Senior Legal Counsel

Job description

LHV Bank Limited is a UK-licensed bank operating across three core business segments: Retail Banking, SME Lending, and Banking Services (BaaS). The bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of LHV Group, a listed financial services provider headquartered in Estonia. LHV Bank operates under a full UK banking licence granted in May 2023. The Bank supports over 200 fintech clients with embedded financial infrastructure, provides retail savings products via digital channels, and offers SME credit solutions across the UK. In line with its regulatory responsibilities and growth ambitions, LHV Bank is committed to maintaining a robust and proportionate financial crime control environment. Expanding our services, LHV Bank now provides personal banking solutions. Our offerings include current accounts with competitive interest rates, fixed-rate bonds for long-term savings, and debit cards. Customers can conveniently access these services through the LHV App, enabling secure account opening and management. **The Role** We are seeking an experienced and commercially minded **Senior In-House Legal Counsel** to lead and further develop the UK legal capability. This is a senior, hands-on role responsible for providing high-quality legal advice across the Bank’s activities, managing legal risk, and supporting strategic initiatives. The successful candidate will act as a trusted advisor to senior leadership and business stakeholders, while managing and mentoring one direct report. The role requires strong UK financial services regulatory expertise, sound judgement, and the ability to operate effectively in a fast-growing, technology-driven banking environment. **Key Responsibilities** *Legal Advisory & Risk Management:* - Provide strategic and day-to-day legal advice across the Bank’s activities, including lending, payments, deposits, fintech partnerships and operational matters. - Advise on UK regulatory matters, including FCA and PRA requirements, SMCR, consumer duty, PSD2/PSD3, Payment Services Regulations, UK GDPR, safeguarding regime and conduct risk. - Support the design and launch of new financial products and services, ensuring compliance with applicable laws and regulatory expectations. - Provide legal support in the management and protection of the Bank’s intellectual property portfolio, advising on software licensing, trademark matters and brand protection.Identify, assess and mitigate legal and regulatory risks. *Commercial & Contractual Matters* - Lead drafting, review and negotiation of a wide range of commercial agreements, including: - Customer and supplier contracts - Outsourcing and technology agreements - Fintech and banking-as-a-service partnerships - Funding and treasury documentation - Develop and maintain robust contract templates and playbooks to enhance efficiency and risk control. - Liaise with the vendor management team to support the onboarding of new suppliers and the renewal or renegotiation of existing supplier arrangements, ensuring compliance with internal policies and regulatory requirements. - Conducting outsourcing analyses, including assessing whether vendor engagements constitute regulated outsourcing, and advising on the associated legal and regulatory implications. - Providing data protection advice in relation to vendor relationships, including assessing international data transfers, reviewing SCCs/DPAs, and ensuring appropriate technical and organisational safeguards are in place. - Advising on overall legal, regulatory, and contractual risks arising from vendor engagements, and recommending mitigation strategies aligned with the bank’s risk appetite and compliance obligations. *Data Protection:* - Draft, review and negotiate data protection clauses, data processing agreements and international data transfer provisions. - Support the data protection function by providing legal input on regulatory developments, enforcement trends and data protection risk. Advise on data protection aspects of third-party arrangements, outsourcing and technology implementations. *Governance & Corporate Matters:* - Support corporate governance processes, including Board and Committee documentation where required. - Advise senior management on governance, regulatory reporting and internal policy matters. - Liaise with Company Secretarial and Compliance teams as appropriate. *Regulatory Engagement & Change:* - Support regulatory interactions, including reviews, thematic visits and information requests. - Advise on regulatory developments and lead legal implementation aspects of change initiatives. - Partner with Compliance and Risk to ensure alignment on regulatory interpretation and risk appetite. T*eam Leadership* - Line manage and mentor one direct report, supporting their professional development. - Contribute to building a high-performing, pragmatic and commercially focused legal function. - Manage external counsel effectively, including scoping, budgeting and performance oversight. **Skills & Experience** **Essential** - Qualified solicitor in England & Wales (or equivalent common law jurisdiction) with strong UK regulatory experience. - Significant post-qualification experience with a combination of private practice and/or in-house financial services experience. - Strong working knowledge of UK banking regulation (FCA/PRA framework). - Experience advising regulated financial institutions, ideally within banking or fintech. - Proven ability to manage legal risk in a commercially pragmatic manner. - Experience managing or mentoring junior lawyers. - Excellent drafting, negotiation and stakeholder management skills. **Desirable** - Experience in digital banking, fintech, embedded finance or banking-as-a-service models. - Exposure to cross-border legal and regulatory issues. - Experience supporting scaling or transformation environments. Experience using legal AI technology tools. **Personal Attributes** - Strategic thinker with strong commercial acumen. - Confident communicator able to influence senior stakeholders. - Solutions-oriented, with the ability to balance regulatory rigor and business agility. - Comfortable operating in a dynamic, growth-focused environment. - High integrity and strong professional judgement. - Comfortable with reprioritising and adapting to change. **What We Offer** - High-impact, highly autonomous role within a growing UK bank. - Exposure to innovative financial services models and strategic projects. - Opportunity to shape and develop the UK legal function. - Competitive salary and benefits package. **Some of our benefits (only applicable to UK based roles not Internship programmes)** - Competitive salary &lots of opportunities to learn, grow and progress professionally. - Open and inclusive culture. - Hybrid working. - Fantastic offices and great working environment. - Vitality Health Plan (includes private health insurance, travel insurance, gym discounts) - Health cash Plan (Medicash health plan Level 3) - 6% employer pension contribution. - Life assurance – 4 x salary. - Income protection insurance – 75% - 28 days holiday plus 3 additional days, & further days for various key life events as well as the opportunity to sell up to 5 days per calendar year. - Swap public/bank holidays each year for alternative days that align with your personal, cultural, or religious observances. - Enhanced family friendly and family forming policies. - Access to a wide range of retail discounts. - Team Socials.