Legal Counsel

Acenda Life; Sydney; Hybrid; AUD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Additional lifestyle leave

Job summary

Acenda Group, via Acenda Life, delivers life insurance and financial services across Australia and New Zealand. We are seeking a commercially minded Legal Counsel to manage disputes, litigation and AFCA matters while partnering with stakeholders to deliver practical legal advice.

This role offers variety, autonomy and exposure to regulatory, superannuation, employment and commercial issues, with the chance to work closely with senior leaders and shape business outcomes.

Qualifications

• Australian legal qualifications and unrestricted practising certificate.
• Experience managing disputes, litigation or AFCA matters.
• Exposure to financial services, insurance, regulatory or superannuation matters.
• Strong commercial judgement balancing risk with business objectives.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Manage and support the resolution of disputes, litigation and AFCA matters.
• Develop dispute resolution strategies and drive matters through to successful outcomes.
• Work closely with external law firms and service providers for cost-effective support.
• Provide practical, commercially focused legal advice to stakeholders.
• Partner with leaders to identify and manage legal and regulatory risk.
• Support a broad range of legal matters across financial services, superannuation, regulatory and commercial areas.
• Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives and drive best-practice processes.
• Build trusted relationships across the business and guide on complex issues.

Education

Australian legal qualifications

Job description

At Acenda Group, everything we do is driven by a clear purpose: to help our customers and their families live, save and retire with confidence. We bring together some of Australia and New Zealand's most trusted life insurance brands. With over 176 years of combined heritage and deep expertise across our local markets, our Group includes Acenda Life, Resolution Life Australasia, and Asteron Life New Zealand. Backed by the global strength of Nippon Life, we are one of the largest life insurance businesses across Australia and New Zealand. More than two million customers rely on us for life insurance, wealth protection and retirement solutions that support their confidence at every stage of life. We're building an inclusive, dynamic and future focused business. Joining us means stepping into a period of integration and growth, where your work will help shape our future. If you're energised by change and motivated by purpose, this is your moment to make an impact.

The Opportunity

We're looking for a commercially minded Legal Counsel to join our collaborative and high-performing legal team. In this role, you'll play a key part in managing disputes, litigation and AFCA matters while partnering with stakeholders across the business to deliver practical, risk-based legal advice.

This is an excellent opportunity for a lawyer who enjoys variety, autonomy and meaningful work. While a significant focus of the role is dispute resolution, you'll also have exposure to a broad range of legal matters across financial services, including regulatory, superannuation, employment and commercial issues.

Whether you're currently in private practice or in-house, this role offers the chance to build your expertise, work closely with senior leaders and contribute to important business outcomes.

How You'll Make an Impact

Manage and support the resolution of disputes, litigation and AFCA matters.

Develop dispute resolution strategies and drive matters through to successful outcomes.

Work closely with external law firms and service providers to ensure commercially effective and cost-efficient legal support.

Provide practical, commercially focused legal advice to stakeholders across the business.

Partner with leaders to identify and manage legal and regulatory risk.

Support a broad range of legal matters across financial services, superannuation, regulatory and commercial areas.

Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives and help drive best-practice legal processes and ways of working.

Build trusted relationships across the business and provide guidance on complex legal issues.

About You

You're a pragmatic and solutions-focused lawyer who enjoys navigating complex issues and delivering clear, commercially sound advice. You build strong relationships, communicate effectively with a wide range of stakeholders and thrive in a collaborative environment.

You may come from a litigation, disputes, insurance, financial services or regulatory background and are looking for an opportunity to deepen your expertise while working on meaningful and high-impact matters.

Previous life insurance experience is highly regarded but not essential. We're open to lawyers with broader disputes and litigation experience who are keen to develop their knowledge in this area.

To Be Successful In This Role, You'll Bring

Australian legal qualifications and a current unrestricted practising certificate.

Experience managing disputes, litigation, AFCA matters, regulatory investigations or other contentious matters.

Exposure to financial services, insurance, regulatory or superannuation matters, or a demonstrated interest in developing expertise in these areas.

Strong commercial judgement and the ability to balance legal risk with business objectives.

Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.

The ability to simplify complex legal issues and provide practical recommendations.

Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic environment.

Join us in building confidence- for our customers, our communities and each other.

Your work makes a real impact. Everything we do helps our customers and their families live, save and retire with confidence, and your contribution will directly support that purpose.

You'll help drive meaningful change. As an inclusive, dynamic and adaptable organisation, we offer a unique opportunity for you to grow while shaping the future of our organisation.

You'll feel supported and included. Our team culture is flexible, collaborative and people-centred, with hybrid working to help you balance life and work.

By making things simpler. We help our people operate efficiently, adapt easily and spend more time on meaningful work that drives personal and organisational growth.

We celebrate success. Our incentive and recognition programs ensure great work is acknowledged and rewarded.

Your wellbeing comes first. We offer tools, resources and benefits that support your whole self, including additional lifestyle leave.

We celebrate the diversity of our customers and community, and we embed diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging into how we do business. We encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, cultures, experiences, and identities.

Should an applicant be the preferred candidate, background checks (including Federal Police Checks, Employment checks, ASIC banned and disqualified persons and Bankruptcy checks) will be completed prior to the candidate's employment being confirmed. The outcomes of the background checks do not automatically bar candidates, however they will be assessed against the inherent requirements of the position.