Employment Legal Counsel in Birmingham

Hybrid from any of our UK offices. We welcome applications from candidates looking for full time or part time hours. Succession Wealth, part of the Aviva Group, is one of the UK’s leading independent financial planning and wealth management organisations. With around 1,000 colleagues across the UK, we’re proud to support individuals, families and businesses in building long‑term confidence in their financial wellbeing. As an FCA‑regulated firm, we’re united by a shared commitment to integrity, collaboration and exceptional client service. Our people are central to everything we do – working together to deliver trusted advice, positive client outcomes and a supportive, high‑performing culture.

The role… We have a fantastic opportunity for an experienced Employment lawyer to join our in‑house legal team. This is a newly created role designed to move the organisation from reliance on external, transactional legal advice to in‑house capability that supports confident, consistent and defensible people decisions. Working closely with the HR team and Leaders across the business, the Employment Legal Counsel will provide timely, pragmatic advice that supports good outcomes, acting as a trusted internal adviser, embedded in the business, providing legal expertise that is preventative, aligned to organisational values and risk appetite and closely integrated with HR and leadership decision‑making.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Providing practical, timely employment law advice across the employee lifecycle, identifying risk early and recommending proportionate, values‑aligned solutions.
• Supporting complex employee relations matters, advising HR and leaders on performance, disciplinary, grievance, investigations, exits and other high‑risk or sensitive cases.
• Managing employment disputes and litigation, including tribunal claims, ACAS early conciliation, settlement strategy and instruction of external counsel where required.
• Advising on organisational change activity, including restructures, changes to terms, TUPE and workforce transitions linked to corporate activity.
• Drafting, reviewing and maintaining employment documentation, including contracts, policies, templates and settlement agreements, ensuring consistency and legal robustness.
• Strengthen governance, capability and consistency, delivering training, improving processes and contributing to approvals, reporting and continuous improvement.

What you’ll bring…

• We’re looking for a pragmatic, confident and collaborative employment lawyer with circa 5 years+ PQE gained either in private practice or in‑house.
• A strong understanding of UK employment law and the ability to translate legal principles into clear, practical guidance.
• Strong experience of supporting HR teams with a range of ER matters and drafting contracts, policies and settlement agreements.
• Ability to communicate in a confident and credible manner, build trust and influence at all levels.
• Strong judgement under pressure, maintaining discretion, focus and objectivity.
• A commercial, solutions focussed approach, balancing risk with practical outcomes and offering clear options rather than barriers.
• A continuous improvement mindset, focused on reducing repeat issues.

What you can expect from us…

• A competitive salary, annual pay reviews and performance linked increases as well as a fantastic range of benefits including:
• 25 days Annual leave rapidly increasing with service, plus bank holidays and additional days for Christmas closure.
• Excellent company pension scheme with a generous employer contribution.
• Agile and family friendly working arrangements to allow for a great work/life balance.
• Company sick pay.
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay.
• Up to 40% discount on Aviva Insurance & Investment products.
• £465 towards the purchase of home office equipment.
• Group Life Assurance Scheme: 8 x salary.
• Access to the Benefit Hub; discounts on shopping, dining out, holidays and lots more!
• A range of health benefits including eye care vouchers, flu vaccinations, Annual Health Screening, Digital GP, Mental health and Nutrition Sessions and Employee Assistance Programme.
• Voluntary flexible benefits platform including Private Medical Insurance, Medical Cash Plan, Dental Insurance, Critical Illness and Health Screening.
• Support with cost of professional exams/study days.
• Charity Days.
• Company Events.

Succession is committed to building and preserving a culture of inclusion and diversity. With a diverse team of employees we are able to grow, innovate and deliver excellent client care to help us reach our goals as a business. Our diverse teams help us reflect and understand the communities in which we operate and the subjects we cover in our everyday work. In recruiting for Succession, we welcome the unique contributions all candidates can bring regardless of their background and strive to ensure that every candidate is given the best chance of success through fair and equitable recruitment practice.