Legal Counsel

A fantastic In-House opportunity has arisen with a leading organisation based in Oxfordshire. The highly regarded organisation are seeking to recruit a commercially minded solicitor. This role offers excellent career progression and opportunities.

About the Legal Counsel role:

The legal team support all the central teams at this highly regarded business as well as maintaining oversight of and providing support to the legal teams in other jurisdictions in which company has locations.

The business are seeking a confident, commercially minded and highly motivated solicitor to fill this key role in the legal team based in Oxfordshire. In this role you will specifically support the Deputy Legal Director and cover a wider variety of areas.

The diverse areas that you will deal with will include but are not restricted to: Corporate Administration & Governance, Data Protection and CRM, Human Resources, Procurement and General Contracts. This is a varied role with an abundance of learning opportunities.

You will need to be able to develop close working relationships with senior members of the management team. Equally important for the company are personality, fit with the culture and the soft skills required successfully to fill this key role.

Key Responsibilities for this Legal Counsel Include:

Corporate Administration and Governance
* Monitoring of compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements affecting the business and advise on upcoming legislative and regulatory changes;
* Involvement in establishing and monitoring internal policies and procedures;
* Preparation of shareholder and board papers together with any related documentation and the running of shareholder and board meetings;
* Support to the Company Secretary with maintenance of company books and all filings;
* Production of other corporate documents such as powers of attorney and review of all draft POAs and resolutions;
* Regular advice regarding compliance with banking covenants;
* Drafting corporate management agreements;
* Drafting confidentiality, NDA and non-compete letters.

Data Protection and the CRM
* Liaison with colleagues and external counsel to ensure corporate compliance with data protection legislation and preparation for GDPR.

Human Resources
* Advice on employment-related issues (both contentious and non-contentious);
* Advice and support in the contractual aspects of the different arrangements relating to employee benefits;
* Advice on and review new employee related policies for example relating to social media;
* Preparation of consultancy agreements.

Procurement
* Support for initiatives to improve procurement and other business systems.

General
* Advice on Health & Safety;
* Monitoring and interpretation of sustainability legislation;
* Support in any litigation in which the business may be involved;
* Support in managing external counsel relationships overseas across the business, including managing engagement agreements;
* Summarising and communicating complex legal concepts effectively to various stakeholders at all levels in the business, demonstrating both flexibility and an intuitive approach in all communications;
* Assisting with the development and implementation of education and training on topics where staff need to be aware of the legal background and context;

Personal Characteristics
* Strong client relationship skills are a must, proven success in building internal and external partnerships, demonstrating the ability to work with people at different levels and from different backgrounds and from different countries
* Negotiator with the ability to demonstrate sound commercial and business acumen
* A strong dynamic "can do" flexible approach demonstrating a professional and proactive attitude
* Ability to participate effectively and constructively as a member of a team with the ability to influence and communicate effectively with colleagues and cross-functional teams at all levels of the business.
* Good sense of humour with a capacity to have fun and enjoy the working environment and its challenges

You will be a UK qualified solicitor from a City or large regional practice (or overseas equivalent) and may have a minimum of 2 years PQE with evidence of excellent training within commercial law/commercial contracts/data protection/governance and employment law but this does not preclude someone with more qualified experience from applying for the role.