Senior Legal Counsel

Fisher Funds; Auckland; On-site; NZD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible Working

Parental Leave

Birthday Leave

Collaborative culture

Job summary

Fisher Funds is seeking a Senior Legal Counsel to join our in-house Legal Team in Auckland or Wellington. You will advise on complex regulatory and commercial matters, acting as a trusted adviser to senior leaders and projects across the business.

You bring 7+ years PQE in a regulated environment, strong communication with executives, and a NZ practicing certificate. This role offers a high impact, collaborative culture and opportunities to shape governance and compliance.

Qualifications

• 7+ years post qualification experience in a complex, regulated environment.
• Experience operating at a senior level in house and/or private practice.
• Track record leading major matters, negotiations, transactions or projects with multiple stakeholders.
• Current NZ practising certificate or ability to hold one.

Responsibilities

• Provide pragmatic, commercially sound legal advice to enable strategic decision-making.
• Lead complex, novel and high-risk legal matters with judgement and influence.
• Navigate emerging issues such as AI, technology-enabled innovation and regulatory trends.
• Mentor and develop junior team members and contribute to cross-functional projects.

Job description

Senior Legal Counsel

Closing Date: 23/10/2026

Job Type: Full Time - Permanent

Location: Auckland or Wellington

Job Category: General Counsel

About Fisher Funds

Fisher Funds is one of New Zealand’s largest specialist wealth management companies, operating for over 25 years.

We're on a mission to help Kiwis realise their ambitions by making investing accessible and enjoyable. Today, we support over 500,000 Kiwis across KiwiSaver and Managed Funds, with over $24 billion in funds under management.

Our in house investment team is one of the largest and most experienced in New Zealand, investing across a diverse range of portfolios around the world. We're equally proud of our award winning client services team, who bring care, clarity, and consistency to every client interaction.

Above all, this is a place where people are proud of the work they do and the difference it makes. We take our responsibility seriously - but we do it together, with ambition, generosity, and a shared commitment to doing things well.

About the Role

We're looking for a Senior Legal Counsel to join our high-performing in-house Legal Team, who can operate as a trusted adviser to deliver high-quality, solutions-focussed legal advice across a broad mix of complex legal, regulatory, strategic, and commercial matters.

If you enjoy working at pace, tackling sophisticated legal problems, thinking strategically, and being embedded in the heart of the business, this is an opportunity to play a meaningful role in high-impact decision-making and to help Fisher Funds realise its ambitions in supporting everyday Kiwis.

Located in either Auckland or Wellington, you'll be joining a friendly and inclusive office environment where people value collaboration and balance.

Key Responsibilities

Interesting Work with Real Impact

• Provide pragmatic, commercially sound legal advice that helps leaders move forward with clarity and confidence.
• Lead complex, novel and high risk legal matters. This requires judgement, influence, and creative problem solving.
• Bring a curious mindset and apply sound judgement to navigate emerging issues such as AI, technology-enabled innovation and regulatory trends.
• Protect Fisher Funds' interests and reputation, knowing when to escape and when to enable informed risk taking.

Shaping How Legal Shows Up

• Contribute to planning, prioritisation, and workflow across the Legal team to ensure effort is focused where it matters most.
• Support the GM Legal on forums, steering committees, and projects when required.
• Drive continuous improvement. This includes refining legal processes, templates, systems, and ways of working to increase impact and efficiency.

Leadership Through Influence

• Be a senior role model in the Legal and wider Office of the General Counsel team, demonstrating sound judgement, integrity, and professionalism.
• Lead legal input on cross functional projects, bringing people together to land practical, solutions focused outcomes.
• Contribute ideas, challenge constructively, and help lift the overall quality and consistency of legal advice across the business.
• Mentor and develop junior team members.

Relationships That Matter

• Build trusted, authentic relationships with senior leaders and key stakeholders across Fisher Funds.
• Work closely with external legal advisers to ensure advice is practical, value driven, and aligned to business needs.
• Collaborate across teams to support enterprise wide initiatives and shared outcomes.

About you: Skills & Experience

• You'll bring strong legal foundations, plus a strong commercial, collaborative, and curious mindset:
• 7+ years post qualification experience, ideally in a complex, regulated environment.
• Experience operating at a senior level in house and/or in private practice, advising on complex and strategically significant legal and commercial matters.
• A track record of leading major matters, negotiations, transactions or projects involving multiple stakeholders and balancing competing priorities.
• Experience in financial services (including the Financial Markets Conduct Act and FMC licence obligations) is desirable but not required. A clear, plain English communicator who can adapt their style for executives, peers, and project teams alike. A current NZ practising certificate (or ability to hold one).

Why Fisher Funds?

Heres what makes Fisher Funds a great place to build your career:

Wellbeing comes first

Your health and wellbeing genuinely matter to us. Alongside Southern Cross Health Insurance and life insurance coverage, we're committed to flexible, sustainable ways of working that support real work life balance. We trust our people to manage their time well and believe great work happens when people feel supported, energised, and able to bring their whole selves to work.

Room to grow

We back our people to keep learning. You'll have access to professional development opportunities that help you stretch, evolve, and reach your potential - whatever that looks like for you.

Time that actually means something

Alongside a generous parental leave package, we offer community leave so you can give back in ways that matter to you, plus birthday leave so you can celebrate with the people who matter most.

A culture you'll want to be part of

Our teams are collaborative, inclusive, and genuinely supportive. We value new ideas, encourage curiosity, and believe work can be high performing and fun. You'll be surrounded by smart people who care about what they do - and about each other.

For successful candidates, Fisher Funds conducts mandatory background screening in accordance with current legislation (including police and credit checks as part of our interview process). To apply for this vacancy, you also MUST be a New Zealand citizen, resident, or have already secured the right to work in New Zealand and therefore hold a valid visa.

Applications Close - 23/10/2026