Lead Legal Counsel:
About DFT Operator
Join Our Team at DFTO
DFTO is the government’s public sector rail owning group. Its purpose is to bring all currently privately-owned train operators into public ownership in advance of the creation of Great British Railways in 2027 - and deliver improvements in the here and now by unifying and integrating train operations under common public ownership.
DFTO has over 23,000 employees, runs over 6,000 services a day and delivers over 450 million customer journeys across its networks every year. This accounts for 26% of total UK passenger journeys and 30% of passenger miles.
Major improvements are being delivered by DFTO train operators (TOCs) that are already under public ownership - these are LNER, Northern, TransPennine Express (TPE), Southeastern, South Western Railway (SWR) and c2c.
Primary Purpose of Job:
Provide strategic direction and high-quality legal advice to the business, managing legal risks, supporting commercially focused decision-making at senior levels, and safeguarding the organisation’s reputation through proactive and pragmatic legal solutions.
Key Responsibilities:
- Act as a key legal and strategic adviser on a broad range of complex legal matters, offering clear practical and commercially sound guidance. Liaise with the senior leadership team and other lawyers across the directorate to facilitate an aligned and best practice approach to the provision of legal advice.
- Provide proactive, high level and strategic advice to executive leaderships team across the Group (including on new and upcoming legislation that directly affect the business and rail industry), so that materially significant legal risks are identified early, mitigated effectively and executive decisions are informed.
- Build and cultivate relationships with senior stakeholders across the group and with eternal stakeholders and partners, including the Department for Transport, Network Rail, Government Legal Deprtment and external counsel, to facilitate effective collaboration and optimal outcomes.
- Prepare strategic advice on a variety of legal matters, including consumer rights, railway regulations, public sector equality duty, procurement law, data protection, intellectual property and licensing, corporate governance and competition law, delegating to and supervising Legal Counsel where appropriate.
- Provide subject matter expertise to group-level legal strategic initiatives and projects to facilitate strategic development of the Group legal function, including in relation to training and development, and the development of legal policy and procedures.
- Identify and mitigate materially significant legal risks within the DFTO Group, providing proactive advice and risk mitigations to senior management on high impact legal issues.
- Mentor, supervise, support and manage Legal Counsel and other developing members of the Legal team in their provision of all agreed legal support across the function, fostering a high performance and collaborative culture.
- Draft, review, negotiate and advise on key high-value and complex contracts (commercial or otherwise) across the organisation, protecting the organisations’ interests and achieving compliance with relevant regulation. Oversee the work of Legal Counsel in this area.
- Maintain expert legal knowledge and professional competency by staying up to date with changes in legislation, case law, and regulatory requirements affecting criminal matters in the rail industry. Actively encourage and support the team to do the same, fostering a culture of continuous learning and compliance.
- Evaluate and draft sections of relevant executive leadership team and board papers to provide legal input and insight and broader commercial and regulatory guidance so that decision makers are properly informed.
- Support the Head of Legal in leading the team within the DFTO Legal and Compliance directorate responsible for providing high quality legal support to functions which have recently transferred into DFTO from the DfT or other areas of the industry, or are transferring into DFTO during 2026, particularly in areas of policy, rolling stock and fares and ticketing reform.
- Work closely with the Government Legal Department and external lawyers in order to maintain legal support for DFTO during a period of significant change.
Knowledge, Skills, Experience & Technical Qualifications:
- Solicitor admitted to practice in England & Wales with at least 8 years PQE with a reputable law firm/in house organisation
- Deep understanding of and experience of public procurement law, public law and competition law.
- The ability to think strategically and creatively, understanding the role of lawyers in Government and the wider public sector context, and advising accordingly
- Experience of working at a senior level within a public sector environment
- Significant and demonstrable legal experience across a range of disciplines relevant to the team, such as rail regulatory, procurement, commercial, competition and corporate.
- A proven track record of working at a high level, with experience of supporting strategic decision making.
- Experience in managing, mentoring and developing junior lawyers or legal teams.
- Strong analytical skills and the ability to interpret complex legal and commercial documents Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the ability to explain complex legal and risk issues in accessible, plain English terms without loss of important nuance.
- A strong team player, with a professional and collaborative approach, with the ability to build and maintain strong professional relationships across the businesses and with key external stakeholders (including the DfT and Network Rail).
- Ability to manage a varied workload and prioritise competing demands.
- Ability to identify and minimise corporate legal risk and influence at a senior management level.
- Educated to degree level or higher.
Vacancy Details:
Duration: 2 year Fixed Term contract/secondment Reports to: Head of Legal
Location: London Waterloo/Hybrid/Leeds
Salary: up to £90,000
Closing date: 30/01 2026
DFTO Benefits:
Annual Leave: Starting at 25 days and rising to an additional day per year of service completed within the first 5 completed years up to a maximum of 5 additional (30 days)
DC Pension Scheme: 10% Employer contribution, 5% Employee contribution
Opportunities to learn and network across the wider industry
Additional Information…
Disclaimer: Candidates applying for this position on a secondment basis must inform their line manager prior to submitting their application. This is to ensure transparency and facilitate any necessary discussions regarding workload and responsibilities.
About our people and the recruitment process - We're an inclusive employer of choice and we welcome applications from everyone! We encourage our colleagues to work flexibly, as we know traditional working patterns don't always fit. If you want to consider working flexibly, just let us know and we'll do our best to help and invest in your career with us, whilst you have a healthy work life balance.
Contact: If you have any questions or reasonable adjustments, please contact Name.jason.blakemore@dftoperator.co.uk
Please do not email any CV's to us, your application must be made by clicking the 'Apply' button.