers, minutes, resolutions, and governance documentation.
• Advise on corporate governance best practices and support Board effectiveness.

Commercial Focus

• Support commercial elements through consultation on strategic contracts, involving landlords, consultants, suppliers, franchisees, and other third parties.
• Partner with Finance, Operations, and Marketing to support commercial initiatives and business planning including Greenfields, Renewals and Resales.
• Drive value creation through commercial innovation and risk mitigation.
• Support M&A activity, joint ventures, and other strategic transactions.

Franchise Management

• Provide legal and commercial oversight of franchise agreements and relationships.
• Ensure compliance with the Franchising Code of Conduct.
• Support franchisee onboarding, renewals, and dispute resolution.

People Management

• Effectively manage the legal team to deliver on all  legal responsibilities.
• Monitor performance and provide feedback, coaching and development to direct reports as appropriate.
• Lead by example, demonstrate positive leadership to all stakeholders including Minor DKL employees and franchisees.

Your experience and qualifications to meet the requirements of the role will include:

• Bachelor of Laws (LLB) or Juris Doctor (JD); admitted to practice in Australia.
• Post-admission experience, ideally in FMCG, franchising, or retail sectors.
• Proven experience in corporate governance and company secretarial duties.
• Strong commercial acumen and contract negotiation skills.
• Experience managing legal risk in a fast-paced, multi-stakeholder environment.

• Ability to combine strong technical skills, sharp intellect and experience to resolve difficult and complex legal and business problems in a commercial manner.

• Proven ability to understand and interpret legislation in a manner that provides useful information for a business to use in risk analysis, option assessment, decision making and policy setting.

• Highly developed verbal and written communication skills with the demonstrated ability to successfully engage, negotiate and deal tactfully and effectively with people in challenging circumstances.
• Proven track record in developing credible working relationships with stakeholders.

To be considered, please submit your resume and a cover letter (outlining your core capability for the role, demonstrated experience of how you have delivered outcomes and why this role is of interest) both in Word format by selecting the "apply now" function.

Confidential enquiries can be made to Peter Starling, Client Partner on