Employment Legal London, England
Job description
Every great story has a new beginning, and yours starts here.
Welcome to Warner Bros. Discovery… the stuff dreams are made of.
Who We Are…
When we say, “the stuff dreams are made of,” we’re not just referring to the world of wizards, dragons and superheroes, or even to the wonders of Planet Earth. Behind WBD’s vast portfolio of iconic content and beloved brands, are the storytellers bringing our characters to life, the creators bringing them to your living rooms and the dreamers creating what’s next…
From brilliant creatives, to technology trailblazers, across the globe, WBD offers career defining opportunities, thoughtfully curated benefits, and the tools to explore and grow into your best selves. Here you are supported, here you are celebrated, here you can thrive.
Your New Role...
The role holder will work in partnership with the People & Culture team providing day-to-day advice and expertise, minimizing the financial and reputational risk to WBD whilst developing a strong working relationship. This will involve leading on all UK & Ireland employment legal issues and developing legally compliant, fit for purpose processes, covering all of WBD’s UK based businesses. The Lead lawyer will also line manage and supervise other, more junior UK members of the employment legal team.
Your Role Accountabilities...
- Leader (with input from the GVP Employment Law) of Employment law provision in WBD in the UK
- Providing day-to-day employment legal advice, expertise and guidance to P&C, minimizing the financial and reputational risk to WBD
- Driving the development of employment law strategy in the UK & Ireland, ensuring it is aligned with the overall aims of the company
- Managing internal relationships across a matrix structure: Legal, business, P&C
- Developing internal relationships ensuring you are the lead for all employment legal advice in the UK & Ireland; with a view to minimizing external legal costs
- Working with the People Relations and People & Culture teams on employee relations investigations
- Draft, update and roll out employment policies, agreements and other precedents for UK & Ireland and reviewing global policies,projects and procedures from a UK/Irish perspective
- Analyzing and taking proactive action on recurring ER themes and litigation in the UK & Ireland across WBD to develop and implement effective solutions and share the learning
- Managing relationships with external counsel in the UK & Ireland; creating governance around when to instruct external advisors and control costs
- Interpreting the latest employment legislation and case law into practical, straight forward language to deliver workable solutions for the business
- Providing training to P&C and business areas on UK employment law issues and developments
- Capacity permitting, assisting the GVP Employment Law with EMEA based projects
- Proactively networking with employment law professionals externally. Taking up opportunities to attend network groups, seminars etc and share the learning
- Providing back up support to other members of the International Employment legal team as and when required (capacity permitting).
- The role may require very limited overseas travel as necessary and some UK travel to other offices.
Qualifications & Experience...
- Technically very proficient lawyer – needs to have experience excellent understanding of employment law in the UK & Ireland and excellent drafting skills. Must be UK (or comparable jurisdiction) qualified lawyer with excellent academics.
- Negotiation skills must be strong. Some exposure to
- Excellent interpersonal skills – ability to work effectively at all levels within the company:
- Clear and concise communicator (both orally and written) – ability to present and distil legally complex issues into legally compliant but practical and commercial solutions, in a way that engages the key stakeholders.
- Well organized and attention to detail: this role requires focus and energy to ensure that nothing falls between the cracks.
- A minimum of 8 years’ first-hand experience. In-house experience in a media environment would be an advantage.
- Extremely professional: calm under pressure, clear thinking, well organized, proactive and grasps concepts quickly.
- Emotionally intelligent outlook – must have the ability to diffuse and calm others.
- Inclusive behaviour – Understands and demonstrates the importance of DEI. Also ensures that all key stakeholders are consistently kept in the loop.
- Should excel in a fast-paced environment with minimal supervision.
- Ability to manage own time judiciously and deal effectively with competing interests.
- Confident, sociable and ability to interact with clients from different cultures and backgrounds.
- Good team player – must have flexible, hands-on approach.
- A role with great responsibilities to ensure that the employment law risks for WBD in the UK & Ireland are managed and minimized.
- Requires good business and legal judgment
- Responsible for identifying issues and making recommendations and creating solutions that potentially have long term implications
How We Get Things Done…
This last bit is probably the most important! Here at WBD, our guiding principles are the core values by which we operate and are central to how we get things done. You can find them at www.wbd.com/guiding-principles/ along with some insights from the team on what they mean and how they show up in their day to day. We hope they resonate with you and look forward to discussing them during your interview.
The Legal Bits…
Warner Bros. Discovery embraces the opportunity to build a workforce that reflects the diversity of our society and the world around us. Being an equal opportunity employer means that we take seriously our responsibility to consider qualified candidates on the basis of merit, regardless of sex, gender identity, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marital status, pregnancy, parenthood, disability or any other category protected by law. If you’re a qualified candidate with a disability and you need a reasonable accommodation in order to apply for this position, please contact us at [email protected].
