Corporate Counsel

We are PZ Cussons. Our purpose is For everyone, for life, for good.

Sustainability and the wellbeing of people, families and communities everywhere are at the heart of everything that we do.

Since our founding in 1884, we have been creating products to delight, care for and nourish consumers. Across our core categories of Hygiene, Baby and Beauty, our trusted and well-loved brands include Carex, Cussons Baby, Sanctuary Spa and St. Tropez.

POSITION SNAPSHOT

Job title: Corporate Counsel

Location: Manchester

Contract type: Permanent

WHO ARE WE

PZ Cussons is an international consumer goods business, headquartered in Manchester, UK. We employ just under 2500 people across our operations in Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific and Africa. Since our founding in 1884, we have been creating products to delight, care for and nourish consumers. Across our core categories of Hygiene, Baby and Beauty, our trusted and well-loved brands include Carex, Childs Farm, Cussons Baby, Imperial Leather, Morning Fresh, Original Source, Premier, Sanctuary Spa and St. Tropez.

Sustainability and the wellbeing of our employees and communities everywhere are at the heart of our business model and strategy and captured by our purpose: For Everyone, For Life, For Good.

If you want to join a business in transformation with exciting growth plans and the opportunity to work flexibly and finish at 1pm every Friday, apply to work for us today.

The Role:

The Corporate Counsel role is a broad role and exciting role. It is responsible for providing legal leadership, facilitating corporate transactions supporting the legal strategy throughout the group to help PZ Cussons achieve its long-term strategic ambitions and live up to its values and purpose. The role works with a wide range of stakeholders within and outside the business, and will involve occasional travel. It would be suited to an experienced Lawyer who enjoys variety in their work, taking ownership and delivering results, is personable and adaptable, likely from a corporate or commercial legal background.

Function overview:

The Legal, Governance and Compliance function consists of legal, company secretariat, E&C, insurance, intellectual property and data protection. The team currently consists of nearly 12 employees including the General Counsel & Company Secretary who sit on the group Executive Committee, supports the group Board and acts as a Non Executive Director of the PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc board. The function is split roughly half between those at group and those embedded in market legal units.

Reporting relationships & key stakeholders:

The role will report to the General Counsel & Company Secretary.

Key Stakeholders:

• Other members of the Legal, Governance and Compliance function

• Other corporate functions, particularly tax, treasury, financial reporting, HR, and procurement

• Market legal and functional teams

• The St.Tropez commercial team

• External legal advisers

• Executive members of the company

Key Duties and Responsibilities:  

• Corporate project execution: Provide effective legal support and leadership to deliver strategically significant projects with the support of external counsel where required. Examples include: M&A, debt financing, capital markets transactions, internal restructurings, pension transactions.

• Support legal issues for group employees and functions: Such as material commercial agreements, advisor engagement letters, employment and data privacy issues, disputes.

• Policies and procedures: Evolve, maintain and standardise legal ways of working amongst the group, coordinating with legal colleagues, developing best practice to ensure the team delivers effective and efficient legal support.

• Oversee legal support for the North America St.Tropez business: provide practical legal support to the St.Tropez team as the primary legal point of contact, and coordinate external legal advice for the US and Canada markets as required .

Requirements and Qualifications:

• Qualified legal practitioner in the UK or another jurisdiction

• Demonstrable leadership potential or demonstrated leadership experience

• Experience working in-house or in a reputable law firm in a corporate or transactional area

• Experience with international transactions

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to interact professionally with colleagues at all levels

• Excellent organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple tasks and deadlines effectively

• Sound legal judgment

• Technical proficiency in Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, Sharepoint and familiarity with legal research software and legal tech is a plus

• Intellectually curious, personable, and energetic

• Able to work collaboratively with people from a variety of backgrounds, cultures and across various levels of seniority

• Strong attention to detail and a proactive approach to problem solving

Equal Opportunities: 

At PZ Cussons, we value diversity and make sure everyone feels included. We want our team to reflect society and our global customers. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and your unique perspective helps us develop brands and create new products for our consumers. 

Please note that we are not able to offer visa sponsorship or assist with relocation support for this role. Applicants must have the right to work in the country where this role is located before applying.

If you need extra support during this process, please inform us so that we can accommodate your needs appropriately. It is important to us that all candidates feel recognised and have a good experience with PZ Cussons as part of our commitment to inclusivity. 

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PZ Cussons is big enough to make your mark, small enough to make it yours. Apply to join us!