Senior Legal Counsel

Primary DetailsTime Type: Full time

Worker Type: Employee

At QBE, our purpose is to enable a more resilient future.

Are you passionate about working for one of the world’s largest insurers that offers excellent opportunities to grow your career and with offices in 28 countries?

Leveraging our deep expertise and insights, QBE offers commercial, personal and specialty products and risk management solutions to help people and businesses manage risks. Today, we employ 12,000 people around the world.

QBE Europe SA/NV is headquartered in Brussel and while we are international in our outlook, we areS also proudly local in our operations. QBE’s European Operations, which accounts for over 27% of QBE Group turnover, is a leading specialist in London market and European commercial lines business. Active in both the Lloyd’s and company market, QBE offers considerable diversity to the broking community. We are a socially responsible company and give our customers the ability to invest a portion of their premiums in environmentally and socially beneficial projects.

With our comprehensive product offering and underwriting expertise, we are able to cover a wide range of business risks, helping our clients to identify them and minimise their exposure.

The opportunity

We have a fantastic opportunity to join QBE's European Operations Legal Team as a mid level/senior Legal Counsel. This role acts as a Primary Legal Counsel for the head office of QBE Europe SA/NV, reporting to the Head of Legal, Europe. This position aims to perform the role of key legal adviser on all matters of Belgian law, regulation and governance standards and to also provide advice to the Netherlands branch of QBE Europe SA/NV, to assist and support the Head of Legal, Europe in the management of legal risk in relation to relevant areas of expertise including company law, corporate governance, insurance and reinsurance regulation and contract law, material commercial contracts, and contracts with service providers.

Your new role

• To advise on all aspects of corporate law and administration, governance and regulation for the head office of QBE Europe SA/NV working closely with the London based legal team and London based Company Secretarial team and supporting on London led projects and deliverables.
• To support the Chief Legal Officer, Company Secretary and Head of Legal Europe in advising the Board and Management Committee on all relevant Belgian legal matters and all matters pertaining to the management of a Belgian (re)insurance company.
• To potentially provide legal support to the Belgian and Netherlands management teams on matters of reinsurance and insurance wordings, distribution, disputes and other matters
• To advise on general commercial contracts for the Belgian and Netherlands offices.
• To support in the ongoing trajectory of the QBE Europe Legal Team and its promotion within EO as a valuable resource to the business
• To continue to develop amongst the business and support units an awareness of legal risk and a risk management culture to ensure the business meets best practice requirements
• To manage the legal review of contract wording on a material adhoc/single issue basis as required by the business from time to time
• To be aware of existing processes and controls for legal risk management and to assist Head of Legal as necessary to ensure risks are managed in line with best practice and QBE corporate philosophy
• To support the EO Legal team initiatives to ensure both practical legal support is provided to the business and that consistency of approach and advice is maintained in relation to legal risk management to minimize risks
• Assist with dispute resolution and claims matters as required
• To represent the EO Legal Team in providing legal advice to the business units
• Build and maintain strong and effective relationships with clients within the business
• Ensure that the EO Legal Team is a natural first port of call for advice
• Build and maintain as appropriate strong and effective relationships with clients within the business
• To provide Belgian legal advice on group, Board or EO Business projects as required
• To review and amend contracts proposed by business units, support units or third parties to ensure legally sound, compliant and appropriate in commercial context
• To review and amend contracts proposed by business units, support units or third parties to ensure legally sound, compliant and appropriate in commercial context*
• To prepare contracts for board, business units and support units when needed, maintaining consistency and best practice
• To negotiate with third parties in order to bring contracts to execution and completion
• To keep review and advise General Counsel International and/ or the relevant Boards of the legal obligations of QBE Europe and be aware of upcoming legal developments and advise on their impact for QBE Europe
• Build and maintain strong relationships within the entire EO Legal team

About you

• Min. 6 years of relevant experience, qualified with a Bachelor's Belgium Law Degree
• Member of Belgian bar association
• Good team player with excellent interpersonal skills, able to work well with European Operations Legal Team colleagues and other business units, considering legal issues without losing sight of the business objective
• Ability to recognize areas of risk and recommend solutions appropriate for level of experience
• Regulatory and/or insurance sector experience a prerequisite
• Specific company and corporate governance expertise to support with the running of a Belgian (re)insurance company
• A thorough understanding of Belgian (re)insurance contract and regulatory law combined with excellent drafting skills
• Good commercial law and Regulatory law relevant expertise
• Good insurance and reinsurance expertise
• Familiar with direct client contact at Head of and Director level
• Strong English and ideally French and Dutch language
• Excellent understanding of governance and corporate requirements for Belgian corporate entities
• An excellent understanding of the general laws and statues applicable to all companies and businesses operating in Belgium, including company law, agency, competition law

Why QBE? At My Best  

At QBE, we want our people to feel rewarded and inspired to perform at their best, that’s why we have created “At My Best”. It’s our connection, our way of showing we have your back. We understand that one size doesn’t fit all and that priorities can change depending on your life stage. That is why our blend of wellbeing initiatives and benefits offer flexibility to suit what matters most to you. It’s in the culture of our business, our QBE DNA, to support our people. Everything we do is underpinned by our QBE DNA - because we know it’s not just what we do that matters, it’s how we do it that makes the difference. In addition to this, we also offer flexible parental leave for both parents and have several employee network groups that support and empower our diverse workforce. 

At QBE, we view our people as our most precious asset. We understand the importance of fostering a work environment that is responsive to the changing needs of today's workforce. QBE aims to build a workplace that is fair and inclusive because we want to attract and retain the best people to do the job, we have adopted flexible working across the company and welcome this conversation. #LI-Hybrid 

Some of the award’s QBE are proud to have won, been a finalist for, and shortlisted for include;

5-star Diversity, Equity and inclusion (DEI) awards, 2023 Winner - Insurance Business Canada

Employer of the Year 2022 Winner – Insurance Insider 

British Claims Awards 2022 Winner - InsurTech Award

Insurance Times Claims Excellence Awards 2022 Winner - Claims Product Solution of the Year

Working Families Best Practice Awards 2021 Finalist for: Best COVID-19 Response

Insurance Post British Insurance Awards 2022 Shortlisted for: Best Customer Care, Diversity & Inclusion Initiative of the Year 2022, Specialist Insurer of the Year (for Construction), General Insurer of the Year

We are proud to have partnerships with organisations such as Stonewall and Working Families, and our commitment to the Women in Finance Charter, the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles and Race at Work charter helps keep us accountable and transparent 

Inclusion of Diversity 

We are striving to create a workplace culture where all our people feel included, and we are committed to building a diverse workforce that is reflective of the communities we operate in. 

We know that diversity of thought, background and experience enables better decision making, improves the quality of our delivery and helps us to meet the needs of our customers.

ESG & Sustainability 

At QBE, we believe that integrating sustainability into our business helps us deliver on our purpose of enabling a more resilient future. Our three key focus areas include fostering an orderly and inclusive transition to a net-zero economy, enabling a sustainable and resilient workforce and partnering for growth through innovative, sustainable and impactful solutions. For further information regarding QBE’s sustainability targets, including our net-zero pledges and inclusion of diversity targets, and our award-winning impact investment initiative ‘Premiums4Good’, please visit our Sustainability homepage and read our latest Sustainability Report (Link). 

About QBE 

QBE is an international insurer and reinsurer, listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and headquartered in Sydney. We employ more than 11,000 people, with a local presence in 27 countries. 

We are driven by our purpose of enabling a more resilient future – helping those around us build strength and embrace change to their advantage.

We’ve been cultivating resilience since 1886, when our founders started a marine insurance company in Australia to give early pioneers a safeguard against uncertainty. Today, we’re still giving our customers confidence to explore, innovate and take measured risks, secure in the knowledge they’re covered by a strong insurer. 

We work hard to build a culture that best supports our people, and not only represents our business, but the world around us.

As a business insurance specialist, QBE European Operations offers a range of insurance products from the standard suite of property, casualty and motor to the specialist financial lines, marine and energy. All are tailored to the individual needs of our small, medium and large customer base. 

To find out more about why you should work for QBE, visit our careers website. 

What next? 

If you have a passion to contribute to QBE’s vision of enabling a more resilient future for our customers and the community, we encourage you to APPLY NOW! Simply click the “apply” button to submit your CV and other relevant documents, and a member of our friendly Talent Acquisition team will be in contact to discuss your interest further if you meet the requirements of the role.

Please make the Talent Acquisition aware should there be any reasonable adjustments that may need to be made for the interview and the remainder of the recruitment process. 

Skills:

Business Law, Communication, Contract Management, Critical Thinking, Intentional collaboration, Legal Consulting, Legal Documents, Legal Risk, Litigation Management, Managing performance, Negotiation, Research Analysis, Sound Judgment, Stakeholder Management, Team Management

How to Apply:

To submit your application, click "Apply" and follow the step by step process.

Equal Employment Opportunity:

QBE is an equal opportunity employer and is required to comply with equal employment opportunity legislation in each jurisdiction it operates.