Legal Counsel

Job Type:  Permanent  

Location: This role could be based in either our Birmingham, Edinburgh or London offices with time spent working in the office and at home. 

Flexible working: All roles are open to part-time, job-share and other types of flexibility. We will discuss what is important to you and balancing this with business requirements during the recruitment process. You can read more about flexible working here. 

Closing Date: 15/04/2026 

Salary and benefits: Starting from £75,000 doe plus an indicative bonus range of 16-32%, private medical cover, 38 days annual leave, excellent pension, 12x salary life assurance, career breaks, income protection, 3x volunteering days and much more. 

The role   

This is an excellent opportunity for a lawyer to join as a Legal Counsel on a permanent basis primarily supporting the Standard Life Asset Management team, which has responsibility for overseeing the management of the Group’s assets which are in excess of £290 billion. This is an exciting opportunity to join a highly motivated legal team. This role demands high energy and self-confidence as well as pragmatism and curiosity to learn. It offers the opportunity to develop your knowledge and legal skills alongside a creative and growing function that is seeking to build a best in class in-house asset management team, which includes expanding its internal team’s capacity for sourcing and managing direct illiquid asset origination as a complement to mandates with external investment managers. 

What are we looking for? 

We are looking for an English or Scottish Qualified lawyer with experience gained either in-house or in private practice. Ideally you will have a background in financial services and it would be beneficial to have an understanding of the operations of an asset manager, asset classes and investment vehicles. 

• Excellent legal document drafting and negotiation skills. 
• Experience of advising on and negotiating on investment services agreements such as investment management agreements, custody agreements, fund link agreements and ancillary services agreements. 
• Experience of advising on and negotiating investment related commercial contracts such as IT agreements and market data licences.  
• Ability to manage external counsel to ensure cost‑effective, business‑aligned support. 
• Excellent relationship‑building skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with colleagues across the General Counsel function, senior stakeholders and external suppliers. 

We want to hire the whole version of you. 

We are committed to ensuring that everyone feels accepted and welcome applicants from all backgrounds. If your experience looks different from what we’ve advertised and you believe that you can bring value to the role, we’d love to hear from you.  

 If you require any adjustments to the recruitment process, please let us know so we can help you to be at your best.  

We’re reviewing applications as they come in, so apply early to avoid missing out. 

Find out more about working at Standard Life 

• Guide for Candidates: standardlifeplc.pagetiger.com/guideforcandidates 
• Find or get answers from our colleagues: www.standardlifeplc.com/careers/talk-to-us

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