Commercial Legal Counsel

t’s holiday season at Tony’s! 🍫☀️ We’re a bit slower on replies right now, but your application is important to us, and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. We appreciate your patience and wish you sunny summer days! 

Why we are here  
Tony’s Chocolonely is committed to ending exploitation in cocoa. We are an impact company that makes chocolate, not a chocolate company that makes impact. With incredibly tasty chocolate, we lead by example, demonstrating that ethical practices and success can go hand in hand. Through Tony's Open Chain (TOC), mission allies like Albert Heijn, Ben & Jerry's, Jokolade, and Aldi have embraced a fairer, more transparent supply chain for their chocolate too.  
 
What you will do  
We are looking for a Commercial Legal Counsel to join our team in Amsterdam. In this role, you’ll be a trusted advisor to teams across the business supporting e.g. our Procurement, Sales, Marketing and Operations teams, especially focusing on commercial contracts. You’ll provide legal insights that shape our business strategies, support product launches, and ensure our campaigns are as compliant as they are creative. You’ll also help build legal awareness across Tony’s, making sure key stakeholders understand the legal considerations behind their decisions. 

You’ll manage legal risk while enabling further international growth, and identifying potential pitfalls in contracts, compliance, and cross-border activities. You’ll draft and negotiate commercial agreements (e.g. in areas such as supply chain, distribution, partnerships, licensing) and keep our standard terms and conditions sharp and expansion ready.  You’ll be part of our small but mighty Legal team - you and your manager, our Head of Legal - and work closely with business teams across the Netherlands, UK, US, Germany, Nordics and West Africa. If you’re passionate about using your legal skills to make a real impact - and want to be part of a purpose-driven team that always raises the bar - this role is for you!  

 All wrapped up, you're responsible for 

• Implementing a Contract Management System and creating awareness among business teams, creating a clause library and contracting framework within Tony's. 

• Assisting teams in concluding contracts: coordinating contracting processes whilst drafting and negotiating commercial contracts as well as managing and monitoring obligations agreed with contracting parties.

• Providing day-to-day legal support: providing proactive and pragmatic advice, drafting and negotiating complex commercial contracts with suppliers, distributors and customers.

• Ensuring that the business understands its rights and obligations and extracts value from the terms agreed, and advising on risk management, claims & litigation and complex legal transactions.

• Creating a contracting framework for Sales, Marketing and Tony's Open Chain teams and organizing training for the teams on these templates and legal risks.

• Identifying, advising on and mitigating legal risks arising from commercial contracts; ensuring that those risks are in line with Tony’s legal risk framework.

• Conducting training for business teams to increase business legal awareness and compliance.

• A solid understanding of commercial contract law with at least 5 years of previous work experience in an international law firm and/or as an in-house counsel.

• Very strong project management skills - ability to balance priorities, deadlines, and stakeholders with care and clarity. 

• Strong business understanding and strategic mindset - ability to see the big picture, but not afraid to roll up your sleeves to ensure brilliant execution.

• A Dutch master's degree in law, preferably in contracting.

• Ability to identify and contextualize risks, assess their likelihood of materializing and potential impact, and provide appropriate mitigation options.

• Eagerness to work in a fast-paced scaleup environment, bringing clarity and cohesion across diverse teams. 

• Excellent stakeholder management, collaboration and communication skills in English and Dutch, bonus points if you also know French. 

• Affinity with IP, E-commerce, procurement and (digital) marketing.  

• We are all about being more in person than apart; this means we offer flexibility but see each other in the office on average 3 days a week. More is fine too!  

• You believe wholeheartedly in Tony’s purpose. You live our core values: outspoken, in it together, entrepreneurial, raise the bar and makes you smile. 

Our benefits (the icing on the cake) 

At Tony's you will get the opportunity to be part of something extraordinary; first and foremost, by making real impact in the world but also enjoying the nice benefits we provide as you help us succeed. We’re dedicated to enabling all Tonys to grow and develop their careers and therefore we offer training programs, regular feedback cycles, coaching and a generous L&D budget. We also offer a wide range of additional benefits, including a luxurious vega-lunch at the office, company bonus, minimum of 28 holidays, inspirational team updates, unforgettable events and unlimited chocolate. But we also know chocolate won’t cover the bills, so we’ve made sure your salary is just as rewarding, for this role that means a salary between 63-78,5k on a yearly basis, including holiday pay. Unfortunately, for this role we are not able to support with a relocation.

Sounds like you?  

Are you passionate about making a difference in the world? Look no further! If you're ready to take the chocolate industry to new heights with us, we'd love to hear from you! Please send your direct application, no agencies. We can't wait to hear from you!

At Tony's we are convinced that diversity of thought, background and perspectives will make us stronger (...just like the different flavors of our chocolate assortment). Our mission is founded on principles of equity and justice, and we are actively seeking candidates who bring new perspectives and life experiences, especially from underrepresented groups. We look forward to your application!