Head of Legal

Head of Legal
Up to £155,000 plus great benefits (Work level 3) 
Hybrid working, coming into our Manchester city centre office 2 to 3 days a week  

The Co-op legal team supports our diverse portfolio of businesses make decisions that grow revenue and achieve strategic goals in a way that delivers value for our members, the communities they live in and our colleagues.

Why This Role Matters

As our Head of Legal, you'll be accountable for supporting our strategic ambitions through the delivery of legal advice and guidance that helps shape key decisions made across our business.  You'll lead a team of capable, commercially-minded legal professionals and influence senior stakeholders to ensure we deliver for our members while protecting Co-op legally and reputationally.

You’ll be comfortable working autonomously to lead the legal team and at the same time support the Co-op General Counsel with both legal and governance matters. You will be comfortable exercising judgment across a wide range of legal disciplines and a broad range of businesses, many of which are in highly regulated sectors.

You'll be responsible for evolving and transforming how the legal team works with our businesses - building the case for investing in technology. Using your strong leadership style you'll take the team on a journey that introduces new ways of working and new approaches to delivering legal work that empowers the team to meet the changing needs of our business.

You'll join an organisation where collaboration, inclusion and doing the right thing matter, and where you'll be empowered to lead, innovate and shape the future of the in house legal team.

If you're a strategic legal leader who can build strong relationships, inspire teams and innovate, we'd love to hear from you.

What You'll Do

•    Build meaningful relationships across Co-op businesses
•    Collaborate on major strategic and business-critical projects
•    Provide legal advice to senior leaders
•    Innovate ways of working through technology
•    Manage relationships with external legal partners, maximising external legal delivery whilst carefully managing spend
•    Guide the business on legal and regulatory developments
•    Drive the efficiency of the Co-op's legal team through personal development and continuous improvement
•    Be a member of the General Counsel leadership team, which spans a broad range of commercial and corporate functions

What you’ll bring

We’re committed to making our roles as accessible as possible, so we only ask for the minimum criteria. This role will suit someone who:

•    Is a qualified solicitor with significant senior legal leadership experience
•    Can build strong relationships and influence senior stakeholders at all levels
•    Can provide pragmatic, commercially focused advice while balancing risk
•    Has successfully led and developed high-performing legal teams
•    Has experience of transforming how legal teams work
•    Will bring expertise in corporate governance, regulation and organisational change

Why Co-op?

At Co-op, we’re owned by our members. And because we’re owned by you, we can do right by you. So when you join us, you’re not just taking a job, you’re joining a movement. We’re an organisation that puts people and communities first, and we’re powered by purpose. We want this to be a place where you can thrive, so you’ll also receive:

•    An annual bonus (based on personal and business performance)
•    28 days holiday (rising to 32 with service) plus bank holidays 
•    A pension with up to 10% employer contributions 
•    Private healthcare for you and your family
•    Access to a subsidised onsite gym (at our Manchester HQ) 
•    30% discount on Co-op products and 10% off other brands 
•    Stream – early access to a percentage of your pay as you earn it 
•    Virtual healthcare including GP appointments, mental health support, nutrition and fitness advice 
•    24/7 colleague support service 
•    Training and support for your development and career progression
•    Cycle-to-work scheme

A place you’ll belong

We’re building diverse and inclusive teams that reflect the communities we serve. We welcome applications from everyone and are committed to creating a workplace where colleagues can feel like they belong, supported by our inclusive policies and the ways we work.

We’re proud to be part of the Disability Confident scheme and offer interviews to disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria for a job. If you need any adjustments during the recruitment process, we’ll support you.

Learn more about our recruitment process at jobs.coop.co.uk/apply-process and our inclusion commitments at jobs.coop.co.uk/diversity-inclusion.

As part of your application, you'll need to complete an online assessment. This assessment typically takes up to 50 minutes. If you're a current Co-op colleague, this does not need to be completed.