Legal Counsel

Purpose

To provide high-quality, commercially focused and pragmatic legal advice across the Group’s general commercial and property-related activities, with particular focus on SIPP and SSAS property matters, panel solicitor management, corporate property support, property disputes, compliance programme support and business-as-usual commercial advisory work.

The role is intended for a self-sufficient property lawyer who can manage their own workload, advise business stakeholders directly and identify when matters require escalation or specialist external support. It also offers scope to develop broader commercial legal experience within a supportive in-house Legal team and regulated financial services environment.

• Property
• Act as a key Legal contact for property-related matters across the Group, building trusted stakeholder relationships and providing clear, practical and risk-based advice
• Manage relationships with the Group’s property panel solicitor firms, including service delivery, review meetings, fee discussions and alignment with internal requirements.
• Support the effective management of legal risk arising from SIPP and SSAS property portfolios, corporate property matters, facilities arrangements, office occupation matters, property disputes and operational property issues.
• Monitor relevant legal, regulatory and market developments and provide timely updates to stakeholders.
• Support property-related compliance and risk initiatives, advising on legal risks, process changes and control enhancements.
• Maintain property-related precedents, guidance notes and documentation, including instructing and managing external solicitors where matters are outsourced.
• Provide legal support to the Property Oversight team and other stakeholders on transactional property queries, platform migration activities, strategic initiatives and business-as-usual issues.
• Assist with property-related disputes, complaints risk and material fee debt recovery where there is potential corporate liability, customer impact, reputational risk or wider legal significance.
• Work collaboratively across Legal, Compliance, Operations, Facilities, Property Oversight and with external law firms to ensure property matters are handled efficiently, consistently and in line with the Group’s risk appetite.

• General Commercial
• Support drafting, reviewing, negotiating and providing commercially focused and pragmatic legal advice to stakeholders across the Group on supplier arrangements (including technology and software, intra-group and data arrangements) as well as other standard commercial arrangements with asset managers, discretionary fund managers and investment managers.
• Support proposition development and business change initiatives across the Group, advising on legal, regulatory and contractual considerations to enable the delivery of new products, services and strategic initiatives.
• Negotiate and assist in maintaining and updating template agreements used across the Group’s retail and Enterprise businesses, ensuring they remain aligned to legal, regulatory and commercial requirements.
• Support the development and maintenance of commercial precedents, guidance notes and contracting playbooks to drive consistency and efficiency across the business.

• Strong technical property law skills, with the ability to advise confidently on a wide range of commercial property matters.
• Sound legal judgement and risk assessment, including the ability to distinguish between issues that can be managed pragmatically and those requiring escalation.
• Ability to manage a varied workload independently, prioritise competing demands and maintain quality and pace in a busy in-house environment.
• Excellent…