AddressWe are Centrica! We’re so much more than an energy company. We’re a family of brands revolutionising a cleaner, greener future. Working here is #MoreThanACareer - we’re powered by purpose. Together we can make an impact that will truly change tomorrow. Whether you’re developing cutting-edge green tech, helping customers on the front line or simplifying operations behind the scenes.
Your work here isn’t job – it’s a mission. We all play a vital role in energising a greener, fairer future.
Legal Counsel – Employment
At Centrica, our purpose is to energise a greener, fairer future. Achieving this is made possible through our family of trusted brands and businesses.
We’re excited about a future where we can help every driveway in the UK to have an EV charger, thousands of homes to be powered by a heat pump, and so much more. Change of this magnitude doesn’t happen overnight, but we believe that we have a huge role to play in helping the nation to cut carbon emissions and in helping millions of households through a once in a generation cost-of-living crisis.
In order to help support the company’s ambitious strategy for growth, we need a Legal Counsel, Employment to join our Legal, Regulatory Affairs, Ethics & Compliance and Secretariat Function (LRECS). LRECS focusses on providing a diverse and inclusive environment with a strong emphasis on wellbeing and delivering opportunities for growth and personal development.
This vacancy is for a junior member of a team of 3 lawyers to deliver employment law advice and support to Centrica Group companies in the UK. As a Legal Counsel, you will be delivering commercially focused, risk-based specialist employment advice to all UK business units and group functions. You will have an opportunity to work on high profile cases which in recent years have helped shaped the law and attracted political attention.
Our people are the beating heart of our business. We are incredibly proud of our commitment to being FlexFirst. From childcare to furry friends, we listened to our people and understood that they work best when they are comfortable and have a flexible working model that suits their individual needs. We embrace the opportunity to give our colleagues a choice to work flexibly whilst still ensuring they can connect and engage with their teams through office days, employee networks and virtual events. The successful candidate will, however, need to be comfortable commuting to our Windsor office (SL4 5GD) several times a month.
About the Role:
Advise the Centrica People Team and Employee Relations team on the application of employment law to a range of day-to-day employment matters, including complex grievances, disputes and employment litigation* with the right balance of risk awareness and pragmatism.
Liaise with and manage external lawyers (UK and other) to deliver high quality, good value support and advice on a range of issues, including Employment Tribunal* and Early Conciliation cases.
Work with the Centrica Reward and Operations teams on various issues including changes to terms and conditions of employment and HR policies and advice on benefits and incentive schemes.
Support Centrica People and Employee Relations teams to build HR capability by providing education, training and support on relevant aspects of employment law.
Provide advice to Legal, M&A, Procurement and People teams and to lead on non-contentious employment aspects of strategic business arrangements, including M&A transactions, tenders, outsourcings, reorganisations and redundancies.
Support senior members of the Employment team in advising the Industrial Relations team on trade union related issues including industrial action, facilities time and collective bargaining.
*Note: we oversee and manage our Employment Tribunal cases which are all outsourced to external advisers to handle the litigation process.
About You:
Qualified solicitor with a UK or equivalent practicing certificate with some PQE experience.
In-house experience is desirable but not essential.
Strong communication skills with the ability to explain complex legal principles to a variety of internal stakeholders.
Ability to apply employment law to complex commercial and operational matters and to provide quick, pragmatic and commercially sound advice.
Confident and effective stakeholder management and ability to work closely with teams in HR, Reward, Procurement, M&A and other specialist Legal areas.
Technical employment law expertise and experience required to provide practical employment advice on all employment issues including M&A, large scale outsourcings and TUPE etc.
A good team-player with the ability to prioritise competing demands and be effective working alone and at pace.
Excellent presentation skills with willingness to deliver training.
What’s in it for you:
If this sounds like a good match for your skills, experience and what you’re looking for as a next step, we’d love to hear from you! In return, we will offer you:
Competitive salary and bonus potential.
Employee Energy Allowance at 15% of the government price cap.
Pension scheme.
Company Funded Healthcare Plan.
25 days holiday allowance, plus public holidays, and the option to buy up to 5 additional days.
Excellent range of flexible benefits, including technology vouchers, electric car lease scheme & travel insurance.
Colleague-led networks which aim to empower & support colleagues from underrepresented groups.
Our customers come from all walks of life, and so do we. We hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it makes our company stronger. We will continue to champion inclusivity, develop future skills and invest in our local communities to create a better, more sustainable world, for everyone.
#MoreThanACareer
At Centrica we embrace diversity and actively seek to attract individuals with unique backgrounds and perspectives. To build a more sustainable future, we need the best team – a team with a diverse mix of people and skills, where everyone feels welcome and able to succeed. We are dedicated in helping to close the diversity gap and would love to see more females, people of colour and LGBTQ+ employees, as well as those from a variety of cultures and ethnicity to veterans and the differently abled. Supporting diversity and inclusion is a big part of who we are, we are not looking for people to fit into our culture but to add to it!
PLEASE APPLY ONLINE by hitting the 'Apply' button.
Applications will ONLY be accepted via the ‘Apply’ button.
This role is being handled by the Centrica recruitment team and NO agency contact is required.
