Senior Legal Counsel - Employment Law (2 Years Fixed Term)

Job Description

RESPONSIBILITIES

Advisory

1. Providing employment law advice across a range of contentious and non-contentious matters with a view to helping the Group mitigate legal, financial, regulatory, and reputational risks across the AME region.
2. Advising on employee relations issues across the AME network, including disciplinary and grievance matters, redundancies, performance improvement and contentious termination of employment matters.
3. Support the Group’s Fit for Growth project.
4. Updating stakeholders on legal/regulatory developments and employment law best practices.
5. Advising on and participating in consultation on internal policies and procedures.
6. Advising on diversity and inclusion initiatives and/or communications.
7. Providing support for M&A integration, including advice on staff consultation obligations, union obligations and restructuring.
8. Advising on data privacy issues within the context of employment.
9. Advising on employment law aspects of HR policy or strategy projects, and co-ordinating advice from other members of the Employment Law team and/or external counsel.

Disputes/litigation

1. Advising on and proactively managing employment disputes across the Bank’s AME network.
2. Managing external legal counsel on employment disputes. In doing so, reviewing the strategic approach to disputes, and critically assessing advice and tailoring this to the business.
3. Identifying and analysing opportunities for settlement and advising HR, Employee Relations (ER) and/or business stakeholders on settlement strategy.
4. Preparing and negotiating settlement terms.
5. Managing relevant stakeholders and providing accurate and timely updates regarding the status of disputes or issues.
6. Collaborating with the corporate communications team to manage reputational risk.

Processes

1. Advising on employment contracts and employee policies.
2. Ensuring good maintenance, consistency and governance of global contractual templates and employee policies.
3. Engaging and managing external counsel for jurisdictions where internal employment law expertise is not in place.
4. Reviewing and negotiating external counsel/supplier quotes and costs to ensure best value for the business.
5. Ensuring external counsel invoices and costs are logged through the internal case management system (Team Connect) for cost and productivity tracking purposes.
6. Collaborating with the eDiscovery & Data Advisory team to improve the Bank’s approach to data subject access requests.

Risk Management

1. Responsible for identifying, assessing, monitoring, controlling and mitigating employment legal risks to the Group and demonstrating an awareness of the role the individual plays in managing them.
2. Initiating and participating in projects designed to manage HR legal risk.
3. Providing support in relation to HR and legal audits.
4. Reporting to and occasional participation in key HR and Legal Risk committees/forums.

Governance

1. Lead through example and build the appropriate culture and values.
2. Work in collaboration with risk and control partners.
3. Support new ways of working both within and outside the Employment Law Team.

Regulatory & Business Conduct

1. Display exemplary conduct and live by the Group’s Values and Code of Conduct.
2. Take personal responsibility for embedding the highest standards of ethics, including regulatory and business conduct, across Standard Chartered Bank.
3. Effectively and collaboratively identify, escalate, mitigate and resolve risk, conduct and compliance matters.

Other Responsibilities

1. Embed Here for good and Group’s brand and values; Perform other responsibilities assigned under Group, Country, Business or Functional policies and procedures; Multiple functions (double hats).
2. Excellent organisational skills to manage multiple matters and stakeholders at the same time. Being able to pivot as priorities change is essential.
3. Strong analytical skills to review background facts and identify the key legal issues raised by the employment dispute or issue.
4. Proactive approach to work and towards project management.
5. Excellent communication skills and succinct written style, with the ability to match your tone and level of detail to your audience.
6. Strategic and commercial mindset, recognising the wider organisational, commercial, or regulatory impact that a matter may have beyond the immediate set of facts.
7. Disciplined approach towards timelines and tracking all steps required to manage matters and implement a strategic approach while keeping stakeholders updated.
8. Ability to develop positive working relationships with colleagues from a range of different socio-cultural backgrounds across multiple jurisdictions.

Qualification

1. Must be qualified to practice as a solicitor in a common law jurisdiction, preferably UK/Australia.
2. At least 5+ years of post-qualification experience.
3. Must have dedicated employment law experience in private practice or in-house, including handling complex contentious and non-contentious matters. Regional experience is preferred.
4. Arabic speaker, preferred.

Experience in:

1. managing employment disputes;
2. advising on complex large-scale redundancy and restructuring exercises.
3. drafting and advising on employment contracts and policies;
4. Managing external counsel in different jurisdictions.
5. advising on employee relations issues such as disciplinaries, grievances, redundancy/restructure and termination of employment;
6. employee data privacy issues (preferred);
7. regulatory issues affecting staff, particularly remuneration (preferred).

Role Specific Technical Competencies

1. Employment Law
2. Knowledge of domestic and international laws governing employment, and the ability to interpret and take action on aspects of employment laws that impact the business.
3. (UAE, onshore and DIFC required, other MENA jurisdictions helpful).
4. Litigation
5. Knowledge of domestic and international laws, regulations, and court rulings; ability to use tools, techniques and processes to take action on aspects of litigation that impact the business.
6. Business Acumen
7. Knowledge, insight, and understanding of business concepts, tools, and processes that are needed for making sound decisions in the context of the company's business; ability to apply this knowledge appropriately to diverse situations.
8. Regulatory Framework and Requirements (SIF)
9. Awareness and understanding of the regulatory framework in which the firms operates and the regulatory requirements and expectations relevant to role.

About Standard Chartered

We're an international bank, nimble enough to act, big enough for impact. For more than 170 years, we've worked to make a positive difference for our clients, communities, and each other. We question the status quo, love a challenge and enjoy finding new opportunities to grow and do better than before. If you're looking for a career with purpose and you want to work for a bank making a difference, we want to hear from you. You can count on us to celebrate your unique talents and we can't wait to see the talents you can bring us.

Our purpose, to drive commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity, together with our brand promise, to be here for good are achieved by how we each live our valued behaviours. When you work with us, you'll see how we value difference and advocate inclusion.

Together We

1. Do the right thing and are assertive, challenge one another, and live with integrity, while putting the client at the heart of what we do.
2. Never settle, continuously striving to improve and innovate, keeping things simple and learning from doing well, and not so well.
3. Are better together, we can be ourselves, be inclusive, see more good in others, and work collectively to build for the long term.

What we offer

In line with our Fair Pay Charter, we offer a competitive salary and benefits to support your mental, physical, financial and social wellbeing.

1. Core bank funding for retirement savings, medical and life insurance, with flexible and voluntary benefits available in some locations.
2. Time-off including annual leave, parental/maternity (20 weeks), sabbatical (12 months maximum) and volunteering leave (3 days), along with minimum global standards for annual and public holiday, which is combined to 30 days minimum.
3. Flexible working options based around home and office locations, with flexible working patterns.
4. Proactive wellbeing support through Unmind, a market-leading digital wellbeing platform, development courses for resilience and other human skills, global Employee Assistance Programme, sick leave, mental health first-aiders and all sorts of self-help toolkits.
5. A continuous learning culture to support your growth, with opportunities to reskill and upskill and access to physical, virtual and digital learning.
6. Being part of an inclusive and values driven organisation, one that embraces and celebrates our unique diversity, across our teams, business functions and geographies - everyone feels respected and can realise their full potential.

Profile Description

Standard Chartered Bank