Legal Counsel – Leveraged Finance - Venn Group

Legal Counsel – Leveraged Finance

Venn Group is supporting a leading investment bank in recruiting a Legal Counsel to join its Leveraged Finance Legal team , advising on financing transactions and legal matters across EMEA.

This opportunity offers an experienced banking and finance lawyer direct involvement in lending documentation, transaction structuring and legal risk management. Working closely with senior business stakeholders, you will provide commercially focused advice within an international banking environment.

The opportunity

Reporting to the Executive Director of Leveraged Finance, EMEA, you will join a team supporting the bank’s lending activities, with a remit spanning leveraged finance, broader corporate lending and trade finance .

A central focus will be drafting, reviewing and negotiating syndicated and bilateral loan agreements, including LMA-based documentation , together with associated financing and mandate documents.

You will operate with a high degree of autonomy, helping business teams understand and resolve complex legal issues while balancing transaction delivery with the bank’s legal and regulatory requirements. The position also offers exposure to treasury and capital markets matters, cross-border projects and the development of bank-wide documentation and guidance.

Key responsibilities

1. Draft, review and negotiate syndicated and bilateral loan agreements, including LMA-based facilities and associated financing and mandate documentation.
2. Advise on transaction structures, contractual terms and legal risks arising from lending activities across EMEA.
3. Support the Leveraged Finance business and wider stakeholders with practical, commercially informed legal advice.
4. Draft, review and negotiate trade finance documentation.
5. Advise business, operational and back-office teams on the structuring, documentation and negotiation of treasury and capital markets transactions.
6. Provide English-law advice and documentation support to overseas offices and other group entities where required.
7. Monitor legal and regulatory developments affecting loans and derivatives, including relevant bail-in and EMIR requirements.
8. Develop and update standard agreements, templates, policies and procedures to improve consistency and manage legal risk.
9. Identify and escalate material legal issues, explaining their implications clearly to senior stakeholders.
10. Represent Legal on cross-functional projects and committees, contributing specialist advice on complex initiatives.
11. Prepare and deliver training and guidance on documentation, market practice and emerging legal developments.
12. Manage multiple concurrent matters and competing deadlines while maintaining the quality of legal advice.

Candidate profile

We are seeking a qualified lawyer with strong banking and finance experience and the confidence to take ownership of complex legal matters.

You will ideally bring:

1. Approximately 6–9 years’ post-qualification experience , with relevant banking and finance experience gained at a reputable law firm.
2. Strong expertise in market-standard loan documentation , particularly LMA-based syndicated and bilateral facilities.
3. Demonstrable experience personally drafting and negotiating financing documents and advising on substantive legal and structuring issues.
4. A background relevant to leveraged finance or acquisition finance , alongside broader corporate lending experience.
5. Experience advising on trade finance products and documentation .
6. The ability to advise on English-law financing documents and navigate cross-border transactions involving multiple jurisdictions.
7. Strong commercial judgement, with the ability to identify legal risks and propose practical solutions under time pressure.
8. Confidence working directly with senior stakeholders, challenging proposed approaches where necessary and communicating complex advice clearly.
9. An organised, collaborative approach and the ability to manage a substantial workload independently.

Experience with derivatives documentation and financial regulation would be advantageous. Prior in-house banking experience would also be valuable.