Legal Counsel (Commercial & Disputes)

Edinburgh | Salisbury | London | Ipswich

About the role We’re on the lookout for a diligent, motivated and pro-active commercial solicitor who is looking to broaden their commercial law experience and practice in a fast-paced in-house environment. This role is a great opportunity for a junior lawyer who wants to gain experience in a wide range of matters and disciplines and learn from the team’s fantastic senior lawyers. You’ll be joining an ambitious and highly respected team which advocates and promotes a strong legal risk management and compliance culture throughout the Group. As we continue through an exciting phase of organisational growth and evolution, there is no better time to join our journey in a role that adds true value to our business and our customers. Our new Legal Counsel will have the opportunity to make a real difference by supporting our business through a wide variety of commercial and disputes-related matters in a highly regulated environment. By working collaboratively across various teams, you’ll have the opportunity to build relationships and work in partnership with colleagues and third parties to promote engagement and embed a culture of continuous process improvement and better risk management. It’s a varied role with lots of interesting and value-add work to keep you busy, and here are some of the ways you’ll spend your time:

• Reviewing and advising on a wide range of commercial contracts with suppliers and business partners
• Reviewing and negotiating complex contractual arrangements with investment providers, managers and asset custodians 
• Supporting our litigation SME on all aspects of the litigation lifecycle, including analysing and responding to pre-action correspondence, advising the business on strategy, assisting with the conduct of litigation (including liaising with external counsel where appropriate) and drafting notifications to our insurers
• Supporting our Customer Resolutions Team on material complaints and submissions to the Financial Ombudsman Service and associated strategy
• Advising on a range of legal issues relating to the financial services products we offer (such as self-invested personal pensions, ISAs and investments held within our wrappers)
• Assisting with precedents and tools for the wider Legal team to promote efficiency and excellence across the team.
• Identifying areas for process improvements both within and without the Legal team and helping to implement measures to promote risk-mitigation and efficiency

A bit about you

Your friends would probably describe you as a ‘problem-solver’ who is motivated by doing the right thing and supporting others to do the same. You’ll love researching and absorbing new information on a range of subjects and explaining it to stakeholders in a straightforward way. You’re the type of person who takes time to really understand an issue and who is aware that each person or team has their own unique needs and requirements. Tenacious, unafraid to challenge, and leaving no stone unturned, you’re thorough, with an eye for detail, who’ll ask great questions to help solve problems and will persevere to get the best outcome possible. You’re a pro at understanding how the little things influence the big picture. You'll demonstrate an open and honest approach and be able to build relationships and communicate confidently across the business. You'll encourage the right behaviours, support our core values and lead by example. You’ll set the bar high and help engender a team environment which is both supportive and rewarding, where high performance is the norm.

We’ve always placed more importance on cultural contribution above technical ability, but we’d really like you to have:

• Solicitor qualified in England & Wales or Scotland between NQ to 2 years PQE, with experience advising on commercial law and/or disputes, preferably in the financial services sector 
• Awareness of the FCA and PRA regulatory landscape (desirable but not essential)
• Understanding of trust law
• Understanding of SIPP structures (desirable but not essential)
• Excellent Word skills
• Excellent relationship building skills
• Great written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present to groups and engage with a diverse workforce
• Strong negotiation, influencing and conflict resolution skills
• Ability to work on own initiative, independently and to prioritise effectively in accordance with business strategy
• Ability to manage conflicting priorities and evolving work demands without sacrificing quality or accuracy

  A little about us Our purpose at Nucleus is to help make retirement more rewarding, with a vision to build the most loved retirement-focused platform in the UK. It is this purpose that drives everything we do. Whether you are working in a role that is customer-facing or not, you’ll need to be service-obsessed to work here.   It’s a fast paced and exciting environment, and one where we believe you will get the chance to fulfil your potential and do work that really matters, to you and our customers. We believe in you having your own chunk of responsibility and being trusted to make things happen.

Nucleus’ culture is something our people believe sets us apart from other places they’ve worked. We think big, know our stuff and move at pace, but always empowering others along the way and breaking new ground to find better ways of doing things. We know that sometimes the right choice is not the easy one, so empowering each other and celebrating others' successes, as well as our own, is part of what makes us Nucleus #WeAreNucleus   Inclusion and diversity at Nucleus As with most things in life, who cares, wins. We really care about inclusion. For us this is not a box-ticking thing, it’s a commercial imperative. It isn’t about being PC. It’s about being future-relevant and durable. Find out more on our inclusion page [https://nucleusfinancial.com/about-us/inclusion-and-diversity/]. We offer a generous blend of benefits for the things that really matter to our people, including pension, bonus, enhanced parental leave, paid time off for emergencies, health and wellbeing initiatives and flexible working options. If you’d like to find out more about us or the role, you can get in touch with our people team.