Senior Legal Counsel

Better places, thriving communities. This is a senior in-house employment law role responsible for delivering strategic, commercial and pragmatic legal advice and support across a large and fast-moving organisation. This role will partner closely with HR, senior leadership and other legal colleagues to manage legal risk, support business change and help shape legally compliant, people-focused solutions. We are looking for a talented and enthusiastic all-rounder who is as comfortable running an employment tribunal caseload as reviewing and negotiating a TUPE schedule.

Responsibilities

• Advise HR and business leaders on legally complex, sensitive and high-risk employee relations matters, including disciplinary and grievance issues, discrimination, whistleblowing, restructures, redundancy, TUPE, business change, restrictive covenants, senior exits and settlement agreements, balancing legal risk with commercial and operational considerations.
• Manage or oversee employment litigation and pre-claim disputes, including instructing and supervising external counsel, reviewing pleadings, shaping case strategy and supporting witness preparation.
• Lead or support major employment law projects, including harmonisation exercises, policy changes, collective consultation, reorganisations, acquisitions, outsourcing and insourcing activity.
• Provide transactional support to TUPE transfers, bid, proposals and contract negotiations.
• Draft, review and update employment-related documentation, including contracts, policies, templates, guidance notes and training materials.
• Monitor legislative and case law developments, assess business impact and drive implementation of required legal or policy changes.
• Deliver clear, practical training and know-how to HR, managers and other stakeholders to improve capability and support compliant decision-making.
• Contribute to legal risk management and governance reporting, including identifying trends, advising on mitigation strategies and supporting reporting to senior forums where required.
• Build strong relationships across the organisation and act as a trusted advisor on employment law issues affecting strategic initiatives and day-to-day operations.
• Support the development of the employment law team, including mentoring junior colleagues, sharing knowledge and helping to improve processes, precedents and ways of working.

Qualifications

• Professional qualification as a Solicitor, Barrister or Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives.
• Substantial experience advising on complex employment law matters (both contentious and non-contentious).
• History of managing a litigation caseload.
• Experience managing senior stakeholders and delivering commercially focused advice in a pragmatic, solutions-oriented way.
• Ability to influence and engage senior stakeholders.
• High-level communication skills.
• Ability to operate independently, multitask, work well under pressure and use own initiative.
• Good presentation skills both internally and client-facing.
• Collaborative approach, with a strong commitment to team development, knowledge sharing and continuous improvement.

Desirable

• Experience of a fast-paced in-house legal function.
• Experience instructing/ managing external legal services providers.