Senior Legal Counsel - Corporate Legal

Avant is Australia’s leading medical defence organisation with a proud heritage of protecting Australian medical professionals for over 130 years. As Senior Legal Counsel, you’ll take on a high-impact role at the heart of Avant’s legal strategy. You’ll manage a diverse portfolio of corporate, commercial, and financial services matters, helping the business navigate complex legal landscapes and make confident, strategic decisions. This role is critical in shaping outcomes, influencing strategy, and building trusted partnerships across the organisation. You’ll work closely with senior stakeholders, provide pragmatic, solutions-focused advice, and contribute to initiatives that drive Avant’s growth. Reporting directly to the Head of Corporate Legal, you’ll also help lead and mentor a small team, fostering collaboration and excellence within the Corporate Legal function.     The key responsibilities include: Provide technical expertise and strategic support to the Head of Corporate Legal, while actively contributing to the development and positioning of the Corporate Legal Team as a true Centre of Excellence.   Deliver expert legal advice across a broad range of areas to Avant’s businesses, identifying practical solutions to minimise or mitigate legal and regulatory risk.   Keep executives and business leaders informed of legal risks, emerging legislation, and regulatory expectations, ensuring changes are clearly understood and fully embedded within the organisation.   Support corporate litigation matters and liaise with regulators, government bodies, departments, and tribunals on issues impacting Avant, in collaboration with the broader Governance, Risk & Resilience function.   Negotiate and draft major contracts including client agreements, vendor contracts, and other key commercial arrangements, to safeguard Avant’s interests.  Oversee day-to-day operations of direct reports in conjunction with the Head of Corporate Legal, ensuring effective workflow management and collaboration with other senior members of the Corporate Legal team. To be successful in this role you will have:  10+ years' post-qualification experience, with demonstrable experience operating within a corporate in-house legal function. Current Corporate Legal Practitioner Practising Certificate in NSW. Tertiary qualifications in Law (LLB or equivalent). Industry experience within general insurance or broader financial services.  Exceptional verbal and written communication skills.  Strong commercial acumen. Ability to engage with and manage key stakeholders across the organisation. Background in private practice, providing corporate and commercial legal advice is highly desirable. Prior experience mentoring and supervising lawyers/in-house Legal Counsel. Why work at Avant?   Discount of 25% on Private Health Insurance and free Salary Continuance Insurance.   We value our people by offering an inclusive workplace with flexible work, career development and internal mobility opportunities.   Our flexible working arrangements are designed to enable genuine work-life balance.   Your career development is our priority and we have a variety of learning and development programs that will support you in your career.   We offer support to our people via Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Wellbeing programs, Tertiary Education Sponsorship and Support.   We have a diverse and connected work environment where your contribution and ideas will be valued and respected and make a real difference to the lives of others.      We prefer to deal with candidates directly. If you have any queries regarding the role, please do not hesitate to contact Camilla Overall, Senior Talent Acquisition Business Partner on camilla.overall@avant.org.au.