Senior Legal Counsel - Capital Risk Solutions

This is your opportunity to join AXIS Capital - a trusted global provider of specialty lines insurance and reinsurance. We stand apart for our outstanding client service, intelligent risk taking and superior risk adjusted returns for our shareholders. We also proudly maintain an entrepreneurial, disciplined and ethical corporate culture. As a member of AXIS, you join a team that is among the best in the industry.

At AXIS, we believe that we are only as strong as our people. We strive to create an inclusive and welcoming culture where employees of all backgrounds and from all walks of life feel comfortable and empowered to be themselves. This means that we bring our whole selves to work.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion or creed, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, age, marital status, civil union status, family or parental status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Accommodation is available upon request for candidates taking part in the selection process.

The Capital Risk Solutions ('CRS') team provide credit risk transfer solutions to commercial and investment banks, private credit funds, multilateral development banks and export credit agencies. The CRS team comprises approximately 15 professionals across underwriting, portfolio management and risk analytics, and legal. The global team is located in London, Singapore, Zurich and Bermuda with an underwriting strategy that focuses primarily on project finance, aircraft finance and significant risk transfer as well as other credit and structured credit transactions.

• Project finance: infrastructure and other major projects worldwide financed through syndicated project finance facilities.
• Aircraft finance: insurance-backed aircraft financing, including transactions through AFIC (Aircraft Finance Insurance Consortium) and SAAFI (Sompo AXIS Aircraft Finance Insurance).
• Structured finance: funded and unfunded Significant Risk Transfer transactions and related capital relief structures.

This is a senior in-house legal role in which the successful candidate will be one of two lawyers within the team and will act as senior legal counsel across a broad range of complex, cross-border transactions. The role is supported by a Senior Legal Advisor, with whom the successful candidate will work closely, providing day-to-day legal leadership and oversight of transactional and advisory matters.

The position offers significant autonomy and a close, collaborative working relationship with senior business stakeholders. It provides a rare combination of intellectually challenging work and a more sustainable working pattern than is typically available in top-tier private practice.

General transactional support

• Provide senior legal support on the structuring, documentation and negotiation of complex insurance-backed credit risk transactions.
• Draft, review and negotiate insurance policies, reinsurance policies, financial guarantees and related transaction documentation.
• Assess legal, contractual, regulatory and enforcement risks and provide commercially practical advice to business stakeholders.
• Work closely with underwriters and other members of the Capital Risk Solutions team throughout the life of each transaction.

Structured finance and Significant Risk Transfer transactions

• Support funded and unfunded Significant Risk Transfer transactions.
• Work with funding platforms and counterparties to structure insurance policies or financial guarantees so that they operate effectively with Credit Linked Notes and related funding arrangements.
• Review and negotiate purchase, funding and security arrangements to protect AXIS Capital's position.
• Advise on legal issues relating to risk transfer, security, insolvency, enforcement and transaction mechanics.

Aircraft finance transactions

• Support insurance-backed aircraft finance transactions, including those executed through Aircraft Finance Insurance Consortium and Sompo AXIS Aviation Finance Insurance.
• Work with co-insurers and external counsel to structure, document and negotiate transactions.
• Instruct and manage external law firms from AXIS Capital's panel of leading international firms.
• Maintain a strong working knowledge of the key finance and security documents required to implement aircraft finance transactions.
• Advise on AXIS Capital's role where it acts as the Insurer Representative, including rights, obligations and enforcement-related decision making in default scenarios.

Project finance transactions

• Support project finance transactions involving major international banks, multilateral financial institutions and export credit agencies.
• Review the key legal and commercial elements of project financings relevant to AXIS Capital's risk position.
• Draft and negotiate insurance and reinsurance documentation for project-related risks and non-payment exposures.

Claims, restructurings and recoveries

• Play a leading legal role in relation to non-performing transactions.
• Advise on restructurings, defaults, claims under policies and subsequent recovery strategies.
• Support negotiations and enforcement strategy involving insureds, lenders, obligors, co-insurers and other stakeholders.

Regulatory, tax and compliance support

• Advise on admitted and non-admitted insurance issues, insurance tax considerations and sanctions compliance.
• Work closely with AXIS' tax, compliance and other internal control functions.
• Help ensure that documentation and business practices remain aligned with applicable legal and regulatory requirements across relevant jurisdictions.

About You:

We encourage you to bring your own experience and expertise to the table, so while there are some qualifications and experiences, we need you to have, we are open to discussing how your individual knowledge might lend itself to fulfilling this role and help us achieve our goals.

What we prefer you to have:

Required qualifications and experience

• England and Wales qualified solicitor with at least 10 years' post qualification experience gained in private practice with a leading international law firm.
• Excellent analytical, drafting and negotiation skills under English law.
• Strong experience in one or more of the following areas: banking and finance, structured finance, credit risk insurance or financial guarantee products.
• Experience of complex cross-border transactions.
• Good understanding of security structures, enforcement, insolvency and creditor protection mechanics.
• Ability to deliver commercially focused advice within a specialist credit team.

Desirable experience

• Experience of Significant Risk Transfer transactions, Credit Linked Notes or similar capital relief and structured finance transactions.
• Experience of insurance-backed aircraft financing.
• Experience handling distressed transactions, claims, recoveries or restructurings.
• Knowledge of admitted and non-admitted insurance rules, insurance premium tax and sanctions issues.

Personal attributes

• Strong analytical skills.
• Commercially minded and pragmatic.
• Comfortable operating autonomously in a lean and specialist team.
• Good judgment and attention to detail.
• Collaborative and effective with senior internal and external stakeholders.
• Interested in complex, specialist products at the intersection of insurance and finance.