Senior Legal Counsel – Corporate/Commercial

Purpose

Reporting directly to the General Counsel, effective legal risk management in line with Group risk profile and strategic and financial objectives and with a focus on Corporate, M&A, integration and general commercial.

Responsibilities

1. Legal Team lead on M & A and integration queries associated M&A and pre and post completion matters.
2. Reviewing, drafting and negotiating commercial agreements, and advising on the management of associated risks and regulatory considerations, including:
1. third party supplier agreements for all business areas (IT, data, services, outsourcing, People & Culture, Marketing);
2. legal advice and deliverables for Change Management project delivery;
3. day to day advice and support on all Group contracts, legal risks and resolution of queries and issues.
3. Legal advice and support on Group governance and risk management associated with data protection, cyber security, and the protection of Group trademark and domain name portfolios.
4. Actively contributing to embedding and enhancement of team risk management controls, reporting mechanisms and Legal operations management.
5. Developing strong working relationships with all stakeholders in the business, working closely with Corporate Strategy team, and Risk and Compliance.
6. Management of role’s direct reports within team.
7. Maintaining working knowledge of Group product and service offerings, and relevant regulatory matters, in order to deliver tailored and effective legal advice and review.
8. Identify and proactively escalate risks and issues appropriately to relevant stakeholders, challenge robustly as necessary, propose solutions.
9. Ensure timescales for legal deliverables are consistently maintained, completing tasks in a timely manner and prioritising as necessary.
10. Maintaining complete records in accordance with team procedures for ensuring the integrity of Group contracts repositories and Legal team matter management data.
11. Take accountability for own work and its accuracy.
12. Assist team members as required and work effectively with colleagues.
13. Team support / other as reasonably required by General Counsel.
14. While not directly interacting with customers, your actions should align with upholding the FCA's Consumer Duty principles, thereby contributing to fair and beneficial outcomes for our clients.

About You

Skills

1. Solid foundation of highly developed contract review, drafting and advice skills.
2. Adapts review proportionately to nature of arrangement, risks and objectives.
3. Confident with complex drafting and committed to high standards of drafting.
4. Takes pride in work. Can be relied on to proof as needed to control risk of errors, and to proactively facilitate ease of review by others.
5. Strong analytical skills.
6. Proactively verifies against drafting or fact-finding methods as appropriate.
7. Excellent communication skills – written and verbal. Tailored to relevant audience and their needs.
8. Confident, clear, accurate. Concise. Plain English – no legal jargon.
9. Highly organised.
10. Prioritises appropriately. Willing and able to report effectively on same.
11. Remains productive and a team player under pressure.
12. Plans, anticipates and manages issues and workload to achieve priorities, timelines and objectives.
13. Solution-oriented. Proactive and pragmatic in risk and stakeholder management.
14. Consistently reliable in attention to detail and thoroughness.
15. Working with and training other teams (including legal professionals).

Knowledge

1. Previous experience in corporate/M&A, including transaction exposure and due diligence/review projects, together with integration experience, from a strong corporate/commercial firm and in-house Financial Services experience.
2. Prior relevant industry experience in FCA regulatory framework highly desirable.
3. Proficient in use of Microsoft Office (especially Word) features – including expertise with tracking features and automated cross-references for ensuring quality control in work.

Qualifications and experience

1. UK qualified lawyer with strong academic background.
2. At least 10 years post qualification experience.

Other Relevant Information

1. As part of a small Legal team, flexible and adaptive.
2. Displays understanding of the needs of clients and colleagues.
3. Applies skills and expertise to achieve desired outcomes.
4. Takes responsibility for developing links to wider team.
5. Enthusiastic, professional, highly motivated team player.
6. Strives for continuous improvement.
7. Culture carrier of 7IM vision, purpose, values and personality.