Senior Legal Counsel - Corporate, Finance, Pensions & M&A

Job Description

We are Centrica! We’re so much more than an energy company. We’re a family of brands revolutionising a cleaner, greener future. Working here is #MoreThanACareer - we’re powered by purpose. Together we can make an impact that will truly change tomorrow. Whether you’re developing cutting-edge green tech, helping customers on the front line or simplifying operations behind the scenes.

Your work here isn’t just a job – it’s a mission. We all play a vital role in energising a greener, fairer future.

Senior Legal Counsel - Corporate, Finance, Pensions & M&A

Centrica, the FTSE 100 listed international energy and services company, is evolving to become a truly purpose-led organisation, by living its purpose of energising a greener, fairer future.

In July 2023, Centrica announced it’s green-focused growth and investment strategy, which is designed to create value for shareholders and to deliver net zero for Centrica and its customers. We plan to invest £600m-£800m per year at least until 2028, making now a very exciting time to join the Group and its Corporate, Finance, Pensions and M&A legal team, which is at the forefront of enabling Centrica to deliver on this strategy.

The Corporate, Finance, Pensions and M&A legal team advises Centrica plc and its various businesses on some of the largest and most complex acquisitions and disposals, equity investments and joint ventures. It also advises the Centrica treasury function on the full range of the Group’s bilateral and capital debt markets financing arrangements to support both the Group’s ordinary course business requirements and its M&A activities. The team complements these activities by providing discreet advice and support in connection with the Centrica Group’s pension schemes.

This is an excellent opportunity for a senior lawyer, with solid experience in corporate and/or finance matters, to join a dedicated in-house corporate and finance legal team and to work on some of the largest and often innovative corporate and finance transactions in the energy sector and see those transactions through from their early development and structuring phase, through negotiation and execution, and beyond to implementation.

The role offers a good balance between having a high degree of autonomy to lead on the provision of legal advice and support for transactions, working closely alongside internal clients in the Group’s M&A, Treasury and Pensions teams, while also being supported by other members of the Corporate, Finance, Pensions and M&A team for consultation or assistance, as needed. You will instruct, and assist with managing relationships with, the Centrica panel of external advisers as appropriate, and you will report on the progress of transactions and matters to steering committees or working groups comprised of the senior Group stakeholders and at times to the Centrica plc board of directors. As the team covers all of corporate, finance, pensions and M&A matters, there is an excellent variety of work and, if your current specialism is in one such area, the role represents a fantastic opportunity to broaden your experience and learn new skills.

The Corporate, Finance, Pensions and M&A legal team forms part of Centrica’s broader Legal, Regulatory Affairs, Ethics & Compliance and Secretariat (LRECS) Function, which comprises nearly 200 colleagues, each with their own specialist skills which they deploy in supporting the Centrica Group’s businesses and each other. The whole LRECS team, led by the Group General Counsel, meets regularly to hear news on Centrica business developments and innovations, share best practice and develop better ways of working, and monitor and enhance culture. LRECS has also established its own Learning and Development, Diversity & Inclusion, Wellbeing, Innovation and Net Zero committees and working groups, which gives colleagues in LRECS the opportunity to learn more about, and support initiatives within, these spaces as, at Centrica, we believe in investing in our people, their continuous learning and development and their wellbeing. LRECS also supports diversity and inclusion in all its forms and pro-actively and positively supports volunteering.

The role

The role involves:

• Providing legal advice and transaction support to the Group M&A team and business teams on acquisitions, disposals, equity investments and joint ventures, often in high value and/or innovative zero or low carbon energy generation and/or storage businesses or assets or in residential and business energy supply and services businesses, as well providing legal support for the Group’s existing gas exploration and nuclear joint ventures

• Providing legal and transaction support to the Group Treasury front and back office functions on debt finance, debt capital markets and derivatives, including supporting the Group’s syndicated and bilateral debt facilities, its EMTN bond programme and hybrid bonds, and its FX and interest rate trades

• Providing legal advice and assistance to the Group Pensions team in connection with the ongoing funding and management of the Group’s defined benefit and defined contribution pension schemes

• Engaging and working closely with other LRECS teams and with business colleagues in other business functions as necessary in order to ensure delivery of seamless and coordinated advice and support on corporate, finance and pensions matters

• Engaging and instructing external advisers as appropriate to procure specialist support and advice and assisting the team to manage the budget and billing processes associated with such outsourcing

• Working with the Corporate, Finance, Pebsions and M&A legal team members to continuously improve the team’s processes and systems, including by participating in knowledge-sharing events

• Playing an active role in the broader LRECS function, with the opportunity to become a member and participate in the work of one of the LRECS Learning & Development, Diversity & Inclusion, Wellbeing, Net Zero and Innovation committees and working groups, as well to participate in its extensive training, reverse mentoring and volunteering activities

The role is full time and will follow a hybrid working arrangement split between remote working and office working (at our Windsor head office).

About You

To be successful in the role, you will:

• Be a lawyer qualified in England and Wales with demonstrable PQE experience

• Have trained and qualified into either a corporate or finance team, and acquired solid experience, in private practice and/or in-house in corporate and/or finance transactions, leading on matters by being the primary point of contact for external or internal clients and by managing the provision of legal support for such clients on both transactions and by way of ad hoc legal advice

• Preferably have experience in the energy sector, whether by having acted for and advised energy clients in private practice or by having worked in-house in the energy sector, although this is not a pre-requisite and you may otherwise have a keen interest in the energy industry and in developing your knowledge and experience in this sector

• Be adaptable by supporting the wide variety of corporate, finance, pensions and M&A legal work that the team performs and, if you do not already have experience or expertise in all these areas, be willing to learn new or develop your skills in these areas

• Be able to be flexible with your time to work on transactions and matters when needed

• Be able to lead, and take ownership of the provision of all legal advice and support, on the matters on which you work and use your commercial acumen to both identify legal risks and weigh them in the balance with the commercial rewards and provide advice accordingly

• Be confident, and be able to inspire the confidence and trust of others

• Be a good team player by providing legal advice and support to internal clients in the ways that work for them, by sharing knowledge with and supporting continuous improvement in the legal team and by delegating work to and developing the skills of more junior members of the team

• Have good communication skills, with an ability to explain legal risks and report on the progress of legal matters to colleagues and senior stakeholders, in each case in a clear and concise manner

• Have strong interpersonal skills, with an ability to build and maintain trusted relationships

• Have good time management and organisational skills, being able to meet and prioritise competing demands and manage stakeholders’ expectations on delivery

The package

We have tailored our wellbeing & benefits package around our employees. This role offers a:

💰 Competitive salary and bonus potential
👵 Pension scheme
🚗 Electric car lease scheme
💡 Employee Energy Allowance at 15% of the government price cap

⛱ 25 days holiday allowance, plus public holidays, and the option to buy up to 5 additional days
🏋️‍♀️Excellent range of flexible benefits, including technology vouchers & travel insurance

Our customers come from all walks of life, and so do we. We hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it makes our company stronger. We will continue to champion inclusivity, develop future skills and invest in our local communities to create a better, more sustainable world, for everyone.

#MoreThanACareer

At Centrica we embrace diversity and actively seek to attract individuals with unique backgrounds and perspectives. To build a more sustainable future, we need the best team – a team with a diverse mix of people and skills, where everyone feels welcome and able to succeed. We are dedicated in helping to close the diversity gap and would love to see more females, people of colour and LGBTQ+ employees, as well as those from a variety of cultures and ethnicity to veterans and the differently abled. Supporting diversity and inclusion is a big part of who we are, we are not looking for people to fit into our culture but to add to it!

PLEASE APPLY ONLINE by hitting the 'Apply' button.

Applications will ONLY be accepted via the ‘Apply’ button.

This role is being handled by the Centrica recruitment team and NO agency contact is required.