General Counsel in Harlow

Closing Date: 4th October 2026

Salary: Circa £97,000

Hours: 37.5 hours per week - Monday to Friday (flexibility required for later meetings etc)

Reports to: Head of Governance

Location: Harlow, Essex. Easily commutable from London Liverpool Street or Tottenham Hale Station. We offer a free minibus service to/from Harlow Town Train Station as well as free parking and EV charging on site. On an adhoc occasion you may be asked to work in London.

Extra Information: Open to conversation on hybrid, flexible and compressed working arrangements.

Key relationships:

• Motability CEO and Motability Board
• Motability Executive Team, Senior Managers and all staff
• Motability Operations Management and legal function

About the role:

The position is an in-house legal role, General Counsel, within the Governance team at Motability Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to creating a future where all disabled people have the transport options to make the journeys they choose. Working alongside the current General Counsel who works 3 days per week, this role plays a key part in supporting and protecting the organisation's interests by providing practical legal advice across a broad range of areas, including grants, contracts, disputes, governance and operational matters. The role also involves overseeing external legal advisers where required and helping to manage legal risk across the Foundation's activities.

What you will be doing:

• Act as General Counsel, providing (or arranging) sound, thorough and practical legal advice to the Charity and, in particular, its management, helping to protect and advance the interests of the Foundation and the people it supports in legal matters and negotiations.
• Support best practice across the Group's activities, particularly in legal and governance matters.
• Draft, review, negotiate and advise on a range of contracts, including grant agreements, supplier agreements and key partnership agreements.
• Support compliance and regulatory matters across the Group's activities.
• Attend Complaints Panel meetings, which review escalated complaints, and provide legal advice, including advice relating to potential disputes.
• Support colleagues with trade mark, domain name and other intellectual property (IP) queries.
• Keep up to date with legal and regulatory developments, identifying issues and topics relevant to Motability as they arise and recommending appropriate responses.
• Escalate significant legal issues to the Executive Team and/or Board where necessary.
• Support the Board of Governors and Committees during closed sessions, including minute-taking where required.
• Instruct, or support the instruction of, external counsel and trade mark attorneys where required.

Your experience:

• Experienced professional lawyer, registered to practice as a solicitor in England & Wales;
• Broad legal knowledge, strong commercial awareness and sound judgement, with the ability to develop effective and practical solutions to complex issues.
• Experience drafting, reviewing and negotiating a wide range of contracts.
• Experience working within a charity or not-for-profit organisation and advising on charity law.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work independently, prioritise effectively and manage a varied workload.
• Experience managing external legal budgets and instructing external counsel, solicitors and trade mark attorneys.
• Experience supporting disputes and contentious legal matters.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to influence and build credibility with stakeholders at all levels.
• Ability to work collaboratively and develop positive working relationships with stakeholders, including working closely with the other part-time postholder to deliver a seamless legal service.
• Ability to stay up to date with legal developments relevant to the charity sector, maintaining an awareness of the wider environment in which Motability operates.
• Demonstrates integrity, discretion, diplomacy and a commitment to maintaining confidentiality.
• Ability to represent the charity externally on legal matters and develop effective professional networks within the charity and legal sectors.

If you’re interested in applying and excited about working with us but are unsure if you have the right skills and experience, we'd still encourage you to apply.

Benefits:

• 26 days annual leave, plus the option to buy/sell up to five days.
• One wellbeing day for extra flexibility.
• Pension scheme - Up to 20%, including a 10% non-contributory contribution and matched contributions up to 5%.
• Life Assurance of four times your salary.
• Private healthcare through BUPA for you and your family, along with a Medicash Health Plan.
• Employee assistance programme: GP appointments, eye tests, flu vaccinations, sick pay and free gym and yoga sessions.
• Enhanced Parental Leave, including Adoption Pay.
• Free parking, EV charge points and a minibus service to/from the town centre and train station.
• Fresh fruit, breakfast snacks, and a Dress for Your Day dress code.
• Learning and development opportunities to help you grow.

Our vision is to create a charity where everyone feels like they belong, benefits from and participates in, the work we do. We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and cultures, and we aim to be an employer of choice for candidates with disabilities.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we have committed to ensuring that disabled people and those with long term health conditions have the opportunities to fulfil their potential. We want to ensure everyone has the opportunity to perform their best when interviewing and when working with us, so if you require any reasonable adjustments that would make you more comfortable, please let us know so that we can do our best to support you. To help us create an inclusive workplace we are committed to offering to interview every disabled applicant who meets the minimum criteria for the job.