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Manager – Legal Counsel – Employment
Salary: Competitive
Hours: Full Time
Location: Crawley (Hybrid) 3 days on site per week in line with hybrid working policy
Contract: Permanent
Closing Date: 10th October 2025
This is a rare opportunity to step into a unique employment law role at the heart of Virgin Atlantic. As our Manager Legal Counsel – People Relations, you’ll be a trusted advisor to our People function, senior leadership, and wider business. You’ll bring clarity and confidence to complex employment issues, helping us make decisions that are not only legally sound but also commercially savvy and people focused. From providing fast paced day to day guidance, supporting change projects and new business initiatives, guiding senior hirings and exits to shaping our approach to employee relations for unionised and non -unionised workforces, you’ll ensure we deliver fair, compliant and pragmatic outcomes that support both our people and our purpose.
- Provide expert legal advice on UK and international employment law, covering recruitment, contracts, disputes, and terminations.
- Advise on TUPE, business transfers, and industrial relations matters including trade union engagement and collective bargaining.
- Deep understanding of diversity, equity and inclusion and its impact on business considerations
- Draft and review employment-related agreements such as contracts, settlement agreements, and incentive schemes.
- Lead and manage employment litigation, including tribunal work and engagement with external counsel.
- Partner with HR, Reward, Employee Relations, internal audit and senior leaders to deliver pragmatic, commercially aligned advice.
- Contribute to policy development, governance, and compliance processes, ensuring best practice.
- Support broader corporate and commercial initiatives, adding legal value to strategic projects.
- Share knowledge and develop templates to drive consistency and continuous improvement within the legal team.
- Qualified solicitor (UK or equivalent) with a strong academic record and around 8 years’ PQE.
- Proven track record of advising on a broad range of employment law issues in complex, corporate environments.
- Extensive experience in litigation, contracts, TUPE, complex employee and industrial relations.
- Commercially minded, with the ability to balance legal rigour with practical business realities.
- Confident in advising senior leaders, with strong stakeholder management skills and credibility.
- A clear and persuasive communicator, able to explain complex legal issues to non-lawyers.
- Highly organised, proactive, and solutions-focused, with the ability to manage multiple priorities under pressure.
- Collaborative in style, but equally comfortable working independently to deliver results.
Be yourself – Our differences make us stronger
Our customers come from all walks of life and so do our colleagues. That’s why we’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer and actively encourage applications from all backgrounds. At Virgin Atlantic, we believe everyone can take on the world - no matter your age, gender, gender identity, gender expression, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disabilities, religion, or beliefs. We celebrate difference and everything that makes our colleagues unique by upholding an inclusive environment in which we can all thrive. So that everyone at Virgin Atlantic can be themselves and know they belong.
To make your journey with us accessible and individual to you, we encourage you to let us know if you’d like a little extra help with your application, or if you have any individual requirements at any stage along your recruitment journey. We are here to support you, so please reach out to our team ([email protected]) feeling confident that we’ve got your individual considerations covered.
Additional information
At Virgin Atlantic, our leaders empower teams to thrive through collaboration, innovation, and excellence. Explore our Leadership Recipe and discover the 20 core ingredients that define what it means to lead with us, driving our mission to be the most loved travel company and achieve sustainable profit. Want to learn more? Click here.