In-house counsel, Law​/Legal

Head of Talent | Hiring across UK & Canada In-House Legal Counsel

Location: Wilmslow - Hybrid

Citation Group is a collective of businesses dedicated to supporting small and medium-sized enterprises across a range of essential services. We understand that managing a business involves balancing multiple priorities - from maintaining customer satisfaction and regulatory compliance to developing teams and achieving sustainable growth. Our mission is to ease these pressures by providing expertise, guidance, and solutions that enable business leaders to focus on strategic success.

From HR and Health & Safety to Cybersecurity, E-Learning, and ISO compliance, we’ve got you covered.

We are a high-growth, fast-paced organisation with ambitious plans for the future. Backed by Private Equity, we acquire 6–8 businesses each year and consistently achieve double-digit year‑YOY. Our strategy combines both organic expansion and strategic acquisitions. As we grow, we are committed to providing opportunities for our people to grow alongside us, developing their careers in step with the business.

The role

We're seeking an ambitious and commercially-minded in‑house lawyer to join at a pivotal time for the Group. This is an exceptional opportunity to gain broad exposure across multiple business units, industries and transaction types.

You’ll work alongside the General Counsel and external advisors on everything from day‑to‑day commercial matters to strategic Group initiatives. You’ll have the autonomy to own your own matters while working within a supportive environment where you can learn, develop expertise and make a real impact across the Group.

This is a broad, hands‑on role covering the full spectrum of in‑house work. You’ll support a wide range of projects and initiatives across the Group, gaining exposure to different businesses, issues and stakeholders and playing a key part in how we support and grow the organisation.

This is a unique opportunity to help shape the legal function as it scales. You'll contribute to developing legal policies, procedures and processes, and support the implementation of systems and best practices that enable the team to operate more efficiently and effectively.

With this role, you will:

• Review, negotiate and draft a wide range of commercial contracts including supplier agreements, SaaS/technology agreements, service agreements, the Group's standard terms and conditions and bespoke customer contracts. You will ensure that the contract database, commercial templates and playbooks are maintained.
• Support the M&A team with due diligence and post‑acquisition planning and integration as the Group continues to grow.
• Support the business beyond purely legal matters—we're there to offer our insights and help solve problems. This might include supporting the Group's expansion into new markets, the launch of new products globally or supporting the AI team with the Group’s AI initiatives.
• Work alongside the Group's DPO and Information Security functions, advising on data protection and privacy compliance (GDPR and equivalent regimes) and related information security and risk management matters.
• Manage and maintain, with support from our external advisors, the Group's intellectual property and trade mark portfolios, advise on IP protection and ownership of new products and services, and support IP‑related matters across multiple jurisdictions.
• Support the Group’s HR/People teams on employment law matters, including contracts, share schemes, policy reviews and employment disputes.
• Manage dispute resolution and risk mitigation, with support from external advisors when required.
• Oversee the Group's property portfolio and related legal matters, including supporting with property transactions and lease negotiations.
• Conduct legal research and stay on top of key developments in our sectors, keeping stakeholders updated on relevant changes. You will also prepare and deliver training across the Group to support the business where required.

Key Stakeholders and Reporting Line

You'll work closely with and report to the General Counsel, who will mentor you and provide guidance. Your time will be spent where it has…