Legal Counsel - Employment in Durnford

At McLaren Racing, we’re not just here to try to take the chequered flag. We’re here to excite our fans, inspire our people and deliver for our partners. And we’re also committed to evolving our sport, our industry, and our technology, too.

Purpose of the Role: The Senior Specialist, Legal Counsel – Employment role is a newly created position designed to support both the Legal and People teams by delivering pragmatic, timely advice across a wide range of employment matters. Acting as a trusted advisor, the role plays a key part in maintaining compliance, managing risk, and supporting a high‑performance culture within McLaren Racing. It is a great opportunity for an early to mid-level employment lawyer who is looking to broaden their experience and significantly develop their capability in a fast‑paced, collaborative in‑house environment.

This role will work in close partnership with the Head of Employment Law, working together as one cohesive and supportive team to deliver high‑quality, solutions‑focused legal advice to stakeholders. The two roles will collaborate daily, sharing insights, aligning on strategy, and ensuring a consistent, business‑focused approach to employment matters. The position requires an agile and commercially minded approach, with a strong emphasis on service delivery and proactive engagement. This role is suited to someone proactive and energetic, who enjoys variety in role with advisory aspect at its heart, and is motivated to achieve the best outcomes for their stakeholders.

Role Dimensions:

• Sits within the Business Affairs function.
• Reports to the Head of Employment Law.
• Works closely with the People team and business leaders across McLaren Racing.
• No direct reports.
• Minimum 3 days per week in the office in line with the Hybrid Working Policy.

Principal Accountabilities:

• Provide clear, practical and risk‑balanced legal advice to the People team and managers on the full‑range of employment matters including recruitment, performance and capability, absence management, redundancy consultations, and terminations.
• Draft, review and update employment contracts, contractor arrangements, policy documents, employment‑related provisions in commercial agreements and wider toolkits and templates for the People team.
• Provide guidance on employee relations issues and help prepare documentation relating to sensitive workplace matters.
• Manage employment‑related disputes and coordinate with external counsel where required.
• Assist with advising on UK immigration processes and right‑to‑work compliance.
• Advise on data privacy matters, including data subject access requests.
• Horizon scan, carry out legal research, and prepare summaries or guidance on relevant employment legislation and developments in case law.
• A key focus for 2026 and 2027 will be preparing for upcoming employment law changes and assessing their policy and strategic impact.
• Support change programmes (restructures, redundancy consultations, TUPE preparations) under the direction of senior counsel.
• Assist in delivering training to the People team and wider business on key employment compliance topics and changes in regulations.
• Support the wider Legal team when required.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience:

• Solicitor qualified in England & Wales with approximately 3–4 years’ PQE in employment law.
• In‑house experience is not required but the ability to be commercially minded and adaptable is a must.
• Strong understanding of UK employment law and relevant statutory frameworks.
• Experience advising organisations on a variety of employment matters (contentious and non‑contentious).
• Knowledge of UK immigration and right‑to‑work requirements (desirable).
• Ability to draft clear, concise documentation and adapt tone to audience.
• Comfortable working in a fast‑moving environment, managing competing priorities.
• Strong analytical skills, attention to detail and a proactive approach to learning.

Personal Attributes:

• Pragmatic and solutions‑focused approach.
• A team player.
• Embraces shared ownership of work within the Legal team, understanding that files may be reallocated based on capacity, priority or business demand.
• Comfortable taking on matters previously handled by colleagues and supporting the team to deliver consistent, high‑quality advice.
• Strong commercial awareness and ability to balance legal risk with operational needs.
• Calm under pressure, adaptable and able to operate with pace.
• Good professional judgment to identify when to raise matters and seek mentorship and direction from senior team members.
• Effective communicator with strong interpersonal skills.
• Self‑motivated, organised and able to work independently where needed.
• Maintains strong working relationships and acts with professionalism and integrity.
• Committed to continuous improvement.

What can McLaren offer? We constantly strive to be better tomorrow than we are today. Our ambition is to be the most pioneering and exhilarating racing team in the world, and our collective task is to set the standards for high performance in sport. We show up every day with energy and enthusiasm, ready to play our part. We encourage and support diversity, equity and inclusion. We will actively promote a culture that values difference and eliminates discrimination in our workplace. McLaren Racing is based at the iconic McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) near Woking. Here at McLaren, we offer hybrid working with 3 days a week based in the MTC. Our state of the art, sustainable campus offers many facilities including a gym, restaurant and indoor and outdoor break‑out areas, as well as direct access to park and common land. The MTC is connected to Woking mainline station via regular shuttle buses, from which London Waterloo is a 30 minute train ride. We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including private healthcare, car schemes, life insurance and generous pension contributions.