Legal Counsel

Shawbrook provides finance to a wide range of customer segments that value the premium experience, flexibility and certainly we deliver.  We are a purpose-led organisation, with a focus on delivering long-term sustainable value for all our stakeholders.

We have a diversified offering, with our innovative lending propositions tailored to meet specific customer needs in carefully selected markets across SME, Real Estate and Personal. Our products range from complex structured credit facilities for growth-focused businesses to mortgages for professional landlords and property investors, as well as simple loans for consumers delivered digitally.  We fuel our lending through customer deposits, which we attract by delivering a premium experience, choice and consistently great value to smart savers.

The business model we have created is unique and difficult to replicate, with our ‘best of both’ approach combining deep human expertise with advanced digital, tech and data capabilities.  This combination not only allows us to deliver excellent customer experiences, but to do so efficiently and at scale.  We are proud of our innovative and agile culture, which drives consistently high employee engagement scores and makes Shawbrook an attractive destination for the best talent. If you’re willing to roll up your sleeves, contribute new ideas and believe anything is possible, you’re our kind of person.

Work with us because you:

• Want to be part of a bank built for the dynamics of the modern world
• Relish a challenge and enjoy a fast-paced, innovative and hardworking culture
• Enjoy finding new and better ways to solve complexity and make things happen
• Want to belong to a diverse culture that stands shoulder to shoulder with minority and underrepresented groups
• Care about society and the environment and want to be part of a business that cares too
• Want to continue to grow professionally and be the best version of yourself

Shawbrook is growing, and our central legal team is growing with it. This is a new role working alongside the Head of Legal – Disputes, Regulatory & Transactions, covering two of the most interesting areas of legal work in the bank.

On the transactional side, you’ll work on M&A and corporate development: acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures and the integrations that follow. On the contentious side, you’ll help protect the Group’s interests in regulatory matters, including FCA and PRA investigations, enforcement and skilled person reviews.

It’s a role with real breadth and genuine exposure. You’ll advise senior stakeholders directly, up to ExCo level, on matters that shape the bank’s strategy, with the backing of an experienced central legal team as you do it.

Key Responsibilities

• Advise on M&A and corporate development activity, including acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures, strategic transactions and post-completion integration.
• Manage contentious regulatory matters and related regulatory engagement, including FCA and PRA investigations, enforcement, skilled person reviews and supervisory interactions. You’ll take the lead on establishing and maintaining privilege over internal investigations and reviews, and on document preservation.
• Support the Head of Legal on insurance notifications and claims arising from complaints, litigation, regulatory matters, cyber events and other insured losses, working with brokers, insurers, external counsel and the Finance team to preserve and recover under the Group’s policies.
• Build trusted relationships across the Group, working closely with the General Counsel, Legal Director, Heads of Legal and colleagues in Corporate Development, Risk & Compliance, HR, Complaints and Finance, always with an eye on overall customer outcomes.
• Manage external counsel: instructing them efficiently, holding them to the agreed strategy and budget, and bringing work in-house where it makes sense to.
• Get involved in the wider work of the central legal team, from litigation and corporate advisory to funding structures, capital markets activity and listed company obligations.

• You’ll be a qualified solicitor or barrister holding a current England and Wales practising certificate, with proven post-qualification experience. We’re happy to hear from candidates who bring the right experience. Lawyers qualified in other common law jurisdictions who can demonstrate sufficient English law experience will also be considered.
• You don’t need to be a specialist. If you have a generalist banking or financial institution background and haven’t yet focused on regulatory or transactional work but are genuinely interested in doing so, we’d like to hear from you. What matters most is intellectual curiosity, comfort operating outside your existing expertise, and a willingness to take on unfamiliar challenges. You’ll have structured support from the Head of Legal, early exposure to live matters alongside external counsel, and room to build specialism over time.
• Experience across any of the following is welcome, though we don’t expect all of it: financial institutions and banking; M&A; corporate development; strategic transactions; and financial regulatory work. Experience managing external counsel, fee structures and budgets is preferred.
• You’ll have strong commercial acumen and the ability to apply legal advice in a practical business context, together with experience of being the direct point of contact for your clients and senior stakeholders (up to ExCo level), giving pragmatic, solutions-based and commercially astute advice.
• In-house experience in financial services or banking, whether permanent or on secondment, is highly preferable.

Your Wellbeing - We take your health and well-being very seriously by providing a range of benefits to give you and your family peace of mind. These include:

• Market leading family friendly policies such as access to our Maternity, Adoption and Paternity policies from Day 1 of your employment
• Free access to Headspace, a mindfulness & meditation digital health app
• Free access to Peppy digital health app that offers personalised support through fertility treatment becoming a parent or menopause
• EAP (Employee Assistance Programme) - Offering you support on a wide range of subjects including financial concerns, mental wellbeing and more general queries around family, work, housing, and health
• Cycle to work scheme
• Discounts on gym membership
• Contributory pension scheme & death in service

Your Lifestyle - It’s important you strike the right balance between your work and personal life. We provide benefits to support you when at work and when you’re enjoying your leisure time.

• Minimum of 27 days holiday per year
• Option to buy or sell holiday days through our flexi-holiday scheme
• Discounts on gym membership nationwide
• Access to discounts on a range of high street and online brands
• Community support and charitable giving

Your Contribution - We’re focused on rewarding those that go the extra mile in helping us achieve our goals.

• Participation in our annual discretionary bonus scheme designed to reward your contribution to our success
• Proudly Shawbrook recognition scheme focused on recognising our role models and thanking our colleagues for a job well done