Senior Legal Counsel - Employment

We are growing!

This is a great opportunity for an employment lawyer as a Senior Legal Counsel within Sky’s in house HR Legal team.

We seek a motivated, collaborative and commercially minded lawyer who is able to support across the full breadth of employment law issues, primarily in UK & Ireland but with scope across Sky’s footprint in other jurisdictions.  The role will offer a wide variety of cutting-edge work and provide first-class opportunities for development and growth, both within the team and more broadly across the department and the Sky Group.

Our team is part of the Sky Legal team with around 200 UK based lawyers.  Sky is fast paced and challenging,  but it’s also a people first business with friendly, amazing colleagues and real opportunities to grow your career.

You will have the opportunity to experience a wide range of work for multiple clients and stakeholders across the Sky Group. The variety of work is unique in the UK – ranging across the entire TMT sector from market leading Sports and News issues, to Sky Studios productions, to our key volume areas including our engineers, retail and contact centre populations.

This is an exciting time to join the HR Legal team. Our business is increasingly focused on large and strategic projects, and HR Legal are a growing team with a key seat at the table in guiding and delivering this change. Sky has recently made significant announcements around its future, and you will play a major part in shaping that.

The role will report into Stephen Hall, Head Counsel of the HR Legal team based in our West London offices. 

What you’ll do

• Provide clear, commercial and practical advice to HR, business leaders and internal lawyers regarding the full range of contentious and non-contentious employment law issues – primarily in UK&I but with an international scope.
• Support HR and the business to deliver Sky’s ambitious transformation and M&A programme, working on and driving key strategic projects and other commercial priorities.
• Exposure to senior leadership providing timely, concise and effective advice on key HR projects and risks - with accountability for providing creative and risk-based solutions, and driving positive outcomes.
• Opportunity to work both independently and as a team - building effective relationships with HR and legal colleagues and the wider Sky businesses (including Sky Group and NBC Universal).
• Coach and develop other team members within the HR Legal team and broader Sky Legal team – including supervising our Paralegals who conduct our employment tribunal litigation in house.
• Retain, instruct and manage the work of outside counsel in a manner which promotes efficiency and cost-effectiveness

What you’ll bring 

Essential criteria:  

• Extensive experience in UK employment law issues within a highly regarded law firm or equivalent in-house
• Experience of managing i) large scale restructuring and M&A projects, ii) reputational management issues, and ii) trade union issues
• Ability to effectively supervise on tribunal claims
• Commerciality – Ability to cut through complexity and provide creative, practical and risk based solutions
• Exceptional communication skills – Ability to clearly and effectively communicate advice to and manage a complex network of senior stakeholders
• Independent and pro-active –  Ability to give legal advice quickly and independently, escalating at the appropriate time and driving matters forward
• Great team player – Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build rapport and establish trust and business partnering at all levels
• Growth – Optimistic, open minded and willing to support others in their development.

Desirable skills and experience: 

• In house experience
• Exposure to Telecommunications, Media, Technology, and/or Entertainment industries
• Experience of working with external and overseas counsel

Benefits and perks

There's one thing people can't stop talking about when it comes to life at Sky: the perks. Here’s a taster: 

• Free Sky TV or NOW package, including Sky Sports and Sky Cinema  
• Pension package with up to 9% employer contribution
• Private healthcare with mental health support 
• Aviva Digital GP and dental insurance 
• Discounts on Sky products, including Sky Mobile, Sky Broadband, Sky Glass and Sky Protect 
• Sharesave and Tech schemes 
• A range of Sky VIP rewards and experiences

How you’ll work

We've adopted a hybrid working approach to give more flexibility on where and how we work. The hybrid working expectations for this role are 3 days in the office per week. 

Your office base 

Osterley

Our Sky Group HQ. Equipped with state-of-the-art technology and workspaces, there’s plenty of space to see your big ideas come to life. Here you’ll find 13 subsidised restaurants and cafes. You can re-energise at our gym, catch the latest films at our cinema, get your car washed and even get pampered at our beauty salon. 

Our Osterley Campus is just a 10-minute walk from Syon Lane train station, or you can get one of our free shuttle buses from Osterley, Gunnersbury and Ealing Broadway stations. Plus, there’s free onsite parking available for cars, motorbikes and bicycles.

Who we are

We’re Sky, a leading media and entertainment company who connect millions with entertainment, sports, news and arts through innovative products and services. Working with us means you’ll be bringing the joy of a better experience to more people, every day. All so we can do better and deliver better for our customers, colleagues and society.

We’re an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We're a Disability Confident Accredited Employer, and welcome and encourage applications from all candidates. We will look to ensure a fair and consistent experience for all and will make reasonable adjustments to support you where appropriate. Please flag any adjustments you need as early as you can.

Just so you know: if your application is successful, we’ll ask you to complete a criminal record check. And depending on the role you have applied for and the nature of any convictions you may have, we might have to withdraw the offer. 

To be eligible for this role you are required to have the appropriate right to work in the UK. Please be aware Sky does not offer sponsorship for this position.

To find out more about working with us, search #LifeAtSky on social media.