Legal Counsel

This is an excellent opportunity to work in a large, regulated organisation, in the in-house legal team. Working as part of a small team, the role directly supports the objectives and demands of the Executive and Board. There is the opportunity to become involved in interesting, sometimes unique, and stretching legal matters, including those that affect the whole sector.

 What you’ll be doing as a Legal Counsel

• Advising and supporting the Executive and senior management teams on a broad and varied range of legal issues and concerns that will impact the business.
• Flexibility and scope to decide when to have conduct, and/or management of a specific legal matter thereby allowing for ongoing professional development.
• Identification of emerging, common issues and legal and commercial risks and agreeing most practicable means of addressing/mitigating these with the Senior Legal Counsel and wider legal team.
• Day to day management of the Legal Service Provider in its delivery of legal services to Thames and primary interface between Thames Water and the Legal Service Provider.
• Management, supervision and/or conduct of any legal matters falling outside the scope of the outsourced legal service.
• Reporting to the Senior Legal Counsel (and, where required, the Director of Legal and General Counsel) on all aspects of Legal compliance, material projects and litigation risk.
• Responsible for all legal reporting to the senior leadership team.

Base Location: Reading /Hybrid
Working Pattern or hours: 36 hours

What you should bring to the role
The successful candidate will be a qualified solicitor or barrister of at least 4 years PQE in England and Wales and hold or be able to hold an unrestricted legal practising certificate from the Solicitors Regulation Authority or equivalent authority.  You will have experience of providing commercial legal advice preferably within a regulated environment, gained either in private practice or in an in-house team, to agreed time and budget constraints. You must possess a varied legal skillset but specifically with commercial contracts experience.

Experience of advising on other legal areas such as contentious matters/disputes, property law, procurement law or competition law would also be an advantage. The skills to manage external counsel and lawyers within agreed retainers and cost control is also required to be effective in the role.

In addition to this, you will be a resilient self-starter with the proven aptitude to effectively communicate with senior managers and external stakeholders. You will be able to work in a rapidly changing and fast paced environment at management level. The skills to make important decisions based on analysis, risk assessment and sound judgement are also required. A flexible approach to working and can-do attitude are essential.

What’s in it for you?

• Competitive salary - Salary £65,000 - £70,000 per annum dependent on experience 
• Annual Leave - 26 days holiday per year increasing to 30 with the length of service (Plus bank holidays)
• Car Allowance
• Annual Bonus
• Private Medical Health Care
• Contributory pension – Defined Contribution - Maximum of 12% -2x employee contribution
• Personal Medical Assessments – Open to all once a year
• Wider benefits scheme including our benefits hub, which is packed full of offers and information to save you money and support your wellbeing

Who are we?
At Thames Water, our purpose is crystal clear - to deliver life’s essential service so our customers, communities and planet can thrive.

Water is life’s great leveller. Every living thing needs it, every single day. From people to plants, birds to bees, farms to factories, we all need it to thrive, and we’re committed to taking care of it for us all.

But keeping water flowing is becoming harder. From scorching summers to wetter winters, extreme weather affects everything from our pipes to our local rivers. We need to keep millions more kettles boiling, public services operating, washing machines spinning, showers running and more, so every drop is more precious than ever. Are you ready to play your part?

Working at Thames Water
At Thames Water, we recognise that people are at the heart of our business. To help us succeed in providing life's essential service, we need a range of skills and capabilities, representative of society throughout our business.

We seek to attract and retain a cultural mix of people who can offer different but complementary attitudes, values, talents, and knowledge. We understand the importance of appreciating and harnessing the unique skills, experiences, backgrounds, and differences that each individual brings.

Our over-arching diversity and inclusion aim is to ensure Thames Water is a diverse and inclusive great place to work. We encourage applications from everyone and offer extra support for those who need it throughout the recruitment process.

Find out more about working at Thames Water.

When a crisis happens, we all rally around to support our customers. As part of Team Thames, you’ll have the opportunity to sign up to support our customers on the frontline as an ambassador. Full training will be given for what is undoubtedly an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s also a great opportunity to learn more about our business, meet colleagues and earn some extra money along the way.

Disclaimer: due to the high volume of applications we receive, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.