Senior In-House Lawyer

Hastings Insurance Services Limited; Bexhill-on-Sea; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Hastings Direct is seeking a Senior In-House Lawyer to serve as a trusted legal advisor across the business. The role combines advanced technical legal expertise with leadership responsibilities, including people management, legal operations and strategic contribution to the Group Legal team.

You will support and deputise for the Head of Legal, taking ownership of key legal areas and driving strategic initiatives while working in a hybrid setup in the UK.

Qualifications

• Significant post-qualification experience (typically 10+ PQE) in-house and/or private practice, with a strong background in commercial and/or corporate matters.
• Experience advising on a broad range of commercial and corporate matters, including outsourcing, technology and data agreements.
• Experience in mentoring others in a legal capacity.
• Experience contributing to legal operations and change/transformation initiatives.
• Advanced contract drafting and negotiation experience with strong regulatory and risk management capability.
• Strong analytical and problem solving skills, able to interpret complex legal and regulatory landscapes.

Responsibilities

• Provide high-quality, commercially focused legal advice across a broad range of matters.
• Lead and develop the Group Legal team, including people management and strategic direction.
• Support and deputise for Head of Legal and contribute to key legal initiatives.
• Manage relationships with senior stakeholders and act as a trusted legal advisor.
• Drive legal operations, technology adoption, and process improvements.
• Mentor junior lawyers and trainees to build capability across the team.

Skills

Legal advisory

Stakeholder management

Legal operations

People management

Mentoring

Strategic leadership

Job description

Senior In-House Lawyer

Location: Bexhill (Hybrid)

Full time

Welcome to Hastings Direct

We're a digital insurance provider with ambitious plans to become The Best and Biggest in the UK market. We've made huge investments in our data and tech capabilities over the past few years, along with nurturing our 4Cs culture. We're proud of the journey we're on as a company and know that our continued success will rely on the contribution of our talented colleagues.

We provide insurance for over four million customers, but we know there's even bigger opportunity out there. The fact you're now reading this job advert means we've tempted you to find out more about #lifeatHD - we really hope you like what you see, and you'll join us to share in the success of the exciting chapter that lies ahead.

We understand some people may not apply for jobs unless they feel they tick every box. If you're excited about joining us and think you have some of what we're looking for, even if you're not 100% sure we would love to hear from you.

Role overview

As a Senior In-House Lawyer, you'll be a trusted legal advisor to the business, providing high-quality, commercially focused legal support across a broad range of matters. This role combines advanced technical legal expertise with leadership responsibilities, including people management, legal operations and strategic contribution to the direction of our Group Legal team.

You'll also support and deputise for our Head of Legal, while also taking ownership of key legal areas, strategic initiatives and team development.

Job details - you'll need to have demonstrable experience in:

• Legal Advisory and Technical Delivery - providing expert legal advice across the business including complex, high-value and strategic matters. Drafting, negotiating and advising on a wide range of commercial, outsourcing, technology and insurance related contracts. Leading on complex and high-risk transactions, ensuring appropriate risk identification and mitigation. Advising on legal requirements, policy wording and customer journeys, translating legal issues into clear business guidance. Aligning legal advice to commercial objectives and risk appetite, acting as a strategic partner to stakeholders.
• Senior Stakeholder Management and Strategic Advisory - acting as a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders, influencing decision-making at leadership level. Providing strategic legal input into business initiatives, product development and change programmes. Anticipating legal and regulatory developments and advising on forward-looking risks and opportunities
• Legal Operations and Continuous Improvement - supporting the Head of Legal in legal operations including legal technology and systems, process improvement and efficiency initiatives. Identifying opportunities to improve legal service delivery, scalability and consistency and contributing to data and reporting
• People Management - directly managing legal administration staff including work allocation and prioritisation, development and day-to-day support. Promoting a culture of high performance, accountability and continuous improvement
• Mentoring and Team Development - providing mentoring and coaching to junior lawyers and trainees, supporting capability development across the team aligned to our skills framework and contributing to training initiatives and knowledge sharing across the Group Legal team
• Strategic Projects and Leadership - leading and delivering strategic legal and business projects, taking ownership for defined legal workstreams, driving change initiatives and supporting implementation and contributing to shaping the strategic direction of the Legal team alongside the Head of Legal

Essential skills/experience:

• Significant post qualification experience (typically 10+ PQE) in-house and/or private practice, with a strong background in commercial and/or corporate legal matters - experience within insurance, financial services or other regulated environments is highly desirable
• Experience advising on a broad range of commercial and corporate legal matters, including outsourcing arrangements, technology and data agreements and/or corporate transactions
• Experience in managing and mentoring others in a legal capacity
• Significant experience in contributing to legal operations and change/transformation initiatives
• Advanced contract drafting and negotiation experience (including complex and high-value agreements) with strong regulatory and risk management capability
• Strong analytical and problem solving skills, able to interpret complex legal and regulatory landscapes

The interview process

Our interview process involves the below:

• Recruiter screening call
• 1st stage interview with Head of Legal
• 2nd interview with Group General Counsel

As a Disability Confident employer, we're committed to ensuring our recruitment processes are fully inclusive - what this means to you is if you're applying