Senior Lawyer

We support flexible working – Flexible Working Options include flexibility in when hours are worked, hybrid working, job share, and reduced hours.

Job Description Summary

Location(s): Edinburgh, Bristol, Leeds and Chester

Hours: Full-time

Working Pattern: Our work style is hybrid, which involves spending at least two days per week, or 40% of our time, at one of our office sites. Colleagues with disabilities can be supported with workplace adjustments including hybrid working expectations in line with our Flexibility Works policy.

Job Description

Debt Products Legal (DPL) brings together specialist lending lawyers supporting Corporate & Institutional Banking (CIB) and Business & Commercial Banking (BCB) across the full credit lifecycle, including strategic change, product development, complex lending transactions, portfolio management, restructuring and recoveries. We are looking for a Senior Lawyer to support principally our lending proposition within CIB. This includes providing legal advice and support across Leveraged Finance, Infrastructure & Project Finance, Funds Finance, Investment Grade Lending and other complex lending activity across CIB.

This is a role at the heart of some of the Group’s most significant and strategically important lending activity. You will provide high-quality, pragmatic legal advice on strategic matters and product development as well as supporting lending transactions, working closely with senior stakeholders across CIB, Risk, Product and Legal & Secretariat. As Lloyds Banking Group delivers its Accelerate 2030 strategy, DPL has an important role to play in helping the business grow safely and sustainably, supporting the Group’s ambition to make finance simpler, smarter and more connected for the moments that matter.

For DPL, that means combining deep legal expertise with commercial judgement, curiosity and a focus on better ways of working. We want lawyers who can help the business deliver strategic projects and complex lending transactions, and who can manage legal risk effectively, support innovation and contribute to an agile, insightful and future-facing legal team. We work collaboratively across DPL and the wider Legal & Secretariat community, deploying expertise where it can add the greatest value and have the biggest impact. We will encourage you to do what is right, empower you to make good decisions and invest in your development so that you can continue to grow, learn and build your career.

Key accountabilities:

• Supporting the CIB lending businesses, in delivering their strategic growth ambitions through commercially focused advice and effective legal risk management.
• Working collaboratively with senior business, risk and other stakeholders to support good customer outcomes and clear legal risk management.
• Representing DPL and BCB & CIB Legal at relevant governance forums, committees and working groups.
• Providing expert legal advice on complex lending transactions, drawing on strong knowledge and practical experience of working on lending transactions.
• Advising on legal, regulatory and market developments.
• Coaching colleagues and helping build legal capability, technical confidence and commercial judgement across DPL.
• Developing legal insights that improve DPL’s effectiveness and support the delivery of strategic priorities and complex lending transactions.
• Identifying opportunities to simplify, standardise and improve the way legal services are delivered, including through technology, data, automation and emerging AI-enabled solutions.
• Supporting wider Legal & Secretariat and business initiatives aligned to Accelerate 2030, including work that improves connectivity, efficiency and the quality of legal risk management.

Why join us?

We’re transforming at pace. Investing billions in our people, data and tech to change the way we meet the needs of our 28 million customers. We’re growing, and we’d love you to be part of the journey.

What we’re looking for:

• Legally qualified in England & Wales, Scotland, or with an equivalent legal qualification, and with a current legal practicing certificate.
• Considerable technical expertise in corporate and institutional lending with significant experience of advising on broader legal and regulatory issues which affect financial institutions like LBG, such as ring-fencing, cross-border and ESG.
• Experience in respect of the terms of finance documentation (including current market positions).
• Confidence when working with senior stakeholders to deliver pragmatic, commercially focused solutions, balancing legal risk with customer and business outcomes and constructively challenging to help the business get to 'yes' safely.
• Ability to lead, develop and motivate colleagues to achieve their potential and deliver outstanding outcomes, working collaboratively with fellow senior lawyers.
• Experience in coaching, supporting or developing others.
• A growth mindset and willingness to contribute to the continued development of DPL and the wider Legal & Secretariat function.

And any experience of these would be great:

• Experience in Leverage Finance, Infrastructure & Project Finance, Funds Finance, Investment Grade Lending or other complex lending products.
• Experience in financial services regulation.
• Experience in advising lenders on restructuring & insolvency situations.
• Experience in supporting product development, product governance or strategic lending initiatives from a legal perspective.
• Experience advising on ring-fencing, cross-border transactions and the legal and regulatory challenges associated with international banking structures.
• Experience in engaging with external counsel, industry bodies and market participants, including the Loan Market Association.

We know that great talent comes from many backgrounds. Whilst this job advert may reference specific years of experience, we recognise that skills are developed in many ways, so if you have relevant, transferable experience, this is a place for you. Our ambition is to be the leading UK business for diversity, equity and inclusion supporting our customers, colleagues and communities, and we’re committed to creating an environment in which everyone can thrive, learn and develop.

We were one of the first major organisations to set goals on diversity in senior roles, create a menopause health package, and a dedicated Working with Cancer Initiative. We offer reasonable workplace adjustments for colleagues with disabilities, including flexibility in office attendance, location and working patterns. As a Disability Confident Leader, we guarantee interviews for a fair and proportionate number of applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the role with a disability, long-term health or neurodivergent condition through the Disability Confident Scheme. We provide reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process to reduce or remove barriers. Just let us know what you need.

We also offer a wide-ranging benefits package, which includes:

• A generous pension contribution of up to 15%
• An annual performance-related bonus
• Share schemes including free shares
• Benefits you can adapt to your lifestyle, such as discounted shopping
• 30 days' holiday, with bank holidays on top
• A range of wellbeing initiatives and generous parental leave policies

At Lloyds Banking Group, we're driven by a clear purpose; to help Britain prosper. Across the Group, our colleagues are focused on making a difference to customers, businesses and communities. With us you'll have a key role to play in shaping the financial services of the future, whilst the scale and reach of our Group means you'll have many opportunities to learn, grow and develop.

We keep your data safe. So, we'll only ever ask you to provide confidential or sensitive information once you have formally invited along to an interview or accepted a verbal offer to join us which is when we run our background checks. We'll always explain what we need and why, with any request coming from a trusted Lloyds Banking Group person.

We're focused on creating a values-led culture and are committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the customers and communities we serve. Together we’re building a truly inclusive workplace where all of our colleagues have the opportunity to make a real difference. With 320 years under our belt, we're used to change, and today is no different. Join us and help drive this change, shaping the future of finance whilst working at pace to deliver for our customers.

Here, you'll do the best work of your career. Your impact will be amplified by our scale as you learn and develop, gaining skills for the future.