Senior Legal Counsel - Employment

This posting is for hourly paid logistics employees to apply through.

Ocado Group is an equal opportunities employer and as such makes every effort to ensure that all potential employees are treated fairly and equally, regardless of their sex, sexual orientation, marital status, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, age, or disability or union membership status. 

About Us

Our teams are putting the world’s retailers online using the cloud, robotics, AI, and IoT. We provide services to partner clients globally via our innovative advanced robotics technology, known as the Ocado Smart Platform ("OSP"), this drives our highly automated, multi-million pound Customer Fulfilment Centres (CFCs). In our CFCs - together with the proprietary software applications - we operate a world-class online grocery business that automates the single pick of products, ready for your online delivery.

About the role

The Employment and Immigration Law team sits within the Legal team and is managed by the Head of Legal - Dispute Resolution and Employment.  The Legal team sits within Ocado Group’s Legal & Business Integrity Department.

We are seeking a Senior Legal Counsel to join Ocado Group, providing crucial legal guidance on employment matters across our global operations.

In this fast-paced and dynamic role, you will be the go-to expert for all aspects of employment law, both in the UK and internationally. You will be part of a small team, helping to resolve disputes and advising on key legal issues that directly impact our business.

We are looking for a true partner—someone who can collaborate seamlessly with teams at all levels, from junior staff to senior level executives. Your ability to build strong relationships will be essential as you help us navigate legal complexities and support our sustainable growth.

Accountabilities

• Advising senior stakeholders across the business on legal risks and providing commercially focused solutions;
• Being a trusted strategic partner for key stakeholders, ensuring legal advice is provided at the right stage on all matters;
• Managing complex employee relations matters such as internal investigations, disciplinary matters or grievances;
• Partnering with key stakeholders on works council and collective employee relations issues;
• Running employment litigation and supervising and managing junior members of the team with day to day queries on Tribunal claims;
• Supporting and/or project managing relevant change projects and initiatives across the business, reporting progress to relevant stakeholders;
• Advising on the employment law aspects of commercial contracts and M&A activity;
• Advising on the creation and implementation of people policies;
• Providing legal training and updates to People teams;
• Liaising with external counsel across our global operations to ensure the provision of consistent, practical and commercial legal advice;
• Proactively advising on legal changes that could impact our operations;
• Providing support to the People team on all employment matters including complex investigations, grievances and disciplinary matters;
• Supporting the development of junior members of the team by acting as a mentor and coach;
• Partnering with the data privacy team on employment related aspects of data protection issues (for example, complex Subject Access Requests); and
• Advising on employee incentive programmes (including share schemes) and benefits.

About you 

• Qualified solicitor or barrister with specialism in UK employment law of 5 to 7 years PQE (although candidates outside this range who can demonstrate their ability to perform the duties of the role will still be considered);
• Ideally will have trained with a leading law firm or a well-respected in-house team with a good balance of contentious and non-contentious experience;
• Experience advising on employment law outside of the UK, with a desire to develop and expand on expertise in this area; and strong academic qualifications.

Preferred (in addition to minimum)

• Previous experience within an in-house legal team;
• Management experience
• Experience of working with technology organisations and/or engineering would be valued; 
• Experience in advising on commercial disputes, or a willingness to learn would be valued;

• Knowledge of UK immigration rules and right to work requirements (or a willingness to learn these rules and requirements).

What we offer you

Our employee benefits are designed for you, we care about people and we’ve ensured we have a wealth of benefits that focus on your well-being. We regularly review our benefits to ensure we are supporting our employees appropriately.

• 30 days ‘working from anywhere in the world’ policy 
• Wellbeing support through dedicated apps and an Employee Assistance Programme 
• 25 days annual leave, rising to 27 days after 5 years service (plus optional holiday purchase)
• Pension scheme (various options available including employer contribution matching up to 7%)
• Generous Private Medical Insurance (within the first month of joining!)
• Income Protection (can be up to 50% of salary for 3 years) and Life Assurance (3 x annual salary) 
• 22 weeks paid maternity leave and 6 weeks paid paternity leave (once relevant service requirements complete) 
• Train Ticket loan (interest-free)
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Free shuttle bus to and from Hatfield Train Station to the Hatfield offices 
• Free shuttle bus to and from Welwyn Garden City Train Station to the Welwyn Garden City offices
• Opportunity to participate in Sharesave and Buy as You Earn share schemes
• 15% discount on Ocado.com and free delivery for all employees (within the first month of joining!)