In-House Legal Counsel

Speciality Insurance, Underwriting

£Excellent + bonus + excellent benefits

London / Hybrid

About us

The is a leading privately-owned, Bermuda-based Managing General Underwriter, which, through its subsidiaries, is a global underwriter of property, bespoke and specialty insurance and reinsurance products. They are one of the largest Managing General Underwriters globally and its operations also include outwards reinsurance, claims handling, exposure management and portfolio analytics. This company also sponsors and incubates specialist MGAs through its platform.

Across product lines and geographies, we focus on three diversified pillars: reinsurance, specialty and bespoke solutions. We are truly diversified. Our long-standing partnerships with capital providers and quota share partners make us nimble. Our breadth of expertise and capabilities deliver outstanding market returns.

The role

Reporting to the Lead Underwriting Counsel, the successful candidate will be responsible for providing a range of legal support to the business with a particular emphasis on supporting the negotiation and execution of a wide variety of bespoke and structured (re)insurance transactions (notably in the growing space of insurance and capital markets convergence).

Key accountabilities

• Work closely with the underwriting teams and other relevant teams/functions on the structuring, negotiation, documenting and execution of a wide variety of bespoke and structured (re)insurance transactions, including significant risk transfer / regulatory capital relief driven transactions (on both a funded and unfunded basis), structured credit, and asset-backed non-payment insurance (across various asset classes).
• Ensure that all transaction documentation is clear and reflects commercial objectives and risk appetites.
• Assist in the embedding and maintenance of robust transaction processes to ensure that all legal, accounting, regulatory and tax risks are identified and appropriately mitigated, and liaise with other functions (e.g. finance) as required.
• Manage external counsel in respect of specific transactions, ensuring that advice and support received is appropriate, timely and within budget.
• Contribute to development of know-how and dissemination of the same across the business, including attending relevant external events and delivering internal training.
• Assist in delivering the wider duties of the legal team, including, in particular, in relation to intra-group arrangements, various commercial contracts as well as binding authority agreements and other distribution arrangements.
• Provide concise and regular reporting to senior management in relation to ongoing transactions.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with relevant teams/functions across the business in order to ensure organizational effectiveness.

Skills & experience

• Solicitor qualified in England & Wales or similar and relevant jurisdiction.
• Demonstrable experience as an insurance lawyer (preferably with some experience of working on (re)insurance underwriting transactions) gained either in private practice or within an in-house financial services environment.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, as well as the ability to interact with individuals across all levels of seniority.
• Strong sense of personal accountability and self-motivation, with the ability to work on own initiative and as part of a team.
• Ability to influence and effectively disseminate knowledge and articulate opinion, whilst maintaining awareness of wider commercial objectives and dynamics.
• Ability to effectively manage workload, to plan and prioritise accordingly, and to meet tight deadlines, whilst maintaining a high level of accuracy and attention to detail.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment.
• High level of proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (in particular, Word and Excel), and also proficient in the use of Adobe Acrobat.
• Willingness to work outside of core hours where business need demands it.

.