The World Wildlife Fund for Nature UK (WWF) has kicked off its search for a new general counsel and company secretary.

The organisation's former GC has exited the charity to take a career break, according to his LinkedIn page.

Outgoing Andrew Napier, who worked as the GC at the UK office of WWF since 2017, was also formerly the head of legal at the British Red Cross for more than two decades, and prior to that was a lawyer at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Cripps Pemberton Greenish.

According to a Guardian job advertisement for the new role, the successful applicant will be part of the firm's senior management, leading the charity's corporate services team and managing a budget of about £450,000.

Other duties include acting as 'gatekeeper' for the Charity Commission and Companies House, drafting and negotiation of commercial contracts, and responsibility for data protection and GDPR compliance.

The WWF is one of the world's leading independent not-for-profit conservation organisations, with more than six million members globally.

The charity focuses on promoting and raising awareness about key environmental and ecological challenges that face the planet. It also advocates strongly for action to stop climate change.

In July, another not-for-profit organisation, the Natural History Museum, announced that it was seeking to appoint its first general counsel, with interviews for the role starting earlier this month.