Employment Lawyer (Snowhill, Birmingham, United Kingdom)
Locations - Birmingham, Bristol or London - 3 days a week on site
Why this job matters
At BT, our Corporate Functions are the backbone of our strategy and growth. We shape the direction of the business by managing our people, finances, shared services, and infrastructure—while ensuring we meet our legal, regulatory, and compliance obligations.
As a Lawyer specialising in Employment, Pensions, and Benefits, you’ll play a vital role in supporting BT’s purpose: using the power of communication to make a better world—for each other, our customers, and our communities. You’ll provide expert legal advice that is clear, practical, and commercially focused. Your work will enable BT to operate effectively, deliver exceptional customer experiences, and manage legal risk, reputation, and brand in line with our strategy and values.
What you’ll be doing
* Act as a key point of contact for employment law matters, providing expert legal advice to internal stakeholders including the People and Culture team and business leaders.
* Advise on a wide range of employment and benefits issues, both contentious and non-contentious, including complex employee relations, restructuring, and TUPE.
* Proactively identify and escalate key employment and industrial relations issues, ensuring timely and effective resolution.
* Manage your own caseload and support senior lawyers with legal research and project work.
* Monitor and interpret changes in employment law and government policy, supporting stakeholder education across the business, including the Board and ExCo.
* Oversee the quality and cost-effectiveness of work delivered by external legal counsel.
* Build strong relationships across BT’s Legal, Regulatory Affairs, Compliance and CoSec teams, and develop a professional external network.
* Promote knowledge sharing and the use of AI to streamline legal processes and develop practical tools, templates, and guidance.
* Coach and supervise junior team members, supporting their development and contributing to a high-performance culture.
* Align legal support with BT’s strategic objectives and contribute to the delivery of team goals and best legal practice.
Additional responsibilities may include:
* Providing legal support on strategic employment and benefits projects as part of cross-functional teams.
* Acting as the Single Point of Contact (SPOC) for employment matters in designated business areas.
* Managing Employment Tribunal cases, including drafting, negotiation, settlement, advocacy, and stakeholder communication.
* Drafting and advising on Settlement Agreements in collaboration with the People and Culture team.
* Advising on individual employee issues and supporting TUPE processes, including documentation and stakeholder engagement.
Skills and Experiences
You will be a PQE qualified with 1-5 yrs commercial experience. Have experience of employment law and be able to communicate with stakeholders up to C-suite level.
This role is purely non contentious work so you must be comfortable with doing this.
Skills:
* Team Collaboration: A strong team player who works with confidence, integrity, and a shared commitment to delivering excellent legal support across the business.
* Commercial Awareness: A curious and commercially minded professional who can prioritise effectively, meet deadlines, and understand how legal work supports BT’s broader goals.
* Ownership and Initiative: Demonstrates personal ownership of matters, proactively identifying solutions and driving positive outcomes rather than simply following process.
* Written Communication: Excellent drafting skills, with the ability to produce clear, concise, and accurate legal documents, reports, and stakeholder communications.
* Verbal Communication: Strong oral communication skills, able to engage persuasively with colleagues and stakeholders, and support ideas with logical arguments and data.
* Legal Research: High attention to detail and strong research capabilities, with the ability to present findings clearly and concisely to inform decision-making.
* Advisory Expertise: Provides balanced, pragmatic, and commercial legal advice on complex and sensitive issues, often involving risk, conflict, or emotion.
* Continuous Development: Committed to personal growth, actively seeking opportunities to broaden skills and contribute to the team’s ongoing development.
Experience:
* Experience working in a legal role focused on employment, pensions, or benefits law within a complex or regulated organisation.
* Proven ability to manage individual legal matters and support senior lawyers on larger projects.
* Experience advising on contentious and non-contentious employment matters, including employee relations, restructuring, and TUPE.
* Demonstrated ability to engage with internal stakeholders and external counsel, ensuring high-quality and cost-effective legal support.
* Familiarity with legal technology and a willingness to embrace innovation, including AI tools, to improve legal processes and outcomes.
* Experience coaching or supervising junior colleagues and contributing to a high-performance team culture.
Benefits
1. Competitive salary
2. 25 days annual leave (plus