General Counsel, M&A and Treasury (London)

Unilever is a global consumer goods business with strong fundamentals and differentiated capabilities. We are a category-focused organisation dedicated to accelerating growth, powered by our robust fundamentals and capabilities. With around 400 brands, we meet consumers' daily needs, from household necessities to premium indulgences.

Our team works in factories, offices, distribution warehouses, R&D centres, and customer-facing roles across 100+ countries. We are building a lean and agile supply chain driven by advancements in technology, data, and AI. Our 5,000+ R&D experts are developing innovations to drive unmissable superiority. We are committed to a focused, urgent, and systemic sustainability agenda, supported by 15 short- and medium-term goals.

JOB PURPOSE

You will provide legal advice, expertise, and business partnering on Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) and Treasury matters and projects relating to Unilever PLC and the wider Unilever Group. You will support the M&A team on global acquisitions, disposals, and joint ventures, and the Treasury team on financing transactions (e.g., debt listings/issuances, renewal of standby facilities, commercial paper programmes, and other loan facilities). This includes associated general advice in relation to UK corporate law and regulatory matters for Unilever PLC.

This role will report to the Head of Legal M&A and will require an ability to interact with members of the Legal Leadership Team, Unilever Leadership Executive and Unilever Board. In this busy and demanding environment, a top-level service is required at all times. This role therefore requires a very senior lawyer who can interact regularly with a network of senior and international stakeholders, both inside the business and externally. To succeed in this role the individual is likely to need to be visible and present in the office.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Provide legal advice and corporate expertise, combining significant skills in commercial and corporate law with sound business acumen and knowledge of business goals and objectives.
• Lead advice on transaction structuring, due diligence, negotiation, and drafting of deal documentation for M&A and other Treasury-related transactions, both in relation to English law and with regard to local law, with input from local legal teams and external legal counsel, as necessary.
• Interact and engage with business and other functional teams where relevant to support the successful execution of each specific transaction or corporate project, acting as the primary contact where required.
• Instruct and manage external legal counsel, liaising effectively to ensure the efficient and timely resolution of issues relating to any relevant transaction.
• Manage transactions and support other corporate projects, including the management of processes and internal and external relationships.
• Assist and support the General Counsel Corporate and Deputy Secretary and the General Counsel Beauty and Wellbeing in other projects and corporate work, as required, on a flexible basis.
• Develop internal training materials and simulations to promote best practice issues management.

ALL ABOUT YOU

• Be a qualified M&A and corporate lawyer with at least 9-10 years of post-qualification experience.
• Have excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, ensuring your messages are concise, accurate, channel-specific, and audience-appropriate.
• Offer technically sound, pragmatic, and commercially focused legal advice relevant to the role, alongside strong judgment.
• Have extensive corporate and transaction experience, including working with multiple internal and external stakeholders and managing external international law firms.
• Have a strategic, creative, and solution-oriented approach, with a willingness to embrace and navigate risk to help Unilever achieve its objectives.
• Demonstrate strong leadership skills and an ability to command respect and inspire confidence.
• Possess excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to negotiate, influence decision-making, and work effectively across borders and functions at all levels.
• Work effectively and collaboratively as part of a team in a collegial, inclusive, and open atmosphere aimed at continuous improvement.
• Work flexibly to deadlines, with high levels of accuracy and attention to detail.

What we offer

Whilst the role is advertised on a full-time basis, we would be happy to discuss possible flexible working options and what this may look like for you. We strive to achieve a family-friendly and inclusive workplace and to, above all, create possibilities for all.

Diversity at Unilever is about inclusion, embracing differences, creating possibilities and growing together for better business performance. We embrace diversity in our workforce. This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants and continuing development of all employees regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity. We are also more than happy to provide reasonable adjustments during our application and interview process to enable you to be present your best self.

Location

In June 2020 we announced our plan to consolidate a number of Unilever's offices across the South East of England into a new Unilever campus in Kingston-upon-Thames in or around early 2025. However, on the 08 August 2024 we announced to our existing staff our proposal to retain our central Head Office in London, 100 Victoria Embankment (100VE) until our lease expires in 2027. As a result of this new proposal, we will be consulting with our existing staff, and new joiners who join during this period of consultation at 100VE, on the proposal made in August 2024. During consultation we will clarify the future location of each team and function. This means your role will either be based in 100VE until 2027 or in Kingston-Upon-Thames from early 2025. As we are yet to commence consultation on the proposal you agree, until such a time when consultation has concluded, your normal place of work as set out in the enclosed Statement of Terms & Conditions will be 100VE. You agree that on the conclusion of the consultation your place of work will be 100VE or 100VE until early 2025 and then Kingston-upon-Thames (the locations) and you will be notified of which of the locations will be your place of work after that consultation ends.