Head of Legal & Company Secretary

The Organisation

At Leek Building Society, we pride ourselves on being a force for good. We exist to help our communities grow, so they can do great things today and even better things tomorrow. Our colleagues are one of the communities we support. We’ve created an inclusive, engaging workplace where colleagues have the freedom to be themselves and grow their careers. We’re proud to be an award winning employer, accredited as a ‘Great Place to Work’ based on our latest colleague survey, with a continued focus on helping everyone reach their potential.

Job Purpose & Scope

The Head of Legal & Company Secretary is the Society’s senior in-house legal adviser and governance leader, acting as a trusted adviser to the Board and Executive while leading the Society’s legal capability and company secretarial function.

The role provides high-quality legal advice, robust corporate governance, and effective Board and committee support, ensuring the Society operates within its legal, regulatory, and governance obligations while enabling strategic growth and change in a proportionate and well-controlled manner consistent with the Society’s risk appetite and values.

Combining hands-on legal advisory responsibilities with oversight of governance processes and key stakeholder engagement, the role supports the Society in navigating legal and regulatory change, strengthening governance maturity, and delivering strategic objectives, supported where appropriate by external advisers.

Duties and Key Responsibilities

Legal Advisory

• Provide timely, pragmatic legal advice across the Society, including lending, savings, treasury, outsourcing, procurement, technology, data protection, employment, and property matters
• Draft, review, and negotiate a broad range of legal documentation, including contracts, terms and conditions, policies, and framework agreements.
• Support new products, strategic initiatives, and business transformation, enabling growth while ensuring legal and regulatory risks are identified and addressed early.
• Monitor legal and regulatory developments relevant to building societies and regulated financial services, clearly articulating impacts and required actions.
• Oversee relationships with external legal advisers, ensuring effective challenge, oversight, and value for money.

Company Secretarial and Governance

• Act as Company Secretary to the Society, ensuring compliance with statutory, regulatory, and governance requirements.
• Support the Chair, Board, and Board Committees by ensuring effective governance arrangements, including agendas, papers, minutes, and action tracking.
• Advise Directors and senior management on corporate governance best practice, Directors’ duties, conflicts of interest, and decision-making responsibilities.
• Maintain statutory registers, filings, and corporate records, including Companies House and regulatory notifications.
• Support the annual Board and Committee cycle, including reviews of terms of reference, governance frameworks, and effectiveness assessments.

Regulatory & Stakeholder Engagement

• Act as a key point of contact for legal and governance matters with regulators, auditors, and external advisers.
• Work closely with Risk & Compliance to support interpretation and implementation of regulatory requirements and supervisory expectations.
• Contribute to Board papers and regulatory submissions where legal or governance input is required.

Risk, Conduct & Culture

• Identify, assess, and manage legal and governance risks in line with the Society’s Risk Management Framework and Risk Appetite.
• Support a strong conduct and customer-focused culture, ensuring legal advice and governance practices align with the Society’s purpose and values.
• Contribute to policy development, review, and proportionate second-line assurance activity where appropriate.

Development & Leadership

• Build effective relationships across the Society, acting as a trusted adviser and constructive challenger.
• Support training and awareness initiatives for the Board and colleagues on legal, governance, and regulatory matters.
• Contribute to the ongoing development of the Society’s legal and governance capability as the organisation grows and evolves.

Person Specification

Qualifications & Knowledge

Essential

• Qualified solicitor or barrister in England & Wales (or equivalent).

Desirable

• A qualification, certification, or professional training in corporate governance, company secretarial practice, or board governance (e.g. through recognised professional bodies).

Experience

• 5+ years' post-qualification experience (PQE) as a solicitor, ideally providing practical and proportionate legal advice on complex commercial, corporate and/or regulatory matters.
• Experience of advising senior management and/or Boards, demonstrating sound judgement and the ability to balance legal risk with commercial objectives.
• Ability to provide clear, precise and practical legal advice, effectively articulating what is relevant and important in a concise and accessible manner.

Desirable

• Experience operating within a regulated financial services environment, ideally advising on savings and/or lending products (including propositions for business customers) , and the associated legal, regulatory and conduct considerations.
• Company Secretarial experience, including board and committee support, governance frameworks and regulatory engagement.
• Experience supporting business change, outsourcing arrangements, supplier contracts and third party risk management.
• Experience managing relationships with external legal advisors, including coordinating specialist advice and achieving value-for-money outcomes.

Skills and abilities

• Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders
• Strong leadership capability, with experience developing teams, fostering collaboration, and promoting constructive challenge
• Ability to communicate complex legal issues, clearly, pragmatically, and proportionally to non-legal stakeholders
• A Basic DBS check will be undertaken upon an offer of employment.

Benefits

• 35 hour working week (full-time)
• 7.5% employer pension contribution
• Minimum of 27 days paid holiday a year plus bank holidays
• Holiday purchase/sale scheme
• Health Screenings
• 24/7 GP access for you and your close family
• Comprehensive mental health support including counselling sessions and mental health first aiders
• Workplace savings account with £100 bonus when you save regularly
• Enhanced sick and family leave pay from day 1
• Sick Pay guaranteed for 6 months for major illnesses
• Life assurance of 4 times your annual salary
• Continuous development opportunities
• Retailer discounts and salary sacrifice/deduction schemes
• We’re open to discussing working flexibly
• Onsite gym at Head Office

If the above sounds like something you’d thrive at, we’d love to hear from you