VP Counsel in London

PIMCO is a global leader in active fixed income with deep expertise across public and private markets. We invest our clients’ capital across a range of fixed income and credit opportunities, leveraging our decades of experience navigating complex debt markets. Our flexible capital base and deep relationships with issuers have helped us become one of the world’s largest providers of traditional and nontraditional solutions for companies that need financing and investors who seek strong risk-adjusted returns. Since 1971, our people have shaped our organization through a high-performance inclusive culture, in which we celebrate diverse thinking. We invest in our people and strive to imprint our CORE values of Collaboration, Openness, Responsibility and Excellence. We believe each of us is here to help others succeed and this has led to PIMCO being recognized as an innovator, industry thought leader and trusted advisor to our clients.

Position Overview

PIMCO is seeking an exceptional investment management attorney to join its EMEA Legal team. This role is designed for a technically strong, commercially minded lawyer who can provide hands-on legal advice across key business functions, including the trade floor / portfolio management, client facing, product management and compliance, in relation to a diverse institutional client base including funds such as UCITS and AIFs. The role will be based in London and will work closely with other lawyers in PIMCO’s European Legal team, which supports all aspects of PIMCO’s business in EMEA, as well as the global distribution of PIMCO’s European funds.

Key Responsibilities

• Acting as a key legal adviser on portfolio management and trading-related issues, including providing legal advice on investment guideline interpretation and compliance, working closely with portfolio managers, compliance and risk.
• Advising the trade floor, client facing teams, product teams and compliance on eligibility and guideline questions (including for PIMCO UCITS and AIFMD funds, and sub-advised fund clients), including complex or novel issues.
• Advising on legal issues arising from institutional client mandates, fund investment arrangements and complex account structures, particularly where these intersect with investment activity or trading constraints.
• Advising on investment requirements across different clients/product types and jurisdictions. Contributing to updates to investment rule coding, guideline frameworks and governance or investment-related forums, including as needed to cover regulatory change or evolving market practice.
• Providing advice across regulations relevant to the trade floor, including UCITS/AIFMD, MiFID, Benchmarks Regulation, Securitisation Regulation, regulatory reporting regimes such as SFTR / EMIR and short selling rules, across both EU and UK regimes, including monitoring and advising on areas of regulatory divergence.
• Advising on day-to-day transactions, trading issues and real-time wall crossing / MNPI / market sounding matters.
• Providing transactional support to the trade floor, including in relation to private placements and structured investments, and advising on documentation, constraints and key execution risks.
• Advising on investment-related elements of fund documentation, including interaction between investment strategy, guidelines and legal restrictions.
• Supporting fund restructurings, investment strategy changes and trading activity that raise legal or regulatory interpretation questions.
• Advising portfolio management, product, client facing teams and compliance on ESG regulatory requirements, including ESG investment restrictions, PAI reporting, ESG-related disclosures and fund classifications and the practical impact of evolving ESG guidance on portfolios and trading activity.

Experience Required

• Qualified lawyer with strong investment management experience, ideally within an asset manager or leading law firm.
• Good understanding of global fixed income management, securitisations, credit, equities, derivatives, public and private funds, commodities and real estate.
• Demonstrated experience advising on trade floor / investment-related legal and regulatory issues, including investment restrictions, eligibility analysis and real-time trading questions.
• Strong technical knowledge of UCITS/AIFMD investment powers, restrictions and guidelines.
• Experience instructing and working efficiently with external counsel, including across multiple disciplines/jurisdictions.
• Ability to provide clear, practical, timely and commercially focused advice to investment professionals.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Desirable Attributes

• Approximately 5+ years’ post-qualification experience in investment management or financial services law.
• Prior experience supporting portfolio managers, traders or investment product teams.
• Strong analytical skills and attention to detail, particularly in complex regulatory or guideline-driven matters.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and deliver high-quality advice under time pressure.
• Collaborative working style and strong professional judgment.

PIMCO offers a highly collaborative, intellectually rigorous environment with exposure to complex investment products and global markets. This role provides a strong platform for an attorney seeking to deepen technical expertise at the intersection of law, investing and trading, within a leading global asset manager.