Legal Counsel

Honda Motor Europe; Bracknell; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

An international automotive company based in Bracknell is seeking a Solicitor for its Legal Team. This high-responsibility role involves advising on commercial law, compliance, and various legal matters across multiple regions. The ideal candidate will have at least 2 years of post-qualification experience, strong communication skills, and the ability to deliver practical legal advice in a dynamic environment. With flexible work-from-home options and opportunities to contribute to strategic projects, this position offers a unique chance to grow within a diverse team.

Benefits

Flexible working schedule

Work from home options

Diversity and inclusion initiatives

Qualifications

• Strong understanding of commercial law and compliance.
• Confident in preparing and delivering presentations.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills in English.

Responsibilities

• Draft and negotiate mid to high-value commercial contracts.
• Provide legal advice on consumer protection and marketing law.
• Lead or support strategic projects for new business initiatives.

Skills

Commercial law

Compliance

Excellent communication

Collaboration

Organizational skills

Cultural awareness

Education

Minimum of 2 years’ post-qualification experience (PQE)

Job description

At Honda we embrace inclusion in our various policies, so whilst our contracts state that the hours are as required to fulfil the role with a minimum of 35 hours per week, we offer flexibility for when you work. The regular office hours are 08:00 – 16:00 Monday to Thursday with a half hour lunch break & 08:00 – 13:00 on a Friday. However, we offer flexibility of when you work with our daily flex‑time start of between 07:00 and 11:00 providing that there is no business requirement.

Whilst there is no contractual right to work from home, the flexibility we offer is that you can request to work from home 2 days per week, again providing there is no business requirement to attend the office.

Role

We are seeking a highly approachable and business‑minded Solicitor to join our Legal Team. This role offers a unique opportunity to work across a broad spectrum of legal disciplines - including commercial law, IT/IP/AI law, marketing law, data protection, compliance, and corporate governance - serving all business divisions of Honda Motor Europe Limited (HME), as well as supporting other Honda group companies in the Africa and Middle East.

Maintaining a global perspective, the Honda Legal Department partners with the business to deliver high‑value, timely, cost‑efficient, and customer‑centric legal advice and coaching. We support all aspects of legal affairs and corporate governance across the Europe, Africa and Middle East (EAME) Region, adding strategic value through proactive engagement and pragmatic solutions.

The successful candidate will play a key role in advising the business on legal risks and opportunities, ensuring regulatory compliance, and supporting strategic projects including, for example, future sales initiatives.

This is a high‑responsibility position that demands a collaborative mindset, technical skill, commercial acumen, and a proactive and independent approach to problem‑solving.

Main Responsibilities

• Strategic Contract Work - Draft, negotiate, and advise on a wide range of mid to high‑value commercial contracts, including agreements related to the supply of goods and services, IT projects, confidentiality, marketing, franchising, agency, distribution, consultancy, sponsorship, logistics, and motorsports etc.
• Customer‑Facing Advice - Provide competent and pragmatic legal advice on areas such as consumer protection law and marketing/advertising law. This may include drafting or advising on customer terms and conditions, advertising DISCLAIMERS, promotional terms and conditions, and related materials.
• General Compliance Advice - Advise on compliance matters including data protection, the EU Data Act, competition law, regulated financial activities, anti‑bribery, modern slavery, and fraud prevention measures.
• Strategic Project Work - Lead or support strategic projects by providing multidisciplinary contractual support and legal advice to ensure timely and compliant implementation; e.g, for new business initiatives or legal developments such as the EU Data Act.
• Compliance Support Work -Develop and update legal and compliance policies. Lead or contribute to legal training initiatives and awareness programmes.
• Corporate Governance -Support corporate governance activities, such as document retention policies, and assist with company secretarial matters as required.
• Legal Team Efficiencies -Contribute to the implementation of a new contract management system for the European region. This includes developing new templates and supporting training initiatives to ensure a successful rollout.
• External Counsel Management -Assist in managing external legal counsel across the UK and continental Europe, ensuring quality, cost‑efficiency, and alignment with internal legal strategy.

Qualifications, skills and experience

• Minimum of 2 years’ post‑qualification experience (PQE).
• Strong understanding of commercial law and compliance, with the ability to apply this knowledge pragmatically in a business context .
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and interpersonal skills.
• Confident preparing and delivering presentations.
• Proven ability to work effectively in a fast‑paced, constantly evolving environment.
• Strong organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple assignments, priorities, and tight deadlines.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills in English.
• Cultural awareness and adaptability when working across diverse regions and systems.
• In‑house legal experience is beneficial; experience in the automotive sector is an added advantage.
• Experience managing matters involving cross‑border or foreign jurisdiction elements is advantageous.
• Experience of working with Japanese (or other international) companies and understanding Japanese culture would be an asset.
• Ability to speak a European language.

Honda is committed to the principle of equal opportunity in the workplace for all employees, temporary workers, contractors, applicants and visitors. Honda also encourages respect for the individual differences and talents of others while making full use of one's own abilities, based on Honda's philosophy of respect for the individual.

At Honda, we value and celebrate diversity and are committed to being a fair, non‑discriminatory company that promotes and welcomes the uniqueness and differences of people around the world. We recognise that a diverse workforce allows for different ideas and perspectives, and we encourage everyone to share them. We strive to foster a culture of belonging that is consistent with Honda's core values and lived out in the way we work and respect each other. For us at Honda, diversifying our workforce means increasing its overall strength by providing people with equal opportunities - regardless of personal characteristics or previous careers.

This commitment flows directly from the Honda philosophy and the belief that we are all working towards a common goal. Honda recruits, hires, trains and promotes the most qualified/experienced individuals at all levels without regard to race, origin, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability or any other protected characteristic.