Legal Counsel, Wholesale Legal in Reading

We’re looking for a commercially astute Legal Counsel to join our Wholesale Legal team at an exciting time for Virgin Media O2. Supporting our Mobile and Fixed Wholesale businesses, you’ll play a key role in shaping, negotiating and delivering strategically important commercial agreements that power connectivity across the UK. This is a fantastic opportunity for a junior lawyer ready to step into a high-impact, business-facing role within one of the UK’s largest and most ambitious organisations.

Reporting to a Senior Legal Counsel, you’ll advise on a broad range of complex wholesale telecoms contracts – from MVNO and reseller agreements to bandwidth, IRUs, dark fibre and colocation arrangements. You’ll partner closely with commercial, sales and product teams, providing pragmatic, commercially focused advice across the full contract lifecycle – from structuring and negotiation through to in-life management, disputes, renewals and new product launches. Alongside deal support, you’ll contribute to precedent development, knowledge sharing and continuous improvement within the GCO, helping to build a high-performing, collaborative legal function.

Virgin Media O2 is an equal opportunities employer, and we’re working hard to remove bias and barriers for our people and candidates. So, we build equity and inclusion into everything we do, from the policies we craft to the relationships we shape. We support and encourage you to be your authentic self throughout your application journey with us.

The must haves:

• Qualified solicitor or barrister with at least 2 years’ post-qualification experience in commercial contracts (private practice or in-house).
• Proven experience drafting and negotiating large-scale, complex B2B commercial agreements, including customer and partner contracts and service level arrangements.
• Strong commercial judgement with excellent drafting and negotiation skills.
• Ability to communicate complex legal advice clearly and succinctly to legal and non-legal stakeholders at varying levels of seniority.
• Experience managing multiple matters in a fast-paced environment, exercising good judgement and knowing when to bring up issues.

The other stuff we are looking for:

• Experience in the IT or telecommunications sector, particularly wholesale, MVNO or connectivity agreements.
• Experience advising on contract interpretation, disputes, renewals and product launches.
• Confidence working cross-functionally with commercial, product, compliance, data protection and other specialist legal teams.
• Experience instructing and managing external counsel in a cost-effective manner.
• A proactive, collaborative mindset with a passion for continuous improvement and knowledge sharing.

What’s in it for you:

Our goal is to celebrate our people, their lives, and everything in-between. We aim to create a culture that empowers everyone to bring the best versions of themselves to work each and every day. We believe the most inclusive and diverse culture makes for a better business and a brighter world. Working at Virgin Media O2, you get a bumper reward package bursting with benefits, and loads of extras you can add if you’d like. These are designed to support both you and your loved ones, making sure that you’re covered no matter what life throws your way.

Next steps:

If we feel like a place where you can belong, we’d love to learn more about you as a person and your experience to date. Once you’ve submitted an application the next steps of the process, if successful, are likely to include two stages of interview and a Saville Assessment. When you apply, you’ll be asked about any adjustments you might need to support the recruitment process. Let us know, and we’ll be sure to discuss it with you.

Please note: Applications will be reviewed, and interviews conducted throughout the duration of this advert, therefore we may bring the closing date forward. We encourage all interested applicants to apply as soon as possible. If you’re offered a job with us, it will be conditional, based on the passing of background checks. All roles require a criminal record check and some roles need a financial probity check. Your recruiter can provide you with more information if needed.

Thanks for your patience and for showing an interest in joining the Virgin Media O2 family. Things move pretty fast around here. New tech, new products, new ideas - and new opportunities for talented people like you. So, create a tailored job alert and we’ll let you know as soon as your dream role’s ready for you.