Head of Legal - Product & Propositions
St. James’s Place
Date: 12 hours ago
City: Cirencester, England
Contract type: Full time
Are you ready to chart your own career path? At SJP we need talented individuals like yourself to support our evolving culture. If you’re seeking an employer that is passionate about excellence, innovation and autonomy, SJP could be the place for you.
At a glance:
Location: Cirencester preferred, open to considering London
Workplace Type: Hybrid
Employment Type: Permanent
Seniority: Mid-Senior Level
Who We Are
People have always been at the heart of St. James’s Place, we value long-term relationships and we are a home for people who care about the future – financially, environmentally and socially. These core values have enabled us to become a leading FTSE 100 Wealth Management company.
The role:
Working closely with the Group Legal Director, the SJPUK board, the SJPUTG board, and the Investment Division Executive Leadership Team, your role is to provide high quality commercial legal advice to ensure that SJP complies with all legal requirements relevant to its products and proposition and ensure SJP maintains good relationships with its regulators.
You’ll help SJP achieve its corporate objectives by effectively managing and mitigating legal risk, and by providing legal advice which is considered, accessible, timely, and cost effective, and which adds real commercial value to the business
What you'll be doing:
We know that everyone works best in different ways, at different times and in different environments. We value all of our employees and appreciate that everyone is different, and at different stages within their career. Recognising this, we have introduced a hybrid working policy to provide greater flexibility for part-time work, job-sharing, remote working, and flexibility on hours. Our people are encouraged to work in a flexible way that suits their lifestyle, so please ask the question and start a conversation!
Research tells us that applicants (especially those from underrepresented groups) can be put off from applying for a role if they do not meet all the criteria or have been on an extended career-break. If you think you would be a good match for this role and can demonstrate some transferable experience please apply, regardless of whether you tick every box.
Why work for us?
Our Rewards
In addition to an attractive salary and eligibility to participate in the discretionary annual bonus opportunities, you will also receive an excellent benefit package including:
Our culture is the glue that binds us together - It’s one of our biggest assets and one of the biggest reasons for our success. It’s underpinned by core values of doing the right thing, being the best version of ourselves and investing in long term relationships.
We want to embrace diverse backgrounds and experiences to connect with clients, solve problems and innovate. We raise our voice on the things that matter to us and drive change from the front. Contributing to our inclusive culture is vital, ensuring a space for everyone to be their authentic self, no compromises.
In all we do, we consider how our work affects the communities in which we belong. Over 96% of our group employees are involved in supporting our communities through financial education, charitable giving and volunteering. Over 80% of all our employees and Partners donate each month to our Charitable Foundation, which is now the 3rd largest corporate charity in UK.
SJP are delighted to have signed The Armed Forces Covenant, and we are active members of LGBT Great, 30% club, The Diversity Project, Disability Confident and more! Find out more: https://www.sjp.co.uk/careers/life-at-sjp
Our Awards:
We understand it’s important to be proud of the company you work for, that’s why we’re proud to share with you some of our recent awards:
How To Apply
To apply for this role please click on the Apply button below.
We occasionally close vacancies early due to high volumes of applications. We would therefore recommend you complete your application prior to the closing date which is for guidance only.
Careers at SJP | St. James’s Place Careers
What's in it for you?
We reward you for the work you do, whether that’s through our discretionary annual bonus scheme that reflects both personal and company performance, competitive annual leave allowance (28 days plus bank holidays, with the option to purchase an additional 5 days), or online rewards platform with a variety of discounts.
We also have benefits to support whatever stage of life you are in, including:
Research tells us that applicants (especially those from underrepresented groups) can be put off from applying for a role if they do not meet all the criteria or have been on an extended career-break. If you think you would be a good match for this role and can demonstrate some transferable experience please apply, regardless of whether you tick every box.
What's next?
If you're excited about this role and believe you have the skills and experience we're looking for, we'd love to hear from you! Please submit an application by clicking ‘apply’ below and our team will be in touch.
As a business regulated by the FCA we would advise you to familiarise yourself with the conduct regulations and in particular consumer duty obligations prior to an interview with SJP.
At a glance:
Location: Cirencester preferred, open to considering London
Workplace Type: Hybrid
Employment Type: Permanent
Seniority: Mid-Senior Level
Who We Are
People have always been at the heart of St. James’s Place, we value long-term relationships and we are a home for people who care about the future – financially, environmentally and socially. These core values have enabled us to become a leading FTSE 100 Wealth Management company.
The role:
Working closely with the Group Legal Director, the SJPUK board, the SJPUTG board, and the Investment Division Executive Leadership Team, your role is to provide high quality commercial legal advice to ensure that SJP complies with all legal requirements relevant to its products and proposition and ensure SJP maintains good relationships with its regulators.
You’ll help SJP achieve its corporate objectives by effectively managing and mitigating legal risk, and by providing legal advice which is considered, accessible, timely, and cost effective, and which adds real commercial value to the business
What you'll be doing:
- You’ll act as lead legal adviser on new product and proposition development to ensure that it is done in compliance with prevailing legal and regulatory requirements, working in conjunction with the product actuarial and compliance teams.
- Act as lead legal adviser on existing product and proposition reviews, ensuring the Group’s existing range are suitably distributed to a specified target market, considering the characteristics, risk profile, complexity of the needs, characteristics and objectives of clients in the target market.
- In addition, provide legal advice and support to:
- The SJP Investment Division in relation to all aspects of its operations.
- Rowan Dartington in relation to all aspects of its discretionary investment management operation and, in particular, its financial data licensing requirements and its custody arrangements.
- SJP in relation to the content and compliance of the product range plan conditions and SCDD (services and costs disclosure document).
- Active management of external legal advisers that provide specialist advice for particular issues within contracts and translate such advice for internal client teams.
- Keep the Group Legal Director updated on emerging key risks/issues and propose legal solutions for their consideration/approval, where necessary.
- Provide legal support to the SJP Partnership and the business via the Legal Helpline.
- Supervise the day-to-day activities of Junior Solicitors, Senior Solicitors and other staff within the team.
- You’ll lead and manage an Investment Management project team.
- You’ll employ a “can do” attitude, especially in light of numerous, complex, and high-profile SJP matters, often at short notice.
- Degree qualified with appropriate legal qualification (eg SQE).
- Significant post-qualification legal experience, both in private practice and in-house (corporate FTSE100/250).
- Demonstrable experience acting as a legal adviser, working autonomously and in large multidiscipline client teams negotiating complex high value/risk commercial contracts including funds related documentation.
- Funds/Investment product regulatory experience.
- Ability to provide effective upward communication of advice to senior business leaders and boards on key legal risks/liabilities.
- Experience of providing legal advice in a commercial context and in a manner that is easy for the teams to digest, understand and apply to facilitate key/strategic decision making.
- Experience of managing external legal advisers and spend so that the advice is delivered within budget and is of value to the business.
- Ability to develop a deep technical understanding of the SJP business and its operations, including SJP’s Investment Division’s functions.
- Ability to prioritise and effectively manage a varied and busy workload to meet deadlines and broader goals of the business.
- Ability to absorb, understand and analyse a wide variety of complex legal issues encountered by the business and the SJP Partnership and problem solve by offering pragmatic and commercial solutions.
- Ability to recognise when and where specialist input may be required and to escalate matters to the Group Legal Director, when appropriate, and where specialist external support may be required.
We know that everyone works best in different ways, at different times and in different environments. We value all of our employees and appreciate that everyone is different, and at different stages within their career. Recognising this, we have introduced a hybrid working policy to provide greater flexibility for part-time work, job-sharing, remote working, and flexibility on hours. Our people are encouraged to work in a flexible way that suits their lifestyle, so please ask the question and start a conversation!
Research tells us that applicants (especially those from underrepresented groups) can be put off from applying for a role if they do not meet all the criteria or have been on an extended career-break. If you think you would be a good match for this role and can demonstrate some transferable experience please apply, regardless of whether you tick every box.
Why work for us?
Our Rewards
In addition to an attractive salary and eligibility to participate in the discretionary annual bonus opportunities, you will also receive an excellent benefit package including:
- Non-Contributory Pension – 10% (increasing with length of service) with further pension matching
- Meaningful protection benefits with real value, such as 10X life cover, PHI, and critical illness.
- Best in class terms and conditions including 6 months paid maternity and paternity leave.
- Private Medical and Dental Insurance
- 28 days holiday entitlement plus bank holidays (based on full-time equivalent) with the option to buy an additional up to 5 days
- Discretionary bonus scheme dependent on company and personal performance, varied by level
- Not applicable to fixed term contracts (standard uplift applies in lieu of the protection benefits)
Our culture is the glue that binds us together - It’s one of our biggest assets and one of the biggest reasons for our success. It’s underpinned by core values of doing the right thing, being the best version of ourselves and investing in long term relationships.
We want to embrace diverse backgrounds and experiences to connect with clients, solve problems and innovate. We raise our voice on the things that matter to us and drive change from the front. Contributing to our inclusive culture is vital, ensuring a space for everyone to be their authentic self, no compromises.
In all we do, we consider how our work affects the communities in which we belong. Over 96% of our group employees are involved in supporting our communities through financial education, charitable giving and volunteering. Over 80% of all our employees and Partners donate each month to our Charitable Foundation, which is now the 3rd largest corporate charity in UK.
SJP are delighted to have signed The Armed Forces Covenant, and we are active members of LGBT Great, 30% club, The Diversity Project, Disability Confident and more! Find out more: https://www.sjp.co.uk/careers/life-at-sjp
Our Awards:
We understand it’s important to be proud of the company you work for, that’s why we’re proud to share with you some of our recent awards:
- Wealth Manager of the Year – Growth Investor Awards 2021
- Best Wealth Manager – Shares Awards 2021
- Championing LGBTQ Inclusion - Financial Adviser Diversity in Finance Awards 2020
- Top 75 Employer - Social Mobility Foundation Employer Index 2021
How To Apply
To apply for this role please click on the Apply button below.
We occasionally close vacancies early due to high volumes of applications. We would therefore recommend you complete your application prior to the closing date which is for guidance only.
Careers at SJP | St. James’s Place Careers
What's in it for you?
We reward you for the work you do, whether that’s through our discretionary annual bonus scheme that reflects both personal and company performance, competitive annual leave allowance (28 days plus bank holidays, with the option to purchase an additional 5 days), or online rewards platform with a variety of discounts.
We also have benefits to support whatever stage of life you are in, including:
- Competitive parental leave (26 weeks full pay)
- Private medical insurance (optional taxable benefit)
- 10% non-contributory pension (increasing with length of service)
Research tells us that applicants (especially those from underrepresented groups) can be put off from applying for a role if they do not meet all the criteria or have been on an extended career-break. If you think you would be a good match for this role and can demonstrate some transferable experience please apply, regardless of whether you tick every box.
What's next?
If you're excited about this role and believe you have the skills and experience we're looking for, we'd love to hear from you! Please submit an application by clicking ‘apply’ below and our team will be in touch.
As a business regulated by the FCA we would advise you to familiarise yourself with the conduct regulations and in particular consumer duty obligations prior to an interview with SJP.
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