Legal Counsel – Unregulated Lending AVP

As a member of the Barclays UK (BUK) Legal Unregulated Lending Legal team, you’ll play a central role in shaping the future of BUK’s unregulated lending products and propositions, providing legal advice and support on all aspects of BUK’s current and proposed unregulated lending activity across the different BUK businesses – principally Business Banking, and Education, Social Housing and Local Authorities (ESHLA).  The products are either outside the scope of the Consumer Credit Act or subject to an applicable exemption, and may be secured or unsecured, and the BUK Legal Unregulated Lending team provide end to end product advice. You’ll advise on product innovation, simplification, product launch / change / withdrawal and customer journeys, ensuring regulatory compliance and robust legal risk rationale.  You’ll collaborate and influence in contract drafting and negotiation, and you’ll partner with other brilliant legal colleagues across the function on cross-bank legal challenges.  You’ll work independently and flexibly in a busy and commercial environment, across a range of products and services in order to identify and manage risk, and to plan for change resulting from any developing regulation.

To be successful as a Legal Counsel – Unregulated Lending, you should:

• Be a qualified lawyer with demonstrable expertise in secured and unsecured lending, with the ability to work across a broad set of products, and sensitivity to the issues presented by a retail-facing business

• Have a good understanding of legal risk management within a financial institution

• Have a collaborative mindset with the ability to work effectively with a broad range of stakeholders, balancing priorities in a complex environment

• Be able to provide strategic, commercially-grounded legal advice that balances risk, regulatory expectations and business objectives

• Have good communication skills

You may be assessed on key critical skills relevant for success in the role, such as risk and controls, change and transformation, business acumen, strategic thinking and digital and technology, as well as job-specific technical skills.

This role is based in Glasgow.

Purpose of the role

To ensure that the consumer banking activities are conducted in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and to help the bank manage legal and regulatory risks associated with these activities. 

Accountabilities

• Development and implementation of best practice legal strategies for risk management and compliance.
• Proactive consumer banking Legal advice and support to the consumer banking division of the bank on a wide range of legal issues, including regulatory compliance, regulatory change management, consumer protection, and risk management.
• Representation of the bank in legal proceedings related to consumer banking, such as litigation, arbitration, and regulatory enquiry and investigations.
• Creation and periodic review of Legal documents in accordance with contractual arrangements policy to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
• Legal research and analysis to stay up to date on changes in laws and regulations that may impact the bank's consumer banking operations.
• Developing and delivering training programmes to educate employees on legal and regulatory requirements related to consumer banking.
• Pro-active identification, communication, and provision of legal advice on applicable laws, rules and regulations (LRRs). Keeping up to date with regards to changes to LRRs in the relevant coverage area. Ensuring that LRRs are effectively allocated to, and adequately reflected within, the relevant policies, standards and controls.

Assistant Vice President Expectations

• To advise and influence decision making, contribute to policy development and take responsibility for operational effectiveness. Collaborate closely with other functions/ business divisions.
• Lead a team performing complex tasks, using well developed professional knowledge and skills to deliver on work that impacts the whole business function. Set objectives and coach employees in pursuit of those objectives, appraisal of performance relative to objectives and determination of reward outcomes
• If the position has leadership responsibilities, People Leaders are expected to demonstrate a clear set of leadership behaviours to create an environment for colleagues to thrive and deliver to a consistently excellent standard. The four LEAD behaviours are: L – Listen and be authentic, E – Energise and inspire, A – Align across the enterprise, D – Develop others.
• OR for an individual contributor, they will lead collaborative assignments and guide team members through structured assignments, identify the need for the inclusion of other areas of specialisation to complete assignments. They will identify new directions for assignments and/ or projects, identifying a combination of cross functional methodologies or practices to meet required outcomes.
• Consult on complex issues; providing advice to People Leaders to support the resolution of escalated issues.
• Identify ways to mitigate risk and developing new policies/procedures in support of the control and governance agenda.
• Take ownership for managing risk and strengthening controls in relation to the work done.
• Perform work that is closely related to that of other areas, which requires understanding of how areas coordinate and contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the organisation sub-function.
• Collaborate with other areas of work, for business aligned support areas to keep up to speed with business activity and the business strategy.
• Engage in complex analysis of data from multiple sources of information, internal and external sources such as procedures and practises (in other areas, teams, companies, etc).to solve problems creatively and effectively.
• Communicate complex information. 'Complex' information could include sensitive information or information that is difficult to communicate because of its content or its audience.
• Influence or convince stakeholders to achieve outcomes.

All colleagues will be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Stewardship – our moral compass, helping us do what we believe is right. They will also be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Mindset – to Empower, Challenge and Drive – the operating manual for how we behave.