General Counsel – Global Regulated FS

Clifton Search; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 147,000 - 245,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working in London

Equity program

Performance bonus

Job summary

Clifton Search is assisting a $3bn multinational financial services group in appointing a globally focused General Counsel in London. You will lead a 6+ direct reports across multiple jurisdictions, partnering with the CEO and executive team to drive commercial and regulatory excellence.

The role is based in central London on a hybrid basis (3 days in the office) with a strong on-target bonus and equity retention program.

Qualifications

• UK-qualified solicitor with 12-15 years PQE in regulated financial services businesses.

Responsibilities

• Lead the global legal function and partner with the CEO and executive team.
• Drive commercially focused legal strategy, product/offer development and process improvements.
• Build and develop a multi-jurisdictional team to deliver global solutions and cohesive culture.

Skills

Commercial acumen

Leadership experience

Global/regulatory exposure

Education

UK-qualified solicitor (PQE 12-15 years)

Job description

Are you an experienced GC with a proven background within global financial services looking for an exciting opportunity to lead the Legal function of this highly successful business unit of a $3bn multinational FS group?

This particular business unit is a global leader in its market with strong demand and well-regarded proprietary solutions/technology that has resulted in strong performance (revenues +10%, EBIT +20%). The BU currently supports 5.2 million end customers across 170 countries but has a particular strength in the UK and European markets.

Reporting to the Group GC you will form part of the Legal Global Leadership team working with two peers who each have responsibility for their other 2 core business units. Operationally you will report to the CEO of the BU and with a high degree of day-to-day contact this will be a key business relationship, as will your relationship with other members of the executive team.

You will lead a team of 6 direct reports who are based in different jurisdictions around the world, but this team is likely to increase in the near future. There are also a number of shared resources in jurisdictions where this particular BU does not yet have the scale to warrant a full-time resource, but these do not report into this role from an HR perspective.

The Group GC is looking for a commercially minded GC with a “business partner” approach who will engage and be visible across the business. You will work closely on a day-to-day basis with the CEO and will need to build strong relationships with the executive team to be seen as an ally who can think and act commercially (not just from a legal standpoint) and can “get things done”.

You will be involved in new product development and commercial offering enhancement work to continue to build competitive advantage, internal process improvement eg contracting processes and champion the adoption of new tools to improve efficiency such as AI.

It is also crucial that you are able to lead and bring cohesion to build a truly “global team” culture to the existing multi-jurisdictional team

As the successful candidate for this exciting opportunity, you are likely to:

• Be a UK qualified solicitor with a minimum of 12-15 years of PQE
• Currently be in a GC/leadership role or a very strong Number 2 looking to step up
• Have a proven track record of career development in commercially focused legal roles within regulated financial services businesses – most likely to be within broking, asset management, payments/FX or wealth management.
• Have strong FS regulatory technical skills.
• Have significant experience within a global business in a regional role working across different jurisdictions. Whilst you are not expected to have detailed knowledge of every jurisdictional regulatory regime in which the business operates, you are expected to be curious and be keen/comfortable to learn and to build global solutions by identifying consistencies and key differences.
• Be a proven team leader with experience of managing resources across multiple jurisdictions
• Have a pragmatic, commercially minded, “business partner” approach
• Be curious, engaging and have the energy and gravitas to influence and deliver

The opportunity is based in central London on a hybrid basis of 3 days/week in the office.

On offer is a salary of up to £245,000 plus benefits including an on-target bonus of 40% (50/50 cash/shares) and a retained equity program of 10% (vests over 3 years)