Legal Counsel - Group Commercial Legal (Hiring Immediately)

Hello, we’re Starling.

Banking was broken – so we decided to fix it. The vision? Fast technology, fair service and honest values. All at the tap of a phone, all the time. We built Britain’s first digital bank. One hard-won banking licence later, we set about giving people a new way to spend, save and manage their money (and take better care of the planet, too). We’re changing banking for good. Back then, we were obsessed with unravelling the knotty world of finance and solving people’s problems rather than selling them stuff. We still are.

Since then, we’ve grown. A lot. Over four million accounts (and four account types!). A team of thousands. Headquartered in London with offices in Cardiff, Dublin, Manchester and Southampton. Seven years voted Which? Recommended Provider and Britain's Best Banking Brand. Still zero branches. Our culture is open, inclusive and focused on solving real customer problems, with an emphasis on doing the right thing, even when it’s not always the easy thing. From our approach to working together and sustainability to how we build our products, our decisions need to make the world – and Starling – a better place to be. Everyone at Starling is essential to our mission, which is really quite simple: to solve our customer’s problems – and build the best bank in the world!

And now we're providing Starling to other banks, via a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) proposition through our subsidiary Engine, using the proprietary technology platform that it uses to power our own bank.

Your new role 

You will be part of the Group Commercial Legal team within Starling’s Legal function. This team provides legal advice and support in respect of all commercial matters across the Starling Group, including third party supplier and outsourcing contracts for Technology, Operations, Marketing and other teams as well as intellectual property and property matters. As part of this role, you will have significant exposure to senior stakeholders across the bank.

Your work will include: 

• Drafting and negotiating a range of complex commercial agreements to support the Starling Group. This includes third party supplier and outsourcing contracts in a financial services context, so knowledge and experience of the financial services industry and regulatory environment will be key.
• Supporting group-wide projects where commercial legal support is required, including in respect of intragroup arrangements.
• Supporting with all other group commercial matters, including in respect of the Starling Group’s intellectual property portfolio.
• Managing multiple projects (often to tight deadlines) and supporting colleagues to ensure business and enterprise-wide initiatives are executed in a timely and accurate manner.
• Instructing and working with outside counsel where necessary on specialist matters.

Requirements

• You will be a UK qualified lawyer with commercial legal experience in a financial services setting, ideally with a mix of private practice and in house experience.
• Intellectual property and property/real estate experience is desirable, but not essential
• You will be capable of working in a fast-paced environment and be keen to grow and develop within the organisation.
• You will also have excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills.

Benefits

• 25 days holiday (plus take your public holiday allowance whenever works best for you)
• An extra day’s holiday for your birthday
• Annual leave is increased with length of service, and you can choose to buy or sell up to five extra days off
• 16 hours paid volunteering time a year
• Salary sacrifice, company enhanced pension scheme
• Life insurance at 4x your salary
• Private Medical Insurance with VitalityHealth including mental health support and cancer care. Partner benefits include discounts with Waitrose, Mr&Mrs Smith and Peloton
• Generous family-friendly policies
• Perkbox membership giving access to retail discounts, a wellness platform for physical and mental health, and weekly free and boosted perks
• Access to initiatives like Cycle to Work and Salary Sacrificed Gym partnerships

About Us

You may be put off applying for a role because you don't tick every box. Forget that! While we can’t accommodate every flexible working request, we're always open to discussion. So, if you're excited about working with us, but aren’t sure if you're 100% there yet, get in touch anyway.

We’re on a mission to radically reshape banking – and that starts with our brilliant team. Whatever came before, we’re proud to bring together people of all backgrounds and experiences who love working together to solve problems.

Starling Bank is an equal opportu]]> <