Operations Assessment Center 2023

Job description

LEGAL COUNSEL

When you look at L’Oréal, what do you see? If all you see is lipstick, look again. If you want the Freedom to go Beyond, we’ll see you at L’Oréal.

That’s the beauty of L’Oréal. We operate in 150 countries on 5 continents. With 36 international brands and 86,000 employees worldwide, we’re well on our way to fulfilling our common purpose: to create beauty that moves the world.

By 2030 we want to capture over another 1 billion consumers around the world. How? By creating cosmetic products which meet the infinite diversity of consumers beauty needs and desires, and always through digital innovation. Not only that, but taking our sustainability goals seriously; moving us to a more inclusive and sustainable society, for every generation.

Our brands, dynamic culture, and always being our own challenger mean that we offer freedom and opportunity you won’t get anywhere else. 

We embrace our entrepreneurial spirit in everything we do, always challenging ourselves to new ways of doing things. That means looking for innovative solutions, sustainable developments, and having the freedom to go beyond the ordinary.

Our founder Eugène Schueller once said that “a company is not walls and machines, it’s people, people, people”. Joining our corporate teams means joining the world leader in beauty, at the cutting edge of innovation. But above all, it means becoming part of a team of talented and inspiring people.

Our Legal Department vision is to be a leading in-house team delivering consistent, efficient, and digitalized legal services that enables self-service and creates value for all. Our KPIs: offer cutting edge legal expertise whilst business partnering; effective protection of the company’s assets and reputation; and high business satisfaction.

Legal Counsel is a key role within a dynamic, well-established, award-winning, and respected Legal Department within the UK subsidiary of the L’Oréal Group, servicing the UK and Ireland. This is a sought after generalist in-house position with the opportunity to rapidly build a wide range of legal/technical, commercial, interpersonal and legal operational skills.

Join us if you want to help grow, run, protect and defend our business to enable the company’s objectives.

You will

Under the supervision of the Head of Legal Operations and Deputy General Counsel, you will be responsible for partnering with different areas of the UK and Ireland business, predominantly:

•Brands within our Professional Products Division offering professional hair colour, hair care and services
•Corporate functions, such as CDMO to service their needs in the ever-changing marketing and advertising space, for example, helping to enable new social commerce and affiliate marketing initiatives.
•Legal operations/ tech projects to further digitise the legal function. For example, using third party software and platforms to create new ways of working which are innovative, automated and allow the business to self-serve and data-gather.

The role will include:

•Drafting, reviewing, amending and negotiating varied types of agreements and business communications. 
•Advisory work across a broad range of legal topics (i.e. disputes, consumer, advertising, digital, commercial, privacy, IP and brand protection, property, competition, IT, charity sponsorship etc.) with in-house resources and external legal advice to support where necessary.
•Building good relationships with your brands by supporting, in particular, sales, marketing, finance, PR and digital teams to facilitate the execution of marketing assets, commercial negotiations, social influencer and digital campaigns.
•Delivering contracts, advisory work, team tools such as templates and guidance, formal and informal training; all in a timely manner to maximize achievement of business strategies.
•Embracing new legal tools to create efficiencies for the legal team and business, and proactively add value to the business, for example by gathering new metrics/data. This involves independently project managing (with the support of third party platform-providers and law firms), to launch new automation initiatives from inception right through to wider business roll-out and training. 
•Animating and activating your ideas as appropriate, contributing and adhering to the legal department’s plan to drive efficiencies in the delivery of its services and in its value proposition.
•Working closely with other Corporate Functions such as Scientific on regulatory matters relating to products and Corporate Affairs & Engagement on matters with potential impact on the company’s reputation.
•Consulting with our European Legal Department and liaising with our legal counterparts in other jurisdictions as necessary, notably within Europe and the US.
•Maintaining the high profile of the legal department throughout the business and encouraging early legal involvement in projects and decision making.

You have

•2 - 4 years post qualification experience, admitted to practice as a UK solicitor (or other similar common law jurisdiction) with a right to work in the UK.
•EQ + IQ, practical and well-rounded skills to be client and business-centric, with a people focus.
•Relevant experience in private practice and/or in-house.
•A positive ‘can do’, collaborative mind set.
•Track record of striving for professional  stretch and excellence, with robust attention to detail essential.
•Ability to quickly digest information and apply knowledge in a practical and pragmatic way.
•Solid, clear and concise (written & verbal) communication skills (including presentation skills appropriate to PQE level) with the ability to distil complexity into simplicity essential.
•Extremely organised with excellent problem solving and prioritisation skills to resolve issues/questions efficiently.
•Resilient and calm under pressure to manage competing needs in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
•User experience and implementation of legal technology solutions (contract management systems, AI data metrics, chatbots, etc.) an advantage.
•Experience in leading legal operations/digitalization projects such as contract automation an advantage.
•Keen interest in digital marketing and/or legal tech developments an advantage.
•Active networker by participating in expert/industry groups would make a candidate stand out.
•Ability to think ‘big’, of solutions outside the box, of new concepts and drive projects forward to completion desired.
•Good generalist understanding and expertise across at least some of the different legal topics called out in the ‘You Will’ section above required.
•Commercial acumen, motivated by objectives, thrive with cultural change.
•Interest in the beauty industry, consumer focus and an eye for aesthetics helpful.
•Good working knowledge or fluency in French (or other language) may be helpful

You Are:

Organised: You love a list and have strong planning and organisation skills – with the ability to re-prioritise as required.

Measured: We want to track the success of our campaigns and initiatives so projects must be able to show ROI.

Accurate: You have the ability to work to a high degree of accuracy and meet deadlines.

Entrepreneurial: Every day, you spot opportunities to drive growth for our brand and our customers, making sure the good name of our brand is always protected.

Creative and Innovative: Whether it be in overcoming challenges or creating artwork for your channel, creativity is our back bone, and we love new ideas.

Proactive and Open: L’Oréal is for the pioneers, which means embracing new ideas, challenges and change with positivity and a hands-on approach.

Teams are the new heroes: There is no better feeling than being part of a successful and dynamic team, so even if you are able to work very well autonomously, you recognise that teams are the real heroes.

Only Human: we all make mistakes, but you are not afraid of failure. You learn and show how the experience has helped the business learn for the future and benefitted all.

Ambitious: You crave success and L’Oréal is the ultimate place to achieve your dreams. We will support you all the way and make sure you have the support and development in place to help you succeed.

You. You are real. And you’re true to yourself. We cherish and celebrate inclusivity so you will feel right at home whoever you are.

You get

We put people development and learning at the heart of our business; we’ll help you master your role and develop your technical expertise, and you’ll also benefit from exceptional management and leadership programmes. From face-to-face programmes and online bitesize sessions to our global online learning resources, you’re actively encouraged to embed learning into your daily life and are rewarded for continuous improvement. With world class upskilling platforms at your fingertips such as LinkedIn learning and Coursera, which allows you to gain qualifications from over 1000 universities from around the world, your learning and development really is in your hands.

Looking for a good work/life balance? With our new hybrid working scheme, you can take a flexible approach to work being in the office 3 days per week with 2 from home as well as benefit from early finishes on Fridays during the summer...so you can enjoy more time with your friends and family.

As any great employer should do, we make sure we look after your financial wellbeing. That’s why we have a great pension plan, profit share scheme and many more incentives to give you the security you deserve. We also put employee health and wellbeing at the front of everything we do; with fully trained employees as mental health ambassadors to support and educate ourselves further. There’s also the chance to enrol in medical and dental insurance, gym discounts, health check-ups and even yoga and pilates classes to employees in all of our locations.

Oh, did we mention that as an employee you also get discount sales of up to 70% off throughout the year on our 36 brands? Plus, you also get the option to share that in our Friends and Family sales as well!

How we recruit

At L’Oréal, we take pride in creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment where everyone is welcome and their contributions are valued. When we recruit, hire, train, promote or engage in any other employment practice, we are committed to being an inclusive employer regardless of race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, socioeconomic status, medical condition or disability, or any other protected status. When we look for talent, we welcome difference - different backgrounds, experiences, personalities and perspectives. The beauty we find in our differences gives us the freedom to go beyond. That’s the beauty of L’Oréal.