Legal Counsel

Leeds, Yorkshire
QBE Management Services (UK) Limited

Primary Details

Time Type: Full time Worker Type: Employee

The opportunity

A rare opportunity to join the dynamic legal team of QBE European Operations (“EO”) as a Legal Counsel for Operations. Based in the Leeds office. This will be the first member of the legal team to be based outside of London. The Legal Counsel for Operations will support the Leeds-based business and procurement teams, whilst maintaining close links with the London and Continental Europe Legal team members. The role will involve giving support to the business and the International Chief Legal Officer by providing pragmatic and relevant advice on a range of contractual, regulatory and legal issues, and involvement in a range of strategic projects in the technology, outsourcing, commercial contracts and procurement areas.

Your new role

Regular work will include:

• Providing ad hoc advice to business and procurement teams on commercial contract issues with a focus on general commercial, claims procurement and IT contracts

• Ensuring that QBE contracts with its suppliers on robust and appropriate contractual terms, liaising with QBE’s procurement and business teams, and suppliers where required

• Managing a fast paced and varied workload of supplier contracts and procurement projects, from the idea stage to signature and beyond, developing good relationships with stakeholders across QBE EO and the wider QBE Group and encouraging early engagement with Legal

• Keeping QBE’s legal templates up to date in response to regulatory and legal developments

• Supporting the International Chief Legal Officer and the wider EO Legal team in drafting and reviewing privacy and data protection clauses in a range of supplier and insurance market contracts

• Answering queries on data protection and privacy issues, for example on data protection impact assessments, transfer impact assessments, data breaches, privacy notices, and technology such as telematics and AI, consulting with external law firms and secondees as appropriate

• Involvement in privacy and data protection projects, such as QBE’s ‘Schrems II’ project on international transfers

• Identifying and anticipating legal and regulatory risks within the business to help manage risk exposure and mitigation, ‘horizon scanning’ for relevant legal, regulatory and market developments

• Assisting in delivering training to the business and Legal colleagues on relevant legal and regulatory developments and best practice ways of working

About you

• UK solicitor with at least 4-6 years PQE

• Have a valid practicing certificate

• Extensive experience of IT and procurement and other commercial contracts, including negotiation of supplier commercial agreements, including on information technology matters

• Excellent drafting skills and contract negotiation experience

• Demonstrate good technical expertise and sound judgment combined with practical solutions, so that advice and guidance is sought and trusted

• Ability to manage stakeholder expectations and willingness to seek periodic customer feedback

• EU and UK data protection and ePrivacy law experience

• Self-starter, able to work independently and manage own workload as well as working as part of a team and potentially in due course as a manager of junior resource

• A good understanding of the insurance industry, and knowledge of regulatory requirements relating to the insurance industry, outsourcing and operational resilience would be helpful

Why QBE? At My Best

At QBE, we want our people to feel rewarded and inspired to perform at their best, that’s why we have created “At My Best”. It’s our connection, our way of showing we have your back. We understand that one size doesn’t fit all and that priorities can change depending on your life stage. That is why our blend of wellbeing initiatives and benefits offer flexibility to suit what matters most to you. It’s in the culture of our business, our QBE DNA, to support our people. Everything we do is underpinned by our QBE DNA – because we know it’s not just what we do that matters, it’s how we do it that makes the difference. In addition to this, we also offer flexible parental leave for both parents and have several employee network groups that support and empower our diverse workforce.

At QBE, we view our people as our most precious asset. We understand the importance of fostering a work environment that is responsive to the changing needs of today’s workforce. QBE aims to build a workplace that is fair and inclusive because we want to attract and retain the best people to do the job, we have adopted flexible working across the company and welcome this conversation.

Some of the award’s QBE are proud to have won, been a finalist for, and shortlisted for include;

Employer of the Year 2022Winner – Insurance Insider

British Claims Awards 2022 Winner – InsurTech Award

Insurance Times Claims Excellence Awards 2022 Winner – Claims Product Solution of the Year

Working Families Best Practice Awards 2021 Finalist for: Best COVID-19 Response

Insurance Post British Insurance Awards 2022 Shortlisted for: Best Customer Care, Diversity & Inclusion Initiative of the Year 2022, Specialist Insurer of the Year (for Construction), General Insurer of the Year

We are proud to have partnerships with organisations such as Stonewall and Working Families, and our commitment to the Women in Finance Charter, the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles and Race at Work charter helps keep us accountable and transparent

Inclusion of Diversity

We are striving to create a workplace culture where all our people feel included, and we are committed to building a diverse workforce that is reflective of the communities we operate in.

We know that diversity of thought, background and experience enables better decision making, improves the quality of our delivery and helps us to meet the needs of our customers.