Senior Legal Advisor - Group Legal Employment

Bupa; Horsforth; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 115,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days annual leave

Enhanced pension plan

7x life insurance

Flexible working

Job summary

Bupa, Leeds-based, is seeking a Senior Legal Advisor in Employment Law to provide clear, practical advice to People teams and senior leaders across the group. The role blends strategic input with advisory and project work, including transformation programmes and international matters, and invites you to shape how technology and data enhance legal services.

You will join the Group Legal Employment team, handle complex employment issues, manage litigation where needed, mentor colleagues, and help

Qualifications

• Extensive specialist knowledge of English employment law.
• Experience advising on contentious and non-contentious matters.
• Ability to coach and develop junior colleagues.
• Strong business acumen and risk awareness.

Responsibilities

• Give strategic, practical employment law advice to People teams and leaders across Bupa.
• Lead employment law input for transformation projects and international change.
• Manage employment litigation with external advisers as needed.
• Act as escalation point for complex questions; develop junior staff.
• Drive improvements using data, digital tools and AI in legal services.
• Stay updated on changes in employment law and best practice.
• Ensure legal support aligns with Bupa's policies and priorities.
• Build strong relationships across global legal and People teams.

Skills

Employment law expertise

Stakeholder management

Commercial awareness

Change project delivery

Job description

Senior Legal Advisor - Group Legal Employment

Job Title: Senior Legal Advisor, Employment Law

Reports to: Head of Legal

Location status: Hybrid

Location: Leeds, UK, with attendance at the Leeds office at least once a week

Permanent/fixed term contract: Permanent

We make health happen!

At Bupa, our purpose is helping people live longer, healthier, happier lives and making a better world. As our Senior Legal Advisor in Employment Law, you'll help us deliver that purpose by giving clear, practical legal advice that supports our people, protects our business and helps colleagues make confident decisions.

You'll join the Group Legal Employment team and work with People teams, legal colleagues and senior leaders across different countries. You'll advise on complex employment law matters, support business change and help manage employment litigation. You'll also have the opportunity to lead legal input into transformation programmes and transactions with a UK and international focus.

This role offers a broad mix of strategic, advisory and project-based work. You'll be encouraged to bring new ideas, explore how technology and artificial intelligence can improve legal services, and help develop more junior colleagues.

Key Responsibilities

As our Senior Legal Advisor, Employment Law, you'll:

• Give strategic, practical and commercially aware employment law advice to People teams, legal colleagues and leaders across Bupa.
• Lead the employment law input for projects involving transformation, business transactions and international change.
• Manage employment litigation effectively, working with external legal advisers where needed.
• Act as an escalation point for complex employment law questions and help develop junior members of the team through coaching and guidance.
• Identify opportunities to improve how the team works, including the responsible use of data, digital tools and artificial intelligence.
• Keep up to date with changes in employment law, regulation and external best practice.
• Help make sure legal support reflects Bupa's policies, values and wider business priorities.
• Build strong working relationships across Bupa's global legal and People communities.

What We're Looking For

You'll be an experienced solicitor with extensive specialist knowledge of English employment law. You'll be comfortable turning complex legal issues into straightforward, actionable advice for senior stakeholders.

You'll also bring:

• Experience advising on both contentious and non-contentious employment matters.
• Strong commercial awareness and the ability to consider legal, regulatory, practical and reputational risks.
• Experience managing employment tribunal cases and working effectively with external law firms or other legal suppliers.
• Experience supporting business transactions, organisational change and matters covered by the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations.
• Confidence working independently, balancing several priorities and making sound judgements when information is incomplete.
• The ability to challenge constructively and offer practical alternative solutions.
• A collaborative approach and an interest in coaching or mentoring less-experienced colleagues.
• An openness to change, including using new technology to improve the speed, accuracy and quality of legal services.
• Experience in a multinational organisation, financial services, health and care, international employment law or employee relations would be helpful, but isn't essential.
• Comfortable operating in a complex environment with a high pace of change and evolving business priorities.

Our benefits are designed to make health happen for our people. Viva is our global wellbeing programme and includes all aspects of our health - from mental and physical, to financial, social and environmental wellbeing. We support flexible working and have a range of family friendly benefits.

Joining Bupa in this role you will receive the following benefits and more:

• 25 days annual leave, increasing through length of service
• An enhanced pension plan and 7x life insurance

Why Bupa

We're a health insurer and provider. With no shareholders, our customers are our focus. Our people are all driven by the same purpose - helping people live longer, healthier, happier lives and making a better world. We make health happen by being brave, caring and responsible in everything we do.

We encourage all of our people to ”Be you at Bupa”, we champion diversity, and we understand the importance of our people representing the communities and customers we serve. That's why we especially encourage applications from people with diverse backgrounds and experiences.

Bupa is a Level 2 Disability Confident Employer. This means we aim to offer an interview/assessment to every disabled applicant who meets the minimum criteria for the role. We'll make sure you are treated fairly and offer reasonable adjustments as part of our recruitment process to anyone that needs them.

If you require information regarding this role in an alternative format, please email: [e-mail].