Job Introduction
We have a great opportunity in the Legal Senior Leadership Team for someone to join for 12 months. The Legal Team at William Grant & Sons is also growing! In response to the continued growth of the business, the Legal Team are introducing some new roles. It's a great time to be part of this team.
Main Responsibility
- Lead the provision of legal services to the OBU, SBU and Central Functions ensuring that the organisation maximises opportunity and minimises legal risk in its operations and business relationships. Apply up to date risk management techniques and offer proactive legal advice on possible legal issues. Draft and advise on the contracts that are required for these business units to operate successfully and to protect the Company’s assets and interests and exploit opportunities. Lead on any litigation affecting the OBU or SBU or arising from Central Services.
- Recruit, manage, develop and motivate the OBU/SBU/CS legal team to deliver legal services to those business units that are best in class and can cover the breadth of issues that arise within them, including negotiation and drafting of contracts, advice on regulatory issues, property matters, asset management and health & safety.
- Partner with the Group Operations Director and the Group Stocks Director ensuring that they are kept abreast of any issues within their business units and to be their first port of call for legal input. Ensure that all relevant legal issues are raised with the OBU and SBU boards and that they are considered and discussed at the appropriate forum and that the boards are aware of any material issues affecting the business units. Deliver relevant legal training to the OBU and SBU boards and any other leadership teams within in those business units to ensure that they are aware of the legal environment in which they operate.
- Be a board member of the OBU and fulfil the responsibilities of a director in accordance with all relevant legislation and codes of practice that are applicable.
- Develop a suite of contracts that can be used by the OBU and SBU functions in their third party relationships and provide training thereon to all relevant people within those business units. Assist the Procurement Director on capability building for the procurement function to ensure that they are able to fulfil their role in relation to the management of contracts and supplier relationships across both direct and indirect goods and services. Maintain a record of all relevant contracts on the central contracts database.
- Partner with the GTS director to ensure that all IT procurement is managed appropriately, that all relevant contracts are documented and managed properly and that all legal compliance matters are appropriately incorporated into the ways of working in the GTS function
- Lead the legal compliance agenda in these business units ensuring that all are aware of their obligations in that regard and that relevant training is carried out. Monitor compliance in and ensure that any gaps or failures in compliance are addressed without delay to ensure that the organisation is protected.
- Manage the legal budget for the OBU and SBU to ensure that WG&S receives value for money in the purchasing of such services ensuring that the right firm or lawyer is used for a particular matter balancing cost with expertise. Manage external legal providers to ensure that they are delivering the services that are needed by the organisation and that they are committed to delivering value add services for the development of the legal function.
- Be the first port of call for legal services for other Central Services.
- For the legal team lead the work on development of the legal operations within WG&S reviewing legal systems, finance, reporting, know how etc with a view to improving efficiency, record keeping, capability and transparency.
- Assist the Group General Counsel in leading and developing the legal function to ensure that it is developed in the right way and that training is provided to ensure that the function is up to date with substantive legal issues and in terms of overall performance in an in house environment.
Our Ideal Candidate
· Law degree and right to practice in the United Kingdom.
· Post-qualification experience (12+yrs PQE) in drafting, reviewing and negotiating a wide range of commercial and
· corporate agreements.
· Significant experience of drafting, negotiating and managing commercial contracts. Experience of managing a wide range of legal issues that can arise from a production organization and a willingness to tackle new areas that may arise.
· Experience of leading a team, inspiring and upskilling them and delivering through the team.
· Strong interpersonal skills; excellent at relationship building with experience of influencing senior internal and external stakeholders
· Experience of operating at a senior level with ability to gain trust and credibility across peers and stakeholders.
· Able to translate complex legal and compliance requirements into practical workable solutions for the business.
· Able to thrive in a fast-moving environment; prioritise workloads and to deliver against demanding deadlines
· Able to work collaboratively and lead by example.
· Able to think strategically in setting direction and following through to delivery
· Self-motivated self-starter with drive and determination to deliver results
· Able to work autonomously
· High degree of professional ethics and integrity
· Experience in alcohol/beverage sector or advising other brand-led businesses would be
advantageous.
What we can offer you
- We offer a competitive salary and benefits which are designed to promote our employees financial wellbeing. Employees are also eligible to participate in a bonus plan.
- Our employees enjoy a generous holiday entitlement and an opportunity to ‘buy’ or ‘sell’ some holiday entitlement.
- Private Healthcare and Doctor@Hand (remote GP service).
- Our employees can join a defined contribution pension plan. Employees contribute either 4% or 5% of salary, the company contributes 8% or 10% depending on the employee contribution. Employee contributions can be made through salary sacrifice.
- Our Employee Assistance Programme offers practical, impartial support on everyday matters ranging from medical, financial and legal to home and family issues.
- Our Life Assurance cover is a multiple of eight times your annual basic salary.
- Product allocation so that you can enjoy our fantastic portfolio of brands.
- Our Cycle to Work scheme allows you to hire a bike for an agreed length of time, and then snap it up for a fraction of its original value. All while making savings (at least 25%) and spreading the cost.
- Every employee has the opportunity to claim up to £1,000 per year for a charity or charities for which they have raised money, volunteered their time or personally donated.
- Learning resources to help you be your best self.
About William Grant & Sons
A HOME FOR RARE CHARACTERS
William Grant & Sons: a home where Rare Characters thrive.
We value every employee for their rare character, distinctive skills, experience and perspectives. Every one of our colleagues has a role to play in helping us to achieve our growth ambitions.
At William Grant & Sons, our vision is to be A home where rare characters thrive. We value all colleagues for their rare character, distinctive skills, experience and perspectives. Diversity & Inclusion is at the heart of how we do things at William Grant & Sons, fully aligned to our purpose and our company values. We strive to create an environment where we can all be our best and bring our whole selves to work.
OUR AGILE WORKING PHILOSOPHY
Our agile working philosophy is to “Have your best work day everyday”.
Built on trust, we empower our rare characters to have their best work day every day. Where flexibility and positive working experiences help employees to feel connected and release potential across our teams.
We are open to discussing possible agile/flexible working options as part of the recruitment process.
INCLUSIVE RECRUITMENT PROCESS
Diversity & Inclusion is at the heart of how we do things at William Grant & Sons, fully aligned to our purpose and our company values. We want to ensure that our recruitment process is inclusive. If you have any questions or need some support with your application we’d love to hear from you. So please get in touch with our HR team at recruitment.enquiries@wgrant.com.
We want to make sure that all applicants are treated equally. To support this we will anonymise all applications during the screening stage. Details such as name, dates and educational establishments will only be visible to the recruitment team and hiring leader once an applicant is invited to interview, these details are hidden during the screening stage. To be able to anonymise applications they all need to be in the same format. You can upload a CV but we would also ask you to complete an application form – your CV will not be visible during screening. We hope you agree that this is good use of your time to help ensure a fair recruitment process.
William Grant & Sons
