Legal Counsel

Job Description

At Aberdeen, our ambition is to be the UK’s leading Wealth & Investments group.

Strengthening talent and culture is one of our strategic priorities. We strive to make Aberdeen a great place to work so that we can attract and retain the industry’s best talent.

Our people put our stakeholders at the heart of everything they do by helping us to make a positive difference to the lives of our clients, customers, colleagues, shareholders, and society.

We are focused on growing our direct and advised wealth platforms and repositioning our specialist asset management business to meet client demand. We are committed to providing excellent client service, supported by leading technology and talent.

Aberdeen comprises three businesses, interactive investor (ii), Investments, and Adviser, each of which focuses on meeting and adapting to our clients’ evolving needs:

• interactive investor, the UK’s second largest direct-to-consumer investment platform, enables individuals in the UK to plan, save, and invest in the way that works for them.
• Our Adviser business provides financial planning solutions and technology for UK financial advisers, enabling them to create value for their customers.
• Our Investments business is a specialist asset manager that focuses on areas where we have both strength and scale to capitalise on the key themes shaping the market, through either public markets or alternative asset classes.

About the Role

This role sits within the Technology, Commercial and Litigation team which is part of the Legal, Secretariat, Public Affairs and Corporate Sustainability (LSPS) function. The successful candidate will provide legal advice and support across the Aberdeen Group globally on contentious and potentially contentious risk matters, including litigation and disputes, investigations, regulatory matters and complex contractual and strategic arrangements that present commercial, legal, regulatory and reputational risk.

Working closely with business stakeholders, (where applicable) external counsel and colleagues across LSPS, the role will support effective risk identification and management, including in relation to critical technology, AI deployment and digital infrastructure arrangements, while enabling the Group’s strategic and commercial objectives.  The role requires strong technical capability, sound judgement and the ability to operate confidently across jurisdictions and at senior stakeholder level, including in high-pressure or sensitive situations such as incident management or conduct matters.

The role will actively support modern ways of working across the LSPS function, including the responsible use of technology and AI‑enabled tools, process improvement and knowledge sharing. The successful candidate will be expected to work flexibly across team and functional boundaries, contributing to an integrated, forward‑looking legal service that supports innovation and data insights while maintaining robust legal and risk standards.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide high-quality legal, technical and commercial advice to business stakeholders in relation to contentious and potentially contentious matters across all businesses in the Aberdeen Group, including litigation and disputes, regulatory matters, investigations, and significant risk issues arising from contractual, commercial or operational arrangements, operating where required at senior management or executive level.
• Support the identification, assessment and mitigation of legal, regulatory and reputational risk, including complex contractual arrangements, strategic partnerships and digital technology or infrastructure services, balancing risk mitigation with the Group’s strategic and commercial objectives.
• Advise the business on dispute avoidance, escalation pathways, service failure risk and resolution strategies, and liaising with colleagues across LSPS as appropriate.
• Provide support in relation to the legal and regulatory aspects of incident management, including matters with heightened regulatory, reputational or conduct risk.
• Conduct and oversee internal investigations, including regulatory or conduct‑related matters, working with internal stakeholders and external counsel as appropriate.
• Operate effectively across multiple jurisdictions, working with local teams and external counsel as required.
• Contribute to effective governance and decision‑making in relation to disputes, investigations and other material risk matters affecting the Aberdeen Group.
• Collaborate closely with colleagues across LSPS to deliver an integrated, high-quality legal service aligned to the Group’s strategic, commercial and financial priorities, including supporting the wider delivery of commercial and technology‑related legal services where appropriate.
• Develop and maintain strong, trusted relationships with internal stakeholders to ensure legal advice is practical, proportionate and delivers best value to the business.
• Manage the instruction and performance of external law firms and legal suppliers, ensuring appropriate oversight, cost control and efficient use of external resources.
• Contribute to the responsible use of legal technology and AI‑enabled tools, including supporting risk assessment, efficiency, insight generation and knowledge management, in line with Group policies and governance.

About the Candidate:

• Qualified lawyer with membership of the relevant UK or equivalent legal professional body.
• Circa 3–5 years’ post-qualification experience.
• Experience working in or (in an advisory capacity) with large corporates and/or financial services firms, with exposure to contentious matters and experience in assessing, and advising on, risk and strategy in relation to complex commercial or contractual arrangements).
• Knowledge of broader financial services regulatory frameworks.
• Strong commercial awareness with the ability to explain legal issues clearly and pragmatically to non‑legal stakeholders.
• Proven ability to manage multiple matters concurrently and perform effectively under pressure, including on sensitive or high-risk issues.
• Collaborative team player with a global outlook and strong stakeholder‑management skills.
• Comfortable working in an evolving environment, including the use of legal technology and AI‑supported tools, with sound judgement as to risk and appropriateness.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Committed employer. If you have a disability and would like to apply to one of our UK roles under the Disability Confident Scheme, please notify us by completing the relevant section in our candidate questionnaire. One of our team will reach out to support you through your application process.

Our benefits

There's more to working life than coming home with a good salary. We have an environment where you can learn, get involved and be supported.

When you join us, your reward will be one of the best around. This includes 40 days’ annual leave, a 16% employer pension contribution, a discretionary performance-based bonus (where applicable), private healthcare and a range of flexible benefits – including gym discounts, season ticket loans and access to an employee discount portal. You can read more about our benefits here.

Our business

Enabling our clients to be better investors drives everything we do. Our business is structured around three distinct areas – our vectors of growth – focused on our clients’ changing needs. You can find out more about what we do here.

An inclusive way of working

Whatever way you like to work, if you have the talent and commitment to join our team, we’d like to hear from you.

At Aberdeen we’ve adopted a ‘blended working’ approach. This approach combines the benefits of face-to-face collaboration, coaching and connecting in our offices with the flexibility of working from home. It enables colleagues to find a balance that works for their roles, their teams, our clients and our business.

An inclusive culture, where diverse perspectives drive our actions, is at the core of who we are and what we do. If you need assistance with your application, or a reasonable adjustment to your interview arrangements – for example, because you are neurodivergent, or have a physical, sensory, cognitive, mental, visible or invisible disability – please let us know and we’ll be happy to help.

We’re committed to providing an inclusive workplace where all forms of difference are valued and which is free from any form of unfair or unlawful treatment.  We define diversity in its broadest sense – this includes but is not limited to our diversity of educational and professional backgrounds, experience, cognitive and neurodiversity, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief and ethnicity and geographical provenance.  We support a culture that values meritocracy, fairness and transparency and welcomes enquiries from everyone.

If you need assistance or an adjustment due to a disability please let us know as part of your application and we will assist.