General Counsel - Head of Legal - Employment

Join to apply for the General Counsel - Head of Legal - Employment role at Whitbread.

Salary: £120,000 - £130,000

Location: Hybrid role minimum 3 days per week in office based at Whitbread Court, Dunstable (LU5 5XE) with some working in Holborn, London (EC1N 2TD).

We’re Whitbread, the UK’s largest hospitality business with over 1,200 hotels and restaurants across the UK. We are proud to have been recognised as a Top Employer for 14 consecutive years, voted a top apprenticeship employer by the Department of Education and Rate my Apprenticeship. This year we placed #10 in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index for our commitment to LGBTQIA+ inclusion at Whitbread and have been awarded as a Top 25 Exemplary Employer in the Investing in Ethnicity Parliamentary Matrix.

We are now recruiting a Head of Legal - Employment reporting into the Legal Director. You will sit on the People Committee, working closely with the Chief People Officer and team to develop and deliver the People strategy and support our business growth. You’ll work in partnership with external legal providers to put into place a new panel to best support the business and deliver cost savings.

In this role you will be advising the CEO and his executive team regarding people initiatives and the implications of decisions made. Whilst the role will have primarily a UK and Ireland focus, you will also be working on international strategy in partnership with our Germany team.

This is a first in-house Head of Legal - Employment role at Whitbread that will support our strategy to innovate and grow both our UK and International business for Whitbread.

• You will act as the senior legal contact for all employment law matters across our UK, Ireland and Germany sites providing expert advice to the business, including the Executive Committee on all employment legal matters and consequences.
• Provide practical commercial and strategic legal advice on contentious and potentially contentious employment matters, risk assessment of complaints and develop legally sound strategies which are in the best possible interests of the business.
• Participate in the development of legally sound policies and programmes in all areas of UK Labour and employment law.
• Oversee regular reviews of employee handbook, contracts of employment and other legal documents and policies.
• Oversee the procurement of all external legal advice on people-related matters together with Group General Counsel and Chief People Officer where required and manage these external relationships to deliver business cost needs and oversee performance against SLA.
• Advise on employment immigration issues, sponsorship, and license matters, ensuring legal compliance with immigration requirements.

• Hold a practising certificate from the Solicitor’s Regulation Authority with at least 5 years post-qualification experience specialising in UK Employment Law gained as a director or Senior Associate in a law firm or holding a current Head of Legal, Senior Legal Counsel roles within a multi-site organisation with a similar employee base.
• Good working knowledge of UK Employment laws and regulations.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to present complex legal information clearly in a manner that is understandable by a wide range of stakeholders.
• Proven ability to manage multiple projects and priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Extensive stakeholder management and engagement capability across all levels of the business up to Executive/Board level and external legal advisors with the ability to build strong and sustained relationships to achieve better results.
• Solutions focused, pragmatic and commercial with the ability to identify opportunities for improvement and to facilitate the implementation of creative solutions that enhance service provision.

We believe that everyone is unique and there should be no barriers to entry and no limits to ambition. We are committed to being an inclusive organisation that values diversity and welcomes your application whatever your background or situation. Under-represented groups such as women, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities & members of the LGBTQIA+ community are strongly encouraged to build a career with us. Speak to us about workplace adjustments, part-time and flexible working. Where possible we will support this.