Legal Counsel

Pets at Home Group Plc is the UK’s leading pet care business, providing pets and their owners with the very best advice, products and care. Pet products are available online or from our 457 stores, many of which also have vet practices and grooming salons.The Group also operates a leading small animal veterinary business, with 444 veterinary General Practices located both in our stores and in standalone locations.

Our business is fast-paced, innovative and fun and its our people that make the real difference. This is a fantastic opportunity to come and work for an award winning company who put people at the very heart of everything they do.

About the role

We are looking for a Legal Counsel to work out of our Support Office in Handforth (Cheshire), and we can offer hybrid working from this location.

This is an opportunity for a Legal Counsel to provide legal support and advice across our business, offering key support to our internal corporate and commercial stakeholders. The role will work closely with the other members of the legal team.

Key responsibilities include:

- Managing a pipeline of corporate joint venture work in respect of the establishment and sale of Group’s joint venture vet practices;
- Providing advice to the Group on the terms of the joint venture documentation
- Collaborating with key internal and external stakeholders to ensure the smooth delivery of the joint venture pipeline work including liaising with external funders and their legal advisors
- Drafting, reviewing, and negotiating standard form joint venture documentation to include share purchase agreements, joint venture agreements and ancillary corporate documentation
- Managing statutory books using Diligent software for the joint venture companies and dealing with post completion corporate matters
- Assisting with company secretarial matters for Group companies including dealing with board changes, audit exemption filings, dissolutions and other ad hoc company secretarial work
- Developing and/or updating relevant corporate templates
- Drafting, reviewing and evaluating internal policies, legal documents as may be necessary
- Organising and participating in necessary legal / compliance training for employees, for example covering directors duties

About you

You will hold a degree in law with at least two years of post-qualified experience (PQE) in a law firm and/or in-house.

You’ll be approachable and friendly and will be part of a friendly and welcoming Legal team.

Key experience/attributes include:

- Experience / knowledge of negotiating standard corporate documents is a pre-requisite
- Experience in a leadership role, including supervision of junior lawyers, is desirable but not essential
- Good communication skills and good command of spoken and written English
- Problem solving and analytical skills
- Attention to detail with a commercially pragmatic attitude
- Motivated and able to work independently, while respecting reporting procedures
- Responds efficiently to routine legal questions or issues
- Able to identify and analyse core legal issues within area of coverage
- Stays on top of regulatory changes and key case law
- Possess a proactive 'can do’ attitude
- Comfortable working both collaboratively and independently within a hynrid working environment
- MS Office IT skills are essential

Our diversity and inclusion vision is that everyone is welcome and feels part of our group. If you think you’re a good match to what we are looking for, and you share our belief that together 'we’re better with pets’, we’d like to hear from you, whateveryour background or circumstances.

About our purpose

Far more than a retailer, Pets at Home Group is the UK’s leading pet care specialist, fulfilling every possible pet and owner need, from food and accessories to grooming and vet services. Since 1991, we’ve been building a business around pets and their ownersand we’ve set our sights on becoming the best pet care business in the world. Join us now and you can be part of that journey, developing your future as we develop ours. This is a place where you can take pride and passion in your work within an inspiring,professional team that’s focused on supporting pets and their owners to live happier lives together.

We’re driven by the wellbeing of pets and we make sure we look after our people too. We depend on your commitment and innovation, and reward it with competitive pay and comprehensive benefits. Together we’ll create the future of pet care.