Senior Legal Counsel ESG & Regulatory

Primark Stores Limited; England; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading retail company is seeking a Senior Legal Counsel with expertise in ESG and regulatory matters. The ideal candidate will provide legal guidance, manage compliance initiatives, and support sustainability efforts. With a minimum of 7-10 years PQE, strong regulatory experience is essential. The role promises a vibrant workplace culture and competitive benefits.

Benefits

Healthcare

Pension

Potential bonus

27 days of leave plus bank holidays

Fitness centre

Qualifications

• At least 7-10 years PQE, preferably in private practice in UK or Ireland.
• Experience with UK and/or EU regulatory matters across jurisdictions.
• Ability to analyze complex information demonstrating focus on key issues.

Responsibilities

• Provide legal advice to senior leaders on governance matters.
• Manage ESG and regulatory challenges across the business.
• Draft, review, and negotiate contracts ensuring legal protection.

Skills

Legal advice and direction

Understanding of consumer and ESG regulations

Litigation management

Project coordination

Attention to detail

Education

Qualified Solicitor

Job description

Overview

Senior Legal Counsel, ESG & Regulatory

Because we strive to put people first. Culture, our way.

What You’ll Get

People are at the heart of what we do here, so it’s essential we provide you with the right environment to perform at your very best.

Let’s talk lifestyle: Healthcare, pension, and potential bonus. 27 days of leave, plus bank holidays and if you want, you can buy 5 more. Because Primark is all about tailoring to you, we offer Tax Saver Tickets, fitness centre, and a subsidised cafeteria.

What You’ll Do as a Senior Legal Counsel, ESG & Regulatory

In your role, you’ll collaborate with different people across a range of skillsets. Here’s a flavour of your day-to-day:

Provide rigorous and robust legal advice and direction to senior leaders and key stakeholders across a broad range of legal, ethical and governance matters.

• Work cross functionally to effectively manage ESG and regulatory matters, ensuring inputs from key stakeholders are obtained and taken into account, and alignment of expectations.


• Stay up to date on recent and upcoming changes in relevant laws and regulations and proactively identify legal risks, opportunities and solutions.


• Lead legal compliance initiatives, ensuring adherence to regulatory standards and industry best practices.


• Support the delivery of our sustainability strategy and compliance with our ESG reporting requirements.


• Help develop and deliver legal training and updates to all levels of the business.


• Lead on the drafting, review and negotiation of a variety of agreements, contracts and legal documents, ensuring they protect the best interests of the business, maximise value and manage legal risk.


• Build a strong external network of relationships with peers to benchmark legal approach, share best practice and support ESG initiatives.


• Effectively collaborate with and manage external law firms as required, managing timelines and budgets to ensure maximum value for the business building relationships with trusted external advisors across multiple territories, and coordinating external advice for a non-legal audience.

What You’ll Bring

Here at Primark, we want everyone to feel valued – so please bring your authentic self to work, of course with some other key experience and abilities for this role in particular:

• Qualified Solicitor with at least 7-10 years PQE.


• Must have experience of private practice in UK or Ireland.


• UK and/or EU regulatory experience, preferably across multiple jurisdictions, with a good understanding of consumer and ESG related regulations.


• Litigation experience would be favourable to this role, in particular managing regulatory investigations and advice.


• Broad general commercial experience, retail experience preferred but not essential.


• Experience in coordinating and managing large projects and contributing to their success.


• Capable of applying a rigorous legal interpretation to ESG and Regulatory matters, without compromising the business.


• Highly organised, detail-oriented, possessing the ability to effectively prioritise matters whilst meeting deadlines with minimal oversight and guidance.


• Self-motivated with the ability to be comfortable in an agile role.


• Excellent attention to detail and an ability to analyse and interrogate complex or large amounts of information while demonstrating an ability to focus on and convey important matters.

Does this sound like you? Great, because we can’t wait to see what you’ll bring. You’ll be supported within a team of equally capable people, celebrating who you are and aiding you reach your potential. At Primark, we’re excited about our future - and we’re excited to develop yours.

About Primark

At Primark, people matter. They’re the beating heart of our business and the reason we’ve grown from our first store in Dublin in 1969 to a £9bn+ turnover business and over 80,000 colleagues and over 440 stores in 17 countries today. Our values run through everything we do. In essence, we\'re Caring and always strive to put people first. We\'re also Dynamic, bravely pushing the boundaries to stay ahead. And finally, we succeed Together.

If you need any reasonable adjustments or have an accessibility request, during your recruitment journey, such as extended time or breaks between online assessments, a sign language interpreter, mobility access, or assistive technology please contact your talent acquisition specialist.

All offers of employment are subject to background checks, including right to work, reference education and for some roles criminal, and financial checks. If you have any concerns, please reach out to our talent acquisition team to discuss.