Senior Legal Counsel - Litigation

Tesco; Welwyn; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

As a Senior Legal Counsel (Litigation) at a leading company, you will play a pivotal role in managing significant disputes across various sectors while advising on complex legal issues. With an emphasis on collaboration and strategic advice, you will work alongside diverse teams including Technology, Quality, and Product to provide sound legal guidance, ensuring efficient resolution of disputes and enhancing legal processes through innovative methods. Tesco champions flexibility, promoting a work-life balance in a supportive environment.

Qualifications

• 3+ years' PQE at a leading law firm or in-house legal team.
• Broad litigation experience including commercial and complex disputes.
• Calm and efficient under pressure with strong organizational skills.

Responsibilities

• Managing complex disputes including High Court litigation and regulatory investigations.
• Advising on civil litigation and pre-action disputes.
• Collaborating with cross-functional stakeholders and managing external law firms.

Skills

Litigation experience

Commercial legal advice

Strategic partnering

Matter management

Adaptability

Job description

As Senior Legal Counsel (Litigation), you will play a key role in managing a wide range of complex and high-value disputes across the Tesco Group. These include High Court litigation, regulatory investigations, ESG-related claims, and commercial disputes, working closely with senior stakeholders across the business.

• Advising on civil litigation and pre-action disputes across Tesco’s diverse business areas.

• Strategically partnering with business stakeholders (including Technology, Quality, Product, Distribution, and Tax) to provide confident, commercial advice—working with the business, not just for it.

• Collaborating with key internal teams:

  • Group People Safety – advising on internal and regulatory investigations, enforcement actions by local authorities, and Coroners’ inquests.

  • Insurable Risk – providing strategic input on material cases such as Employers' Liability, Equality Act claims, and personal injury matters.

  • Customer Engagement Centres & Customer Service Specialists – supporting the resolution of complex, lower-value claims and complaints.

  • Group Communications – advising on press inquiries, public statements, and reputation management.

• Supporting the wider Group Legal function as needed, including in areas such as Technology, ESG, IP, Product, and Group Security & Investigations.

• Managing external law firms on substantive High Court litigation, significant People Safety matters, and complex smaller-scale claims.

• Keeping the Head of Legal and stakeholders informed through horizon scanning, legal and industry updates, and proactive identification of litigation trends or concerns.

• Delivering litigation-related training across the Group Legal team and broader business functions.

• Enhancing and streamlining legal processes through the use of technology, automation, templates, process maps, and best-practice tools.

• 3+ years’ post-qualification experience (PQE) gained at a leading law firm and/or in-house legal team.

• A broad mix of litigation experience, which may include commercial, technology, supply chain, class action, ESG, or other complex disputes—ideally within a retail environment or advising retail clients.

• Skilled at simplifying complex issues, seeing the bigger picture, and balancing legal risk with commercial priorities.

• Eager to learn and adaptable—ready to upskill in new areas and build business knowledge quickly, with a cross-functional mindset.

• Calm and efficient under pressure, with strong matter management and organisational skills.

You might know us as a supermarket, technology company or even for our award-winning mobile network. Truth is, we’re all of those things, and much more. Our colleagues work with one goal in mind, helping to make every day a little better for our customers, colleagues and communities all over the world. No two customers are the same, neither are our colleagues.

At Tesco, we champion a balance that lets you thrive both in and out of work. Spend 60% of your week collaborating with colleagues at our office locations or local sites and the rest remotely. Whether you're just kicking off your career, juggling passions, or navigating big life events, we're here to support you. We always welcome a conversation about flexible working, so talk to us throughout your application about how we can support.

We're proud to be an accredited Disability Confident Leader, where everyone’s welcome. That’s why we commit to providing a fully inclusive and accessible recruitment process. If you need support with your application, click here for more information. And if you're interested in joining our team but don't tick every box, don't let that hold you back from applying.