Kind Consultancy is working with a well-established challenger bank which is currently seeking Legal Counsel to join them in a permanent, full-time role paying up to £75,000 with a hybrid work model requiring 2 days per week in their West Midlands offices.

The Legal Counsel position will focus on providing pragmatic and timely legal advice to the bank, supporting their legal and operational requirements, with key responsibilities including:

• Drafting, reviewing, negotiating and advising on third party and customer agreements, including technology agreements, outsourcing, software licences, general terms and conditions etc.
• Reviewing existing material contracts and other significant contracts affecting the business to confirm compliance with operational resilience requirements and requirements of managing third party outsourcing in a regulated context.
• Engaging with stakeholders and consultants (Contract Owners), to draft and negotiate, direct or via the Contract Owners a variety of commercial, technology and software agreements pivotal to the safe and resilient operation of the Bank, improving the contractual production and embedding a culture of regulatory compliance underpinning commercially viable agreements
• Advising and supporting internal stakeholders on BAU matters, providing support to General Counsel and representing the bank’s legal position on projects as and when required
• Developing, implementing and updating legal policies, procedures and standard templates.
• Supporting with data protection and privacy matters - including maintaining the Data Protection Policy, drafting privacy notices, managing data subject access requests, advising on and supporting responses to data breaches, supporting privacy impact assessments, and ensuring appropriate contractual protection in supplier agreements.
• Instructing and managing effectively matters outsourced to external law firms, including budgetary control where necessary.
• Supporting the MLRO and Deputy MLRO including where necessary assisting in the investigation and reporting of suspected money laundering or terrorist financing to the National Crime Agency.
• Advising on and managing legal risk, including emerging risks and carrying out risk assessments and reviews of performance against assigned policies.
• Attending committee and project meetings to give legal advice and support business initiatives.
• Supporting the Chief Risk Officer and the Risk team with effective use of the firm's risk management system.
• Advising colleagues on complex or unusual complaints
• Working with Customer and Product teams to assist and advise on the product design process as well as providing review and guidance towards the production of customer facing documents and communications
• Maintaining up to date knowledge of any changes to law, regulation and industry codes of practice; reporting to senior management in a timely and proportionate manner to enable compliance.

Our ideal candidate for the Legal Counsel opportunity:

• Must be a qualified Solicitor, Barrister or F.ILEX (Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives) with at least 3 years post qualification experience
• Has a current practising certificate without any restrictions imposed.
• Possesses a strong understanding of PRA and FCA rules and the regulatory regime
• Has good working knowledge of legal provisions relating to the banking sector
• Has past experience in contract negotiation and drafting
• Is able to recognise and appropriately deal with legal issues in a pragmatic manner
• Demonstrates the ability to collaborate with others, and to think outside the box
• Is skilled in legal research, critical thinking, and drafting
• Has excellent communication skills, including the ability to persuade; especially upward.

If you're interested in the Legal Counsel position, have the necessary skills, experience and qualification and live in or can commute to the West Midlands, please apply with an updated CV today.