EME Credit Legal Counsel VP

Overall purpose of role

To provide legal support and legal and reputational risk management for the Credit Trading and Credit Structuring businesses in EME (with a specific focus on loan and special situations trading), and more generally to support the Markets Legal team in connection with execution of the strategic priorities of the function and the firm.

Key Accountabilities

• Day-to-day coverage of the Credit Trading and Credit Structuring businesses of the Markets division of Barclays Investment Bank in UK and Europe, including fixed income trading, loan, special situations and claims trading, credit derivatives, structured credit and financing;
• Particular focus on supporting all aspects of the loan and special situations trading lifecycle, including both par and distressed loans, NPLs and claims, together with restructurings, refinancings and new money;
• Event-driven advice: advising on situations relating to issuers, borrowers, reference entities and counterparties, including rights under transactions and master agreements, market events, counterparty distress and close-out;
• Governance: advising the relevant businesses on legal issues relating to how the business operates and ensuring that an appropriate governance framework is in place at all times, including participating in Barclays’ internal business approval processes and risk and governance fora;
• Regulatory change: advising on all aspects of firm and functional regulatory and strategic change projects applicable to the Credit businesses. In conjunction with other infrastructure areas, providing input to, and managing the implementation of, various ongoing regulatory initiatives insofar as they impact these businesses;
• Market Initiatives: representing Barclays on industry fora and in market initiatives;
• Counsel: effective management of external counsel including responsibility for legal spend;
• Knowledge management: delivering updates on relevant legal, regulatory and governance matters to senior management and colleagues within Legal, the business and across the functions; fostering collaboration with other legal teams both within Markets and more broadly to ensure sharing of knowhow and efficient legal coverage.

To be successful in this role you should;

• Be a qualified lawyer
• Have a Financial Services background in-house and/or private practice
• Have excellent drafting and negotiation skills;
• Have the ability to navigate complex legal and regulatory issues in a fast paced and deadline driven environment.  

Other highly desired criteria:

• Experience in working Distressed Debt trading and special situations
• Experience with Restructuring & Insolvency
• General experience supporting a trading business ( i.e. markets, derivatives, bonds)

You may be assessed on key critical skills relevant for success in 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 will be based in London.

Purpose of the role

To ensure that the activities of the business units in the Markets division are conducted in compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations, and to help the bank manage legal risk associated with these activities. 

Accountabilities

• Development and implementation of best practice legal strategies to manage compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations.
• Legal advice and support to the business units in the Markets division on matters arising from the relevant products/services provided by the Markets division  .
• Subject matter support in the Legal department’s representation of the bank in legal proceedings related to the Markets business units such as litigation, arbitration, and regulatory investigations.
• Creation and review of legal documents for the business units in the Markets division to ensure the bank’s compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations. Maintaining and updating template legal documentation for the Markets division.
• Legal research and analysis to stay up to date on changes in applicable laws, rules and regulations that may impact the activities of the bank's Markets business units   .
• Developing and delivering training programmes to educate employees on legal and regulatory requirements related to the activities of the Markets business units   .
• 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.

Vice President Expectations

• To contribute or set strategy, drive requirements and make recommendations for change. Plan resources, budgets, and policies; manage and maintain policies/ processes; deliver continuous improvements and escalate breaches of policies/procedures..
• If managing a team, they define jobs and responsibilities, planning for the department’s future needs and operations, counselling employees on performance and contributing to employee pay decisions/changes. They may also lead a number of specialists to influence the operations of a department, in alignment with strategic as well as tactical priorities, while balancing short and long term goals and ensuring that budgets and schedules meet corporate requirements..
• 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 be a subject matter expert within own discipline and will guide technical direction. They will lead collaborative, multi-year assignments and guide team members through structured assignments, identify the need for the inclusion of other areas of specialisation to complete assignments. They will train, guide and coach less experienced specialists and provide information affecting long term profits, organisational risks and strategic decisions..
• Advise key stakeholders, including functional leadership teams and senior management on functional and cross functional areas of impact and alignment.
• Manage and mitigate risks through assessment, in support of the control and governance agenda.
• Demonstrate leadership and accountability for managing risk and strengthening controls in relation to the work your team does.
• Demonstrate comprehensive understanding of the organisation functions to contribute to achieving the goals of the business.
• Collaborate with other areas of work, for business aligned support areas to keep up to speed with business activity and the business strategies.
• Create solutions based on sophisticated analytical thought comparing and selecting complex alternatives. In-depth analysis with interpretative thinking will be required to define problems and develop innovative solutions.
• Adopt and include the outcomes of extensive research in problem solving processes.
• Seek out, build and maintain trusting relationships and partnerships with internal and external stakeholders in order to accomplish key business objectives, using influencing and negotiating skills 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.