Job Description
The Purpose:
The Senior Legal Counsel is an integral part of our dynamic legal department, providing strategic legal advice and support across a range of operational matters, ensuring compliance with regulations, mitigating risks, and enabling the organisation to achieve its business objectives. This position reports directly to the Associate General Counsel, who leads the Operational Legal Services team, and will collaborate closely with various internal stakeholders to deliver legal solutions that drive operational excellence.
The Role:
- Responsibility for MU’s compliance with all applicable data protection laws (including UK and EU GDPR)
- Advising on contractual relationships where MU is appointing data processors (on-shore, EU based and outside EU)
- Responsibility for data protection policies, audits and training
- Maintaining MU’s data map and ensuring best practice in all elements of MU’s use of personal data
- Management of all data subject rights processes (e.g. SARs, deletions etc.)
- Statutory liaison with ICO (e.g. data breaches, data subject rights etc.)
Whilst the role will have a focus on data protection this will not be 100% of the role and hence you will be required to cover some of following areas (hence broad experience, in addition to data protection, is required):
- Group-wide procurement of products and services, with a particular focus on technology;
- The club’s direct to consumer offerings (including multimedia and match based product/services);
- Stadium operations (including ticketing, consumer issues and stadium hire);
- MU’s legal governance (for example Modern Slavery compliance, competition law compliance, international sanctions compliance and Equality Act compliance)
- Ad hoc projects relating to real estate, construction, and HR.
The Person:
A qualified solicitor with excellent experience in all aspects of data protection (UK and EU GDPR).
Candidates will also need to have experience in some/all of the following areas:
- drafting and negotiating a range of commercial contracts (including IT system, software procurement and outsourcing contracts).
- business to consumer relationships
- non-contentious intellectual property matters.
- regulatory compliance.
- HR, property and construction.
- automated legal processes.
- have a good academic record and be fully qualified to practice in the UK, having trained at a reputable law firm or in-house;
- work both autonomously and as part of a team, and to provide technically sound legal advice in a commercially focussed manner;
- be committed and service-orientated, willing to work on a flexible basis and able to manage multiple work-streams to tight timescales; and
- be able to communicate with colleagues across all areas of the business and explain legal principles in simple terms.
We recognise the importance of safeguarding children and adults at risk at Manchester United, as part of this commitment this post is required to have a Disclosure and Barring Service check at the appropriate level, as well as full reference history.
Manchester United is an equal-opportunity employer that is committed to inclusion and diversity. We take affirmative action to ensure equal opportunities to applicants and employees without regard to background, ethnicity, race, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status or other legally protected characteristics.
Manchester United Football Club are proud to be a signatory of the Armed Forces Covenant, supporting the armed forces community to transition into careers outside of the armed forces.
Manchester United is committed to working with and providing reasonable adjustments for applicants and employees. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application and perform at your best, please do not hesitate to contact us to make a request; we are here to help.
It is unlawful to employ a person in a UK-based job who does not have permission to live and work in the UK. You should make yourself aware of how immigration laws apply to you before applying for any of our roles. Your personal data will be processed on MU’s behalf by Korn Ferry.
Manchester United Jobs
Despite a recent lull, Manchester United have earnt their right to be coined as the biggest football club in England. A period of dominance saw the Red Devils muscle their way into a selected conversation of elite European super-clubs. Such grew their brand exponentially throughout the world. Manchester United is the envy of most commercially, regardless of on-pitch performance.
Boasting a global community of over 1.1 billion people and 61 trophies won, it's clear to see why such envy emanates. Sir Alex Ferguson's fruitful siege on football on the continent moulded the club into what it is today. Now in the hands of former player Ole Gunnar Solskjær, plans are afoot to return Manchester United to their glory days. Perhaps this is the optimal time to embark on a career at Manchester United?
Although a monster in terms of churning out revenue, Manchester United seemingly does not pay its employees the national living wage. Irrespective of paying national minimum wage within their organisation, from nearly 200 reviews on Glassdoor, Manchester United have an 82% 'recommend careers at Manchester United to a friend' rating.
A club at the core of English football, backed by a fanatical worldwide reach, can also result in a recipe for career opportunities. The following highlights are benefits to a career at Manchester United, which we collated from former and current employees:
- Free meals on-shift
- Free onsite car parking
- Performance bonus
- 'End of season ball' for employees
- Official store discount
- Extra pay during public holidays
- Zero-hour contracts available for flexible working
- Opportunity to work at one of the most iconic sport's stadia in the world, and the eleventh largest football stadium in Europe.
Old Trafford's 75,000 strong capacity stands as the highest count in the Premier League, 13,000 more than Tottenham's new stadium. The hustle and bustle of matchday and the collective excitement from those of a United persuasion make careers at Manchester United, and Old Trafford in particular, highly appealing.