Description
Howden, a global insurance group with employee ownership at its heart, is seeking an Employment Legal Counsel to join its expanding Legal team.
The successful candidate will provide high-quality, pragmatic employment law advice across the business, supporting HR and wider stakeholders on a broad range of UK employment matters.
Key responsibilities include:
- Providing day-to-day employment law advice to HR and business leaders on a wide range of matters, including disciplinaries, grievances, performance, sickness, restructures, and general employee relations
- Advising on employee exits, restrictive covenants, and confidentiality obligations
- Supporting on litigation matters, including preparation for Employment Tribunal claims; High Court litigation experience is a plus
- Drafting, reviewing, and updating employment contracts, settlement agreements, policies, and template documentation
- Supporting redundancy consultations, TUPE (where applicable), and organisational change initiatives
- Partnering closely with HR Business Partners and senior HR stakeholders to provide commercially focused, solutions-driven advice
- Assisting in developing best-practice HR processes and people-related governance
- Providing training and updates on employment law developments to HR and line managers
- Collaborating with external counsel where required and managing cost-effective use of external legal resource
The ideal candidate will have:
- UK-qualified solicitor with approximately 2-3 years PQE in Employment Law
- Strong private practice background and/or in-house experience
- Demonstrable experience of restrictive covenant matters
- Experience advising large or complex organisations
- Experience managing stakeholder expectations, particularly HR
- Experience of High Court litigation is desirable
- Ability to work autonomously, provide strategic advice, and supervise junior lawyers
- Commercial mindset with collaborative, solutions-oriented approach
In return, Howden offers a career that you define, with opportunities for personal development, volunteering, and fundraising for charity.
The company values diversity and inclusion, and considers its people its chief competitive advantage.
Reasonable adjustments are available to ensure that the position aligns well with the needs of the successful candidate.