Legal Counsel

We are looking for an energetic and ambitious person to join Howden Pacific as a Legal Counsel. While our legal team is based in Sydney, location can be flexible for the right candidate in Australia or New Zealand.

The role

You will have approximately 2-3 years post qualification experience and be responsible for:

• reviewing and negotiating commercial contracts on behalf of the company’s respective business divisions across Australia and New Zealand;
• reviewing and negotiating SLAs, Insurer TOBAs, delegated authority (claims and underwriting) agreements, referral agreements and sponsorship agreements;
• advising the business on RFTs;
• being a trusted adviser to the company on its obligations under Chapter 7 (Corporations Act AUS) and equivalent Financial Markets Conduct Act NZ;
• advising the company, including to provide training where required, on obligations under the ASIC Act, Insurance Contracts Act, and Consumer protection and competition legislation, Spam and hawking legislation in Australia and New Zealand;
• understanding our obligations under the Privacy legislation in Australia and New Zealand to ensure compliance;
• reviewing and advising on all business and marketing collateral, statutory documents, Privacy statements and various policies;
• reviewing and negotiating property leases;
• advising on intellectual property matters, employment and HR matters, including employment restraints;
• acting on behalf of the company with respect to any litigated and non-litigated matters.

The candidate

We are growing at a rapid rate, so you will need to be comfortable rolling up your sleeves and taking on new challenges, sometimes without much notice. In return, you will get genuine career development: exposure to a wide variety of legal disciplines, skills and an opportunity to make meaningful contributions to improving our legal and compliance function in Australia and New Zealand.

Just as importantly, you will be someone who buys into our cultural values: Put people first, be authentic, challenge complacency, think client, pursue excellence, and make your mark. 

If you are energetic, hands on and looking for a challenge, this is the role for you.

Why Howden?

We are part of the Howden Broking Group, the world’s largest unlisted insurance broker, headquartered in London. Since launching our Howden Pacific business in March 2021, we have grown from a team of three to over 220 employees across Australia and New Zealand. With more expansion to come…

Our mantra is to be People First. Our founder, David Howden, is fond of saying, “If you look after your own people, they’ll look after your clients, and the revenue will look after itself.”

These aren’t just words: in 2022 we were named the #1 Best Workplace in Australia by Great Place to Work and NZ is certified as a Great Place to Work.

We believe you can teach someone new skills, but not how to be a different person. For the right candidate, we offer the chance to join an exciting business with big plans, a modern office and amazing colleagues.

In addition to competitive remuneration, we also offer free salary continuance insurance and our sector-leading bonus leave benefit, where employees can qualify for up to two weeks’ additional paid leave per year.  Flexible work is also an option, balancing time in the office with our teams and also working from home.

For a confidential discussion about this role, please contact Scott Fielding directly on +61 404 460 468 or at scott.fielding@howdengroup.com, within our Australian HR team.

About our legal team

Howden Pacific’s legal team is currently comprised of our Regional General Counsel and one Legal Counsel. The business has grown exponentially since 2021 across Australia and New Zealand and the legal team has been at the core of this exciting growth.

Due to its continuing rapid expansion, Howden Pacific’s legal team is exposed to a huge diverse scope of work. From its establishment, this included AFSL/ FAP applications, contractual review and implementation, compliance framework implementation, corporate governance implementation, establishment of various insurance and alternative risk facilities, marketing review projects, drafting of business and marketing collateral, drafting of statutory disclosures and M&A. This work supports the business in Australia and New Zealand.

Howden Pacific's structure is deliberately flat, meaning this role will have ready access to, and be considered a trusted adviser to our C-suite executives.

There is ample opportunity for an ambitious lawyer who is hungry to learn and get stuck into a diverse range of work for a regulated financial services business.

If this is a role you are interested in, then we would invite you to apply via Seek.