Legal Counsel

Phoenix; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 92,000 - 108,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading savings and retirement company is seeking a Legal Counsel to join their legal team. This role focuses on providing legal guidance to the Asset Management function, managing legal tasks, and ensuring compliance with UK and EU regulations. Candidates should be English or Scottish qualified lawyers with experience in structured finance and a strong understanding of financial services. The role offers a competitive salary and flexible working conditions.

Benefits

Up to 38 days annual leave

Private medical cover

12x salary life assurance

Qualifications

• Experience in-house or from private practice in structured finance and/or asset origination.
• Strong understanding of financial services and asset management structures.
• Ability to translate complex legal concepts into actionable business advice.

Responsibilities

• Provide legal advice to teams supporting business objectives including private placements and securitizations.
• Manage external counsel on transactions.
• Ensure compliance with FCA conduct rules and applicable regulations.

Skills

Legal advice in financial services

Regulatory compliance

Stakeholder communication

Education

Qualified lawyer (English or Scottish)

Job description

Job Description

Job Type: Permanent

Location: Based from our Birmingham/London/Edinburgh offices with hybrid working options.

Flexible working: All of our roles are open to part-time, job-share and other types of flexibility. We will discuss what is important to you and balancing this with business requirements during the recruitment process. You can read more about Phoenix Flex here.

Closing Date: 10/10/25

Salary and benefits: From £100,000 plus an indicative bonus range of 16%-32%, private medical cover, 38 days annual leave, excellent pension, 12x salary life assurance, career breaks, income protection, 3x volunteering days and much more.

Who are we?

We want to be the best place that any of our 6,600 colleagues have ever worked.

We’re Phoenix Group, we’re a long-term savings and retirement business. We offer a range of products across our market-leading brands, Standard Life, SunLife, Phoenix Life and ReAssure. Around 1 in 5 people in the UK has a pension with us. We’re a FTSE 100 organisation that is tackling key issues such as transitioning our portfolio to net zero by 2050, and we’re not done yet.

The Role

This is an excellent opportunity to join us as a Legal Counsel on a permanent basis to work in a highly motivated legal team. This role demands high energy and self-confidence as well as pragmatism and curiosity to learn.

This role is part of Phoenix’s legal team supporting across Corporate & Commercial, Shared Services, Retirement Solutions & Asset Management which provides high quality legal advice. All our lawyers provide support across our functions however this role has a focus on supporting the legal needs of the Asset Management function particularly in the capital markets, asset origination and structuring fields.

Our Retirement Solutions & Asset Management business unit has responsibility for overseeing the management of the Phoenix Group’s assets which are in excess of £290 billion. Our business unit is seeking to be best in class in-house asset manager through expanding its internal team’s capacity for sourcing and managing direct illiquid asset origination as a complement to mandates with external investment managers.

The role requires management of a variety of legal tasks, the management of legal risks, horizon scanning as well as being an active member of the wider Phoenix General Counsel function. Our lawyers are expected to take an active interest in the wider business and their stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide legal advice to RS&AM teams supporting the delivery of business objectives including private placements, securitisations, bonds, real estate finance, structured products
• Manage external counsel on transactions ensuring costs are managed appropriately
• Draft, review, and negotiate documentation supporting asset management operations and asset origination
• Handle investment management agreements and cross-border distribution contracts
• Ensure alignment with UK and EU regulatory frameworks
• Advise on legislative and regulatory changes affecting asset management operations
• Ensure compliance with FCA conduct rules, Consumer Duty, and other applicable regulations
• Identify and assess legal risks across business unit
• Provide risk mitigation strategies and ensure decisions are legally sound

What are we looking for?

• We are looking for an English or Scottish Qualified lawyer with experience gained either in-house or in private practice.
• You will have a strong understanding of financial services and asset management structures either through private practice or inhouse
• An understanding of the operations of an asset manager, asset classes and investment vehicles.
• Ability to translate complex legal concepts into actionable business advice.
• Work across other legal disciplines required to support a Life Insurance company

Essential Criteria

• Experience inhouse or from private practice in structured finance and/or asset origination
• Experience working in or with as a client Financial Services with a key understanding of the regulatory and legislative frameworks
• Ability to balance legal risk with business needs, advising stakeholders on risk tolerance and options
• Excellent communication skills to convey complex legal issues clearly to non-lawyers

We want to hire the whole version of you.

We are committed to ensuring that everyone feels accepted and welcome applicants from all backgrounds. If your experience looks different from what we’ve advertised and you believe that you can bring value to the role, we’d love to hear from you.

If you require any adjustments to the recruitment process, please let us know so we can help you to be at your best.

We’re reviewing applications as they come in, so apply early to avoid missing out.

Find out more about

• Guide for Candidates: thephoenixgroup.pagetiger.com/guideforcandidates
• Find or get answers from our colleagues: www.thephoenixgroup.com/careers/talk-to-us