General Counsel

General Counsel 
Caledonian Sleepers Limited 
Competitive salary plus benefits of car allowance, free rail travel, private medical cover 
Glasgow, Hybrid working 2 days per week based in office
Full time Monday- Friday (part time 4 days per week also considered) 

Caledonian Sleepers Limited have an exciting opportunity for a General Counsel to join the team in a hybrid-based role in our Glasgow offices. The key purpose of the General Counsel at Caledonian Sleeper is to be a trusted partner to the MD and Senior Leadership Team by providing proactive and strategic legal support, guidance and leadership which protects the interests of the Business and enables them to deliver their contractual requirements with an acceptable risk profile.

The General Counsel is responsible for leading on the provision and enablement of effective corporate governance, regulatory reporting and value add legal, policy, ethical and regulatory compliance in a public sector business.

Main Accountabilities:

• Serve as a subject matter expert and business partner enabling the execution and sustainable achievement of the Business strategic objectives with an acceptable risk profile by providing proactive and strategic legal advice, guidance and leadership.
• Lead on the delivery to the Business of specialist legal, regulatory compliance, risk management & assurance and ethics & governance support and guidance working with internal colleagues and external counsel, as appropriate.
• Prominent and visible 'go to' person for business focused legal advice and guidance on complex and strategic commercial and contractual issues, negotiations, transactions, and structures.
• Ensure awareness and understanding of relevant legal, policy, regulatory, ethical risks and governance requirements within the business and work with colleagues in the wider Group Legal function to develop and embed compliance and risk mitigation plans, processes and tools which provide ongoing assurance.
• Proactively identify changes and developments in relevant laws, regulations, government policies and guidance notes and work with colleagues to assess and manage their impact on the Business.
• Legal instruction, oversight and guidance in relation to internal and external investigations into matters arising within the Business.
• Management of relationships with external legal providers and sourcing and provision of quality, cost-effective and value add external legal advice and support for the Business as required with responsibility for management, reporting and forecasting of legal costs for the Business.
• Generate quality management information and regularly report on material legal risks, as appropriate.
• Play a lead role in the line and performance management and continuous development of the legal resource within the Business, and mentor and coach other key roles in the Business to develop capability and knowledge and manage any outsource legal partners

Regulatory Reporting and Board Duties:

• Ensuring the security of the company's legal documents.
• Ensuring that the Scottish Government policy for the filing and retention of documents is fully complied with.
• Advising directors on their duties and ensuring that they comply with corporate legislation and the articles of association of the company.
• Assist the Group Company Secretary with company statutory and board secretarial duties, which may include:

• Maintaining the company's statutory books, including:
  1. a register of present and past directors and secretaries
  2. a register of all shareholders, past and present and their shareholdings
  3. a register of any charges on the company's assets
  4. minutes of general meetings and board meetings.

• Filing annual returns at Companies House. Other documents which must be filed include the directors' report and auditors' report and financial statements, including details of the company's assets and liabilities.
• Informing Companies House of any significant changes in the company's structure or management, for example the appointment or resignation of directors.
• Establishing and maintaining the company's registered office as the address for any formal communications. Ensuring that all the company's business stationery carries its name, registered number, country of registration and registered address. These details must also appear on the company website, emails, order forms and invoices.
• Responsibility for the management and publishing of agreed board minutes.
• Managing the calendar invites for all Board meetings and associated Governance meetings, ensuring all meeting are quorate.
• Ensuring that all Board meeting and associated Governance meeting papers are sent one week in advance of the date of the meeting.
• Taking detailed and accurate minutes at all Board meetings and associated governance meetings.
• Circulating the minutes of all meetings in a timely manner to all attendees.
• Managing the actions following all Board meetings and associated Governance meetings, ensuring that updates are available in good time.

What you'll need to do the role:

• Qualified and experienced in-house counsel and business leader with relevant professional qualifications.
• Educated to degree standard or higher.
• Preference for a solicitor admitted to practise in Scotland, though candidates admitted to practise in England and Wales will also be considered.
• It is anticipated that candidates with the appropriate skill set for this role will have approximately ten years' post qualified experience with a reputable law firm and/or in-house, however those with fewer years' experience who can demonstrate they have such skill set are also encouraged to apply.
• Ability to lead and manage the team, ensuring it runs effectively and efficiently, and to provide coaching, feedback and development opportunities.
• Expert understanding of contracts, commercial and public procurement law.

• Deep understanding of providing leadership on legal matters, legal management and complex contractual constructs.
• Demonstrable experience of balancing commercial, technical and legal requirements to achieve successful outcomes with acceptable risk profiles.
• Experience of and expertise in public sector contracting in the UK.
• Demonstrable commercial acumen and business orientated approach.
• An interest in learning about and supporting Company Secretarial duties.
• Experience of implementing and driving change with a mindset of continuous improvement and continually seeking improved and more efficient methods of working rather than settling for status quo.
• Ability to communicate and build strong relationships across a diverse community of stakeholders at all levels of the organisation.

Security Clearance will be required.

A visible presence across the Business is essential and therefore some travel is required.

Please note we will consider applications from candidates seeking part time hours four days per week, please specify this on the application form. 

What we offer

• Competitive salary 
• Private medical cover 
• Company car cash equivalent  
• 25 days annual leave 
• Hybrid working 
• Opportunity to join the Railway final salary pension scheme
• Allocation of complimentary tickets for Caledonian Sleeper each year 
• Complimentary Scotland wide rail travel with ScotRail for the employee and qualifying family members 

About Serco
At Serco, not only is the nature of the work we do important, everyone has an important role to play, from caring for vulnerable people to managing complex public services.  We are a team of 50,000 people responsible for delivering essential public services around the world in areas including defence, transport, justice, immigration, healthcare and citizen services. We are innovators, committed to redesigning and improving public services for the benefit of everyone.

By joining Serco you will have unlimited access to our Global Employee Networks - SercoInspire (Gender), SercoEmbrace (Multicultural), SercoUnlimited (Disability) and In@Serco (LGBT & Networks). Serco Employee Networks, led by colleagues who are passionate about diversity, inclusion and belonging. 

Apply
Please click on the apply button to complete your application. Occasionally we receive a large volume of applications for our roles and when that happens we sometimes bring the closing date forward, so please apply promptly to avoid disappointment. 

At Serco, we see people first and foremost for their performance and potential. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organisation that supports the needs of all. As such we will make reasonable adjustments at interview through to employment for our candidates and strongly encourage applications from a diverse candidate pool. We are open to discussions around flexibility and flexible working. We operate a hybrid work structure in many of our business areas. We are proudly Disability Confident Leader employers and holder of the Silver Inclusive Employer Standard. Disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job will be given the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities at an interview.  For help with your application please contact 0345 010 4000.
 

At Serco we support fair access to employment for those with unspent criminal convictions through the 'Ban the Box' pledge (some may be exempt due to the nature of the role and the security clearance required). Please contact our recruitment team directly on 0345 010 4000 to discuss.