Unilever
Senior Legal Counsel Home Care UKI
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Senior Legal Counsel Home Care UKI
Senior Legal Counsel – Home Care, Unilever UK & Ireland Location: Kingston-upon-Thames
Role Purpose
Unilever’s Home Care Legal Team is seeking a Senior Legal Counsel to act as the lead in-house legal partner for the UK & Ireland Home Care business. Reporting to the Home Care General Counsel Europe, this is a high-visibility role, embedded in the UKI Home Care Leadership Team. The mandate includes shaping commercial decisions, managing risk on key campaigns and disputes, and influencing industry positions on behalf of one of the UK’s largest FMCG businesses.
You will own the legal agenda for a portfolio of category-leading brands, operating at the intersection of innovation, marketing, competition, and disputes—providing pragmatic, commercially astute advice that enables growth while protecting reputation and value.
Team Context
The UK & Ireland Legal Team, based in Kingston-upon-Thames, is integral to the business’s risk governance for commercial and marketing activity. The role works closely with:
- The wider Home Care Legal Team
- Global centralised specialist functions (employment, litigation, intellectual property, and competition law)
- Regulatory Affairs and R&D
- Auxiliary junior legal support on shared access.
Key Accountabilities
Strategic Business Partnering
- Serve as a trusted legal adviser to the UKI Home Care Leadership Team, providing real-time counsel on commercial strategy, risk, and competition law as a standing member of leadership forums and senior reviews.
- Translate complex legal issues into clear, risk-based recommendations, driving commercially sound decisions at pace.
- Support business reviews, leadership visits, and senior stakeholder engagements in UKI.
Marketing, Innovation, and Claims
- Advise on the entire lifecycle of brand and innovation activity, from concept and on-pack claims to advertising, sponsorships, and influencer campaigns, with rigorous risk assessment and mitigation planning.
- Partner with Regulatory Affairs and R&D to review marketing assets (print, media, and product claims).
Competitor Strategy and Disputes
- Lead Unilever’s competitor challenge and defence strategy in UKI:
- Assess, pursue, and defend claims/advertising matters before:
- ASA (Advertising Standards Authority)
- Courts
- Trading Standards
- Other relevant forums
- Assess, pursue, and defend claims/advertising matters before:
- Manage product claim and commercial litigation, collaborating with internal experts to deliver cost-effective, commercially aligned outcomes.
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Commercial Contracts
- Draft and negotiate a broad range of commercial agreements, including:
- Service contracts
- Consultancy agreements
- Confidentiality agreements
- Sponsorships
- Talent/brand-building agreements
- Influencer and joint business plan agreements
Intellectual Property
- In partnership with Unilever’s IP specialists, advise on:
- Brand protection
- Unfair competition
- Licensing
- Third-party IP use
- Cross-function IP risk management in marketing and innovation.
External Representation and Industry Influence
- Represent Unilever in relevant trade bodies (e.g., UKCPI) and with:
- Regulators
- Authorities
- Trade associations
- Shape legal and policy positions, supporting industry initiatives.
Issue and Incident Response
- Lead rapid risk assessment and resolution for:
- Ad hoc commercial, supply chain, and consumer issues
- Support Consumer Care and Communications on complex complaints and incident management.
Capability Building
- Develop legal capability across the business via:
- Targeted training
- Practical playbooks, templates, and guidance
- Ensure consistent decision-making and embed Unilever’s compliance framework.
Cross-Border Collaboration
- Contribute to and lead cross-country projects with in-house lawyers across Europe and globally, sharing learnings and integrating a pan-Unilever perspective.
Experience and Skills
Experience
- Qualified lawyer with a minimum of six years’ post-qualification experience in:
- Marketing and commercial legal matters (alternative experience considered).
- Preference (but not essential): Experience in FMCG, retail, or consumer brands.
- Track record advising senior stakeholders in fast-paced, brand-led environments.
Technical Expertise
- Marketing and advertising law, including claims support in a regulated environment (specialist regulatory expertise not required—supported by in-house teams).
- Commercial contracts for:
- Brand-building
- Customer and third-party agreements
- Working knowledge of competition law, applied to Unilever-customer agreements (with specialist support).
- Experience leading and managing disputes with support from internal legal experts.
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Personal Capabilities
- Agility to rapidly shift focus across diverse matters.
- Preferred: In-house FMCG or matrix-setting experience.
- Confident and credible communicator, translating legal complexity into commercial clarity.
- Must influence at leadership level.
- Sharp commercial judgement, balancing cost, risk, and competitive advantage for creative, deliverable solutions.
- Strong organisational and prioritisation skills; effective under pressure and meeting tight deadlines.
- Proactive and collaborative, building trust across functions and geographies.
- Builder of legal capability with a coaching mindset and high standards of integrity.
What We Offer
Aside from competitive salary and pension scheme, we provide:
- Annual bonus
- Subsidised gym membership
- Discounted staff shop
- Company shares
- Flexible and hybrid working environment (flexibility can be discussed if role is rotated full-time).
- Well-being advocacy, with resources and initiatives to support employee well-being.
Commitment to Inclusion
Unilever upholds diversity, equity, and inclusion, with full consideration for all candidates regardless of:
- Age, disability, gender reassignment
- Race, religion or belief, sex
- Sexual orientation
- Marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity
Reasonable adjustments are made available throughout recruitment and interview processes.
Interested individuals are encouraged to explore more here: (Equity, Diversity & Inclusion at Unilever).
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Unilever and other employers warn against recruitment fraud. Cybercriminals often impersonate legitimate employers via fake job sites or malicious interviews. Common tactics include:
- Phishing links to bogus portals
- Demands for “payment” or “visa costs”
Should you encounter suspicious activity, report it via Una Live Chat. Unilever does not endorse any external applications requiring fees.
Note: Unilever remains committed to fair, secure recruitment practices for all applicants.
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