We have an excellent opportunity for a Head of Ireland, Legal to join our Global Legal Team and Lead our Ireland Legal team. This is a permanent role based in Dublin.
This is the most senior legal role for Ireland and will serve as the principal legal adviser to the Ireland Country Lead and senior business leadership. The successful candidate will provide strategic legal oversight across the Irish franchise, ensuring effective management of legal and regulatory risk while supporting business growth, transformation and operational excellence.
The role offers significant exposure to executive stakeholders, regulators and governance forums and requires a leader who can balance strategic thinking with pragmatic execution in a highly regulated and dynamic environment.
Business Area
The Legal Function plays a critical role in protecting Barclays, enabling growth and ensuring the bank operates within a robust legal and regulatory framework. The Ireland Legal team supports Barclays' Irish operations across Corporate Banking, Investment Banking and Private Bank & Wealth Management, partnering closely with business leaders, Compliance, Risk and Control functions to manage legal risk and support strategic business objectives.
This is an exciting time to join the organisation as Barclays continues to evolve its European operating model and execute ambitious growth plans across Private Bank & Wealth Management in Europe. The successful candidate will play a central role in supporting transformation initiatives, regulatory engagement and the ongoing development of Barclays' legal capabilities across the region.
Key Responsibilities
- Serve as the primary legal advisor to Barclays' Ireland leadership team and businesses, including Corporate Banking and Private Bank & Wealth Management, providing strategic and commercial legal guidance.
- Lead the identification, management and mitigation of legal and regulatory risks, ensuring compliance with applicable laws, regulations, policies and governance frameworks.
- Partner closely with specialist legal teams, Compliance, Risk, Controls and senior business stakeholders to support business objectives, regulatory engagements and significant strategic initiatives.
- Advise on legal, commercial, reputational and regulatory matters, including regulatory change, governance requirements, high-profile projects, litigation oversight and external counsel management.
- Drive operational excellence within the Legal function by enhancing legal processes, strengthening risk and control frameworks, improving efficiency and fostering a proactive risk management culture across the Irish business.
Essential Skills and Qualifications
- Irish law qualified with at least 10 PQE
- Extensive experience of providing legal advice to a Private Bank and/or Wealth Management business at a senior management level within the financial services sector.
- Deep understanding of UK and European regulation, including without limitation: MIFID, Market Conduct and Market Abuse, Client Asset Regime, ESG regulation, CRD, CRR, Prudential Regulation, application of conduct of business rules across the EU, SEAR/IAF and transaction reporting.
- Proven track record for delivery of regulatory commitments/ high profile projects.
- Proven and effective leadership and development capabilities.
- Demonstrated strategic vision and effective delivery and execution.
- Ability to assimilate information quickly.
- Builds collaborative risk partnerships with colleagues across Legal and in other functions.
Purpose of the role
To ensure that the operations in the country or region are conducted in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and to help the bank manage legal and reputational risks associated with these activities.
Accountabilities
- Development and implementation of best practice legal strategies for risk management and compliance.
- Legal advice and support to the bank's country coverage teams on a wide range of legal issues, including regulatory compliance, risk management, project management and transactional matters.
- Representation of the bank in legal proceedings related to its operations in the country or region, such as litigation, arbitration, and regulatory investigations.
- Creation and review of legal documents such as loan agreements, security documents, and other financing documents to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
- Legal research and analysis to stay up to date on changes in laws and regulations that may impact the bank's operations in the country or region.
- Developing and delivering training programmes to educate employees on legal and regulatory requirements related to the bank's operations in the country or region.
- Pro-active identification, communication, and provision of legal advice on applicable laws, rules and regulations (LRRs). Keeping up to date with regards to changes to LRRs in the relevant coverage area. Ensuring that LRRs are effectively allocated to, and adequately reflected within, the relevant policies, standards and controls.
Director Expectations
- To manage a business function, providing significant input to function wide strategic initiatives. Contribute to and influence policy and procedures for the function and plan, manage and consult on multiple complex and critical strategic projects, which may be business wide..
- They manage the direction of a large team or sub-function, leading other people managers and embedding a performance culture aligned to the values of the business. Or for an individual contributor, they lead organisation wide projects and act as deep technical expert and thought leader, identifying new ways of working and collaborating cross functionally. They will train, guide and coach less experienced specialists and provide information affecting long term profits, organisational risks and strategic decisions..
- Provide expert advice to senior functional management and committees to influence decisions made outside of own function, offering significant input to function wide strategic initiatives.
- Manage, coordinate and enable resourcing, budgeting and policy creation for a significant sub-function.
- Escalates breaches of policies / procedure appropriately.
- Foster and guide compliance, ensure regulations are observed that relevant processes in place to facilitate adherence.
- Focus on the external environment, regulators, or advocacy groups to both monitor and influence on behalf of Barclays, when appropriate.
- Demonstrate extensive knowledge of how the function integrates with the business division / Group to achieve the overall business objectives.
- Maintain broad and comprehensive knowledge of industry theories and practices within own discipline alongside up-to-date relevant sector / functional knowledge, and insight into external market developments / initiatives.
- Use interpretative thinking and advanced analytical skills to solve problems and design solutions in often complex/ sensitive situations.
- Exercise management authority to make significant decisions and certain strategic decisions or recommendations within own area.
- Negotiate with and influence stakeholders at a senior level both internally and externally.
- Act as principal contact point for key clients and counterparts in other functions/ businesses divisions.
- Mandated as a spokesperson for the function and business division.
All Senior Leaders are expected to demonstrate a clear set of leadership behaviours to create an environment for colleagues to thrive and deliver to a consistently excellent standard. The four LEAD behaviours are: L – Listen and be authentic, E – Energise and inspire, A – Align across the enterprise, D – Develop others.
All colleagues will be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Stewardship – our moral compass, helping us do what we believe is right. They will also be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Mindset – to Empower, Challenge and Drive – the operating manual for how we behave.
