A new role means a new way to win together. We’ve been proudly serving Australian communities since 1914 and at the heart of our continued success lies our 115,000 team members working across the country. If you’re looking for a career-defining opportunity, take the next step and explore another way your work can have impact and make a difference.
Because of our size, who we are and what we do, each day brings with it a lot of complexity that our legal team make simple. With a deep understanding of Coles Group’s goals and values, we’re able to provide practical and commercial advice that helps us all win.
As Managing Legal Counsel role in Corporate Advisory Legal Team, you will be responsible for providing commercially focussed legal advice and partnering with a range of business stakeholders across the Coles Group on a wide variety of strategic legal work, including on mergers and acquisitions.
The Corporate Advisory Legal Team provides legal support to a range of central business unit functions within Coles, including advising the Coles business development (M&A), treasury and capital transactions, and company secretary teams. The Corporate Advisory team also supports the ongoing governance and operation of Coles’ joint venture arrangements such as our Flybuys and QVC liquor joint ventures. As a Managing Legal Counsel, you’ll be a senior lawyer in the team and responsible for leading and managing three junior lawyers and have the opportunity to work alongside a motivated team of 8 talented lawyers with a range of specialties and experience.
This role would be suitable for candidates with experience approximately 8-10 years PQE with experience in private practice and/or in-house experience at a large corporate employer. Experience working on M&A transactions, either in private practice or in-house, is preferred.
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Provide strategic, commercially focused legal advice aligned to business objectives.
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Lead complex legal matters, transactions, negotiations and legal documentation.
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Partner with senior stakeholders to understand business priorities and manage legal risk.
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Support mergers and acquisitions, treasury activities, capital transactions and joint venture arrangements.
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Drive continuous improvement initiatives that enhance legal service delivery and team effectiveness.
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Support the Head of Legal – Corporate Advisory on strategic, operational and stakeholder matters.
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Manage external legal providers and legal expenditure effectively.
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Lead, coach and develop three Legal Counsels, fostering a high-performing and collaborative culture.
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Champion Coles’ legal strategy and contribute to the delivery of broader Group objectives.
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Significant legal experience gained within a leading law firm and/or large corporate environment.
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Strong experience advising on complex legal matters and commercial transactions.
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Experience supporting mergers and acquisitions, either in private practice or in-house (preferred).
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Proven ability to identify, assess and mitigate legal risk in a fast-paced commercial setting.
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Experience leading, coaching and developing lawyers and legal teams.
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Strong stakeholder engagement and influencing skills, including experience partnering with senior leaders.
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A strategic mindset with the ability to provide pragmatic, commercially focused advice.
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Experience driving process improvement and enhance legal operational effectiveness.
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Demonstrated alignment with Coles’ values and leadership behaviours.
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Current Legal Practising Certificate.
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Approximately 8–10 years post-qualification experience (PQE).
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Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
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Strong leadership, coaching and management capability.
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Ability to build trusted relationships and influence stakeholders at all levels.
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Demonstrated ability to lead high-performing teams and foster a collaborative culture.
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Strong commercial acumen and the ability to balance legal risk with business objectives.
Flexible working options: We know that work is only one part of your life, so we actively encourage a positive work-life balance and provide hybrid working options to help you achieve it.-
Office perks: Take advantage of our gym facility and fitness classes, free parking, BBQ area, mini-Coles supermarket, fooderie hub where you can sample new products before they hit the shelves, school holiday program and so much more when you come in.
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Discounts: Eligible team members receive 5% discount all year round on your Supermarket and Liquor online and in-store purchases. We also offer additional periods of double discount (10%) at various times throughout the year. As well as hotdeals exclusive to team members that translate into additional savings.
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Reward through recognition: Give and receive recognition, linked to our Coles values, through our digital recognition platform ‘mythanks’. You can accumulate points to redeem in the online shop for exciting gifts and electronic gift cards from an extensive range of retailers.
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Opportunities for learning and development: No matter where you start within our diverse business, you’ll have experiences, exposure, and education to satisfy you. Discover and explore a variety of career development programs and job-specific training.
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Paid parental leave: We understand how important your life outside work is and offer permanent team members paid parental leave to support you in balancing work and family.
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Investment in your future: Our annual team member share plan offer allows eligible team members to make regular pre-tax salary sacrifice deductions to purchase Coles Group shares.
We’re continuing to build a gender equitable team, and a culture that is just as diverse, inclusive and welcoming as the communities we serve. We are committed to creating a workplace that is safe and respectful for our team. We encourage applications from people of all ages, cultures (including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples), abilities, sexual orientation and gender identities.
We’re happy to adjust our recruitment process to support candidates with disability. For further information and additional contact details visit the ‘Our Recruitment Process’ section of our careers site or email [email protected]
Job ID: 190003
Employment Type: Full time
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