Counsel – Litigation & Investigations

BAE Systems (New); Frimley; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

An exciting opportunity awaits in a forward-thinking company where you can make a significant impact as a Counsel in Litigation & Investigations. This role involves managing major disputes, providing expert legal advice, and developing investigations capabilities across the business. You will collaborate with various stakeholders, ensuring the highest quality legal advice and fostering a culture of integrity and excellence. Join a team that values diversity and empowers you to fulfill your potential while contributing to meaningful legal solutions in a supportive environment. If you're ready to take your expertise in dispute resolution to the next level, this role is perfect for you.

Benefits

Competitive Pension Scheme

Employee Share Plans

Flexible Health Benefits

Private Health Plans

Shopping Discounts

Green Car Scheme

Annual Incentive Eligibility

Qualifications

• Qualified solicitor or barrister with experience in dispute resolution.
• Expertise in English high court litigation and international arbitration.

Responsibilities

• Manage major disputes and advise on risk mitigation strategies.
• Provide clear legal advice and oversee external legal services.

Skills

Dispute Resolution Expertise

English Court Litigation

International Commercial Arbitration

Legal Risk Assessment

Judgment

Client Focus

Education

Qualified Solicitor or Barrister in England & Wales

Job description

Job Title: Counsel – Litigation & Investigations

Location: Frimley Surrey. We offer a range of hybrid and flexible working arrangements – please speak to your recruiter about the options for this particular role.

Salary: Negotiable depending on experience

What you’ll be doing:

• Managing major disputes on behalf of BAES
• Identifying disputes risk and advising on and implementing related risk mitigation strategies
• Advising and negotiating settlements of disputes both before and after formal proceedings have been commenced
• Overseeing the engagement of external legal services to ensure high-quality, timely, and cost-effective legal advice
• Providing specialist English law advice, with expertise in English court litigation and international commercial arbitration
• Providing clear and practical legal advice using straightforward language
• Helping to develop and implement investigations capabilities across our businesses
• Actively contributing as a member of the global legal community by sharing knowledge and expertise and collaborating effectively across teams and functions to support strategic goals, including developing and providing training to the legal function in respect of litigation, arbitration, and key topics and trends in dispute resolution
• Ensuring the consistent application of the company’s Operational Framework and adherence to applicable internal legal policies
• Fostering a culture focused on delivering the highest quality legal advice ensuring internal client satisfaction through accuracy, clarity, and timeliness as well as commerciality and proportionality

Your skills and experiences:

• Be an England & Wales qualified solicitor or barrister with relevant experience gained at a major international law firm and potentially also through relevant in-house roles
• Be a dispute resolution expert with experience of English high court litigation and international commercial arbitration
• Be client and solutions focused in the high-quality advice that you give
• Have a proven ability to assess and advise on legal risk in complex markets and jurisdictions
• Have and demonstrate good judgement
• Be willing to attend in-person meetings and visits with clients and colleagues both domestically and abroad

Benefits:

As well as a competitive pension scheme, BAE Systems also offers employee share plans, an extensive range of flexible discounted health, wellbeing and lifestyle benefits, including a green car scheme, private health plans and shopping discounts – you may also be eligible for an annual incentive.

The Legal Team:

This role offers an exciting and rare opportunity to be a key member of the Head Office litigation and investigations team, reporting to the Head of Investigations & Dispute Resolution. You will collaborate closely with various stakeholders across the business, forging strong relationships and acting as a true Subject Matter Expert. Your expertise will be essential in partnering with the business to deliver pragmatic advice and solutions on complex legal matters. This role is ideal for a disputes lawyer with solid private practice experience from a reputable firm, or previous in-house experience, who is ready to take their experience and skills in-house to work within a supportive and innovative company.

Why BAE Systems?

This is a place where you’ll be able to make a real difference. You’ll be part of an inclusive culture that values diversity, rewards integrity, and merit, and where you’ll be empowered to fulfil your potential. We welcome candidates from all backgrounds and particularly from sections of the community who are currently underrepresented within our industry, including women, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities and LGBTQ+ individuals. We also want to make sure that our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible. If you have a disability or health condition (for example dyslexia, autism, an anxiety disorder etc.) that may affect your performance in certain assessment types, please speak to your recruiter about potential reasonable adjustments.

Please be aware that many roles at BAE Systems are subject to both security and export control restrictions. These restrictions mean that factors such as your nationality, any nationalities you may have previously held, and your place of birth can restrict the roles you are eligible to perform within the organisation. All applicants must as a minimum achieve Baseline Personnel Security Standard. Many roles also require higher levels of National Security Vetting where applicants must typically have 5 to 10 years of continuous residency in the UK depending on the vetting level required for the role, to allow for meaningful security vetting checks.

Closing Date: 20th February 2025

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.