Senior Manager, Legal Department

Centre People Appointments

– Japanese Corporation / Legal & Compliance / City of London –

A Japanese company is currently recruiting a Senior Manager for their Legal Department, to join its team in the City of London.

The role will cover a broad range of legal matters including M&A, commercial contracts, property, compliance, litigation, export controls, and sanctions. You will work closely with senior stakeholders across Europe, external counsel, commercial teams, and counterparts at the Tokyo headquarters.

The ideal candidate should be a qualified Solicitor of England and Wales with approximately 5-7 years PQE, together with strong legal, communication, and stakeholder management skills.

(Ref: CC47668 – Please include this when making any enquiries.)

Main Responsibilities

• Handle general corporate matters including M&A, commercial contracts, and in-house property matters
• Review and draft contracts and other legal risk-related documents and support transaction execution
• Handle compliance matters including anti-corruption, export control and sanctions-related activities and seminars
• Manage labour disputes, commercial disputes, and other contentious matters
• Research legal and cross-border issues and keep up to date with relevant laws and regulations
• Liaise with and instruct external lawyers and manage communications with senior stakeholders across Europe
• Communicate with commercial teams, external clients, and counterparts at Tokyo headquarters
• Manage legal documentation and support the business on legal and compliance matters

Ideal Candidate

• Qualified Solicitor of England and Wales
• Approximately 5-7 years PQE
• In-house legal experience is advantageous
• Understanding of Japanese working culture or experience working in a multinational company is advantageous
• Excellent customer service and relationship management skills
• Strong team player with a cooperative, flexible, and can-do attitude
• Ability to work effectively in a cross-cultural environment
• Excellent accuracy and attention to detail
• Strong organisation, time, and task management skills
• Proactive approach to continuous learning and self-development
• Ability to organise and retrieve legal information efficiently

Conditions

• Location: City of London
• Working Style: hybrid (after successful completion of probationary period)
• Salary: negotiable
• Job Type: permanent, full-time
• Working Hours: Monday to Friday, 8 hours per day including 1-hour lunch break (flexible start between 7:00 and 11:00)
• Start: Ideally December 2026-January 2027
• Benefits: discretionary annual performance-related bonus, medical insurance, dental insurance, company pension, annual health check-up scheme

All applicants for the Senior Manager, Legal Department position must have the right to work in the UK without any restrictions as the Company is not able to offer visa support.

We regret that we cannot accept applications from Working Holiday, Graduate or Student visa holders.

If your application is successful, you will be contacted within two business days. We regret that due to the high volume of applications we receive, we cannot provide feedback on individual CVs.