Senior Legal Counsel

Benefact group; Gloucester; Hybrid; GBP 125,000 - GBP 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading financial services firm in Gloucester seeks a Senior Corporate Lawyer to join their Legal and Secretarial Team. You will oversee corporate legal projects, focusing on M&A activities, and provide legal support while managing external partnerships. Key qualifications include being a qualified solicitor with at least 4 years of experience in corporate law. The role allows for hybrid working and offers competitive salary, generous benefits, and a supportive work environment.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Hybrid working

Group Personal Pension

Generous annual bonus scheme

30 days annual leave

Health and wellbeing benefits

£200 annual personal grant to a charity

Volunteering day

Employee Assistance Programme

Full study support

Qualifications

• At least 4 years post qualification experience in a corporate law setting.
• Experience managing a legal budget or allocated spend.
• Experience advising FCA/PRA regulated businesses in respect of corporate transactions.

Responsibilities

• Lead responsibility for corporate legal matters at Group level.
• Advise on corporate law and governance as required.
• Support the Head of Legal in managing external law firm partnerships.

Skills

Project management

Negotiation skills

Relationship building

Education

Qualified as a Solicitor in England and Wales

Job description

Working hours: 35 hours per week, Monday to Friday

Duration: Permanent

Location:Gloucester

Job Ref:204695

About the role

Benefact Group are looking for a Senior Corporate Lawyer to join our Legal and Secretarial Team based in our Gloucester office on a hybrid basis.

As Senior Legal Counsel you will take the lead on corporate legal projects and partner with senior stakeholders to deliver cost effective M&A activity, including the management of external corporate counsel where appropriate. This is a fantastic opportunity to be part of a cohesive, supportive and friendly in-house legal team.

Why join us?

Join a collaborative and inclusive culture that’s committed to making a difference and building a more sustainable future. Ranked amongst the UK's 15 Best Big Companies to Work For in 2025, we offer fantastic career and development opportunities within a rapidly growing, innovative Group — where all profits go to charity and good causes.

What you'll be doing

• To take lead responsibility for corporate legal matters at both Group level and to the various trading entities across the UK, reporting to the Head of Legal. This will include M&A, group reorganisations and restructurings, financing arrangements, transaction planning, document management, due diligence and other legal transactional matters including pre and post deal integration.

• To advise on corporate law and governance as required including legal support to the CoSec team.

• To support the Head of Legal in managing external law firm partnerships and the efficient management of budget and resources.

• To encourage and facilitate early engagement of the legal team on new corporate matters, projects and arising risks to ensure that legal advice can be provided at the appropriate time to assist and guide strategy.

• To proactively drive legal understanding and knowledge sharing within the Legal & Secretarial department and wider business, to improve technical understanding of company law requirements.

• To stay abreast of legal developments and maintain effective horizon scanning to identify and understand changing legal requirements and opportunities in corporate legal matters and drive appropriate solutions.

• To proactively build effective relationships with stakeholders and business areas across the Group to establish an influential legal function and to promote legal best practice.

What you'll need to have

• Qualification: Qualified as a Solicitor in England and Wales.

• At least 4 years post qualification experience in a corporate law setting.

• Experience of advising FCA/PRA regulated businesses in respect of corporate transactions.

• Capable and confident to run smaller transactional M&A work in-house.

• Experience working on group reorganisations, restructurings, financing arrangements, compliance, regulatory and other legal transactional matters.

• Experience managing a legal budget or allocated spend

What makes you stand out

• Excellent project management & organisation skills

• Experience managing external counsel

• Credible, with proven ability to build effective relationships and influence key stakeholders

• Ability to design practical and proportionate solutions

• Strong negotiation skills

What we offer

• A competitive salary - let's discuss it

• Hybrid working

• Group Personal Pension - up to 12% employer contribution

• Generous annual bonus scheme: on-target bonus between 10% and 40%

• 30 days annual leave plus bank holidays, and a holiday buy and sell scheme

• An array of health and wellbeing benefits, including private healthcare, income protection and life assurance

• £200 annual personal grant to a charity of your choice

• Encouraged to take at least one volunteering day per year

• Employee Assistance Programme

• Full study support to gain professional qualifications

• Access to virtual GP

• Enhanced maternity and paternity pay

Hear from the hiring manager

"We’re a fast paced, high performing friendly legal team enabling growth across a diverse group of successful businesses. You’ll be a key member of the team and our go-to expert for corporate expertise."

About us

Benefact Group is a unique international financial services Group made up of over 30 businesses. We are owned by a charity and have been the 3rd largest UK corporate donor over a decade*, having given away £250 million since 2014. We have ambitious plans to become the UK’s number one corporate donor, with strategic objectives in place to double the Group’s size.

We believe it’s essential to attract, empower, grow and reward talented people, offering fantastic opportunities for career and personal development. Our giving ethos, 135-year history and the diversity of what we do, has enabled us to build a culture of kindness, great ambition, and of passionate people driven to do better and be better.

At Benefact Group, we are committed to creating an inclusive culture and building an environment where each and every one of us feels valued and respected. We are a community made up of people with a range of different backgrounds, abilities, perspectives, beliefs and interests and we value the strength this brings to us as a Group. We welcome applications from everyone.
If you need any additional support during the recruitment process, then please let us know.

*Directory of Social Change’s UK Guides to Company Giving 2017-26