Senior Legal Counsel

Senior Legal Counsel / Director – Finance, Lending & Investments
Manchester (Hybrid)
up to £150,000 + Bonus + Significant Scope
An ambitious and entrepreneurial international finance group is seeking to appoint a high-calibre Senior Legal Counsel / Director to support its expanding lending, structured finance and investment activities, with a particular focus on the UK and exposure to international markets, with particular interest in The Americas.
The group's activities span both sides of the funding equation – securing capital from private investors, institutions, and funding partners, whilst deploying that capital through bespoke lending, project finance, and structured funding solutions. As such, the business is interested in lawyers whose experience sits across either or both disciplines, with a particular emphasis on UK commercial finance and secured lending.
This is an exceptional opportunity for a commercially minded finance lawyer who wants to move beyond the limitations of traditional private practice or institutional in-house environments and play a genuinely influential role inside a young, high-growth, transaction-led business.
The organisation operates across bespoke commercial lending, structured finance, project finance, investment transactions, and cross-border funding solutions. Transactions range from SME and mid-market lending through to large-scale international funding arrangements involving complex security structures, multi-jurisdiction matters, and sophisticated commercial negotiations.
The business has developed a strong reputation for flexibility, responsiveness, and the ability to structure transactions that fall outside the appetite of conventional lenders. As transaction volumes and deal complexity continue to increase, the group is now seeking to build significant internal legal capability and reduce reliance on external advisers.
This role sits directly alongside senior leadership and at the centre of live commercial activity. It is not a passive legal support position removed from decision-making. The successful individual will become deeply involved in the structuring, negotiation, risk management, and execution of complex transactions, with UK commercial finance as the principal focus and international exposure an additional attraction.
For the right person, this offers the opportunity to become a key strategic figure inside a growing international finance platform while enjoying substantial autonomy, visibility, and influence.
The Opportunity
The successful candidate will lead and manage the legal aspects of a broad range of funding and investment transactions, helping the business execute deals more efficiently while maintaining strong legal and commercial discipline.
You will work closely with directors, lenders, borrowers, counterparties, investors, and external legal advisers across a wide variety of transaction types and jurisdictions.
The environment is entrepreneurial, fast-moving, and commercially driven. This role will suit someone who enjoys operating close to decision-making, taking ownership of transactions, and balancing technical legal capability with practical commercial judgement.
Alongside this core legal remit, there is genuine scope to broaden your involvement in commercial lending: working with other members of the Senior Leadership Team on credit assessment, funding structures, transaction strategy and the wider management of lending transactions. Prior commercial lending management experience would be welcome, but is not a prerequisite; this is also an opportunity for an ambitious lawyer to develop those skills.
The business is particularly interested in individuals capable of helping institutionalise and professionalise internal legal capability while remaining commercially agile and execution-focused.
Key Responsibilities
* Lead legal involvement across capital raising, investment transactions, commercial lending, and structured finance.
* Draft, negotiate, and review: facility agreements, debentures, guarantees, security documentation, shareholder agreements, participation agreements, inter-creditor arrangements and investment and transaction documentation
* Advise on legal structuring, transaction risk, enforceability, and commercial protection
* Support UK and international funding transactions across multiple jurisdictions
* Manage and coordinate external counsel where specialist jurisdictional advice is required
* Assist with transaction execution and completion processes
* Take ownership of the legal workstream from initial structuring and due diligence through negotiation, documentation and financial close.
* Work closely with commercial and transaction teams throughout deal lifecycles
* Contribute legal and commercial insight to the assessment of lending propositions, credit and security considerations, and the structuring and negotiation of transactions.
* Help reduce dependency on external law firms and improve internal transaction efficiency
* Contribute to governance, legal process improvement, and scalable operational infrastructure
Candidate Profile
Candidate profile and chemistry are every bit as important to this pivotal appointment as technical capability. This is a fast-paced, innovative and highly entrepreneurial environment, where attitude matters just as much as aptitude. The person is everything. The appointee will be instrumental in driving the future of this business, delivery objectives and embracing the culture of this business; the gravity of success is all about having the right attitude, underpinned with demonstrable experience.
Suitable candidates will already be high achieving solicitors within commercial finance, with a strong grounding in UK banking, finance and secured lending law and substantial exposure to one or more of:
* Banking & Finance,
* Structured Finance,
* Corporate Lending,
* Real Estate Finance,
* Investment Funds,
* Private Capital & Investor Transactions,
* Capital Raising & Fund Formation,
* Private Credit,
* or International Commercial Transactions.
Candidates may currently sit within:
* City or national law firms,
* alternative lenders,
* investment managers or fund platforms
* debt funds,
* private credit platforms
* family offices
* specialist finance businesses,
* or sophisticated in-house finance environments.
However, technical capability alone will not be sufficient. The successful individual must also be:
* highly commercial,
* pragmatic,
* solutions-oriented,
* comfortable operating autonomously,
* capable of thriving within an entrepreneurial business environment.
This is not an organisation driven by bureaucracy or excessive process. It requires an individual capable of making sound decisions, operating with confidence, and helping move transactions forward intelligently and efficiently.
Experience Required
* Qualified Solicitor
* Strong experience within UK banking & finance law, particularly commercial lending and secured finance; structured finance, capital raising and investment transactions are also relevant
* Demonstrable experience of secured lending, facility agreements, security documentation and complex financing transactions.
* International or cross-border transaction experience, including the Americas, advantageous but not essential
* Strong commercial awareness and negotiation capability
* Ability to operate effectively within a fast-moving transaction environment
Direct exposure to commercial lending management, credit assessment, underwriting or broader transaction structuring is desirable, not essential; the appetite to develop these skills is equally important.
Why Join?
This opportunity offers significantly more breadth, influence, and commercial exposure than many traditional legal roles.
For a solicitor keen to expand beyond conventional legal advisory boundaries, the role offers direct exposure to the commercial