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Brightwater Executive has established itself as one of Ireland’s leading Executive Search companies that has earned the reputation of providing steadfast support to senior executives who are navigating their next transition or striving to define their next career move.

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Head of Legal

Ref: 78608

  • Highly Competitive Remuneration Package
  • 18 Apr 2025
  • Dublin (Central)
  • Permanent

Job Title

Head of Legal

Utmost International has retained Brightwater Executive exclusively to assist them their search for this Head of Legal Appointment. All queries will be dealt with in the strictest of confidence and should be directed to Estelle Davis, Brightwater Executive at:  [email protected] 
or contact Estelle on DD + 353 1 5927 844.

About the Company

Utmost International encompasses two core business lines, Utmost Wealth Solutions and Utmost Corporate Solutions.
  • Utmost Wealth Solutions - their insurance-based savings, investment and wealth solutions arm, which serves their European clients, with offices also located in Luxembourg, the Isle of Man and Guernsey.
  • Utmost Corporate Solutions - their specialist employee benefits and group risk solutions arm (covering Life, Income Protection, Critical Illness and Savings Solutions), which serves their  European and international corporate markets. 
 
Their team in Ireland currently stands at over 400 employees, with a long-standing presence here since 1999.  Across the group, they have a growing client base of 210,000 +, with approx. €120.1bn AUM.  Their growth story to date along with their long-standing customer partnerships is enabled by a team of highly collaborative, customer centric and responsive industry experts. 

About the Position

Reporting to the Chief Risk Officer, the Head of Legal position will play a pivotal role towards supporting and enabling our clients strategic road map, working closely with the wider cross functional senior leadership teams both locally and across different hubs. Leading and mentoring the in-house legal team, the successful candidate will provide expert legal advice, ensuring compliance with industry regulations, and mitigation of key legal risks. 

Key Responsibilities

  • Legal Leadership: Lead and manage the legal team, providing strategic direction, mentorship and professional growth.  Ensure robust oversight of resources (internal and external counsel). Ensure operational efficiencies are met and transaction deadlines are completed in a timely manner to align against the corporate goals, balancing operational and strategic priorities. 
  • Contract Management: Manage directly and oversee the team’s workload across: Drafting, reviewing, and negotiations of commercial contract agreements (asset management, custody, intermediary, vendor), along with outsourcing master agreements, and other legal documents.
  • Advisory Role: Provide proactive legal advice to the Board and senior management on a wide range of issues, including regulatory compliance, corporate governance, litigation and legal risk management.
  • External Coordination: Coordinate with external legal counsel as needed and management and oversight of budget spend.
  • Legal Regulatory Responsibilities: Lead interactions with key regulatory stakeholders (i.e. Financial Services & Pensions Ombudsman) and in relevant cross border life insurance industry forums. Remain current on legal and regulatory developments within the EU.
  • Risk Management: Collaborate with key stakeholders within the Risk and Compliance teams and provide such assistance as required to ensure the firm’s compliance with applicable legal and regulatory matters.  Identify and mitigate legal risks associated with the company's operations and transactions.
  • Stakeholder Management: Preparation and presentation of legal reports to the Board and senior management as required.
This role is a controlled function as defined by the Central Bank Reform Act 2010, Regulations (2011). Any appointment will be conditional upon satisfying the company that the jobholder meets the requirements as set out in the Fitness and Probity Standards issued by the Central Bank.

Experience/Requirements

  • Qualified solicitor or barrister in Ireland with ideally 7-10 years + post qualification experience. Ideally from a mid/top tier firm or an in-house role within financial services.
  • Sound European cross border insurance experience or life assurance product knowledge would be advantageous.
  • Adept communication, negotiation, and leadership skills with proven experience in providing solution focused advice on a variety of legal matters.
  • Strong cross functional team collaborator, commercially astute and highly developed and successful negotiation skills. 
  • The ideal role holder should be able to demonstrate a pragmatic and balanced view of the role together with pro-active advisory support for business opportunities and long-term strategic initiatives.
Skills
•    Corporate Law
•    Contract Negotiation
•    Legal Risk Assessment
•    Strategic Legal Advice
•    Team Leadership & Mentorship
•    Litigation Management
•    Excellence and best practice skills in report writing and communications 

Remuneration Package

Highly competitive. Hybrid Working Model 

Contact

Utmost International has retained Brightwater Executive exclusively to assist them with a formal executive search for this Head of Legal Appointment. All queries will be dealt with in the strictest of confidence and should be directed to Estelle Davis, Brightwater Executive at: [email protected] or contact Estelle on DD + 353 1 5927 844. 
 

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We match the best talent in the market for your
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Our Executive Search team are continuously connecting, building talent networks, and outlining individual talent information that will be able to provide you with the necessary insight into the skills, background motivations, and expectations of talent to properly assess and profile them.

We take the time to understand your organisational needs and can get a clear overview of the business, the organisational structure, the company values, goals, and culture. It is through this process that we can truly endorse talent who have the required skills, background, and experience, for your company.

We have a depth of over 20 years' experience supporting our clients both locally and Internationally with their senior talent strategies. We're proud that our clients see us as an extension of their team and successfully work with them throughout their key milestones of change, be it undergoing Organisational Restruction, Succession Planning, Digital Transformation or Scaling For Growth.

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For over 20 years we have had the privilege to work and understand the talent needs of a wide and diverse client base. We work with our client Partners to build a bespoke executive search strategy that is right for you, is transparent and led by data driven insights to ensure your senior hire is the right fit for your organisation. Our client partners return to us because we have built a reliable reputation in gaining their trust and delivering what they need in a robust and timely way.

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Industries Served

  • Consumer Markets (B2B and B2C)
  • Technology & Telecommunications
  • Financial Services

    Fintech / Payments | Banking | Insurance |
    Asset Management | Aviation Leasing

  • Public Sector, Not For Profit
  • Life Sciences & Healthcare
  • Professional Services
  • Industrial

    Supply Chain | Manufacturing | Utilities |
    Renewables

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Salary Survey 2023

Today’s CEO and C-Suite executive teams are business leaders, mentors and advisors. Unique challenges include ESG, diversity and talent retention. Their pay reflects the needs of the business and their wider remits so each organisation has a different executive compensation programme. Our Salary Guide for leadership in 2023 reflects a wide range of pay across a broad diverse of sectors and organisations. If you need further clarification on any of the salaries in our guide, please contact [email protected]

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