Senior Legal Counsel - 12 Month Fixed Term Contract

Role/Team overview 

Sky's Legal department is a fantastic place to work, providing commercial, risk-based advice to the wider business. The Irish Legal team works at the heart of Sky Ireland, supporting products, services and innovation for customers while helping to manage legal and regulatory risk.

As a team, we pursue high standards and demonstrate commitment, integrity and judgement. Through our work, we help bring better content, connectivity and innovation to customers, connecting them to more of what they love. You will be part of Sky's wider Legal function, working closely with specialist legal, regulatory and compliance teams across Ireland, the UK and Group functions.

What you’ll do 

As Senior Legal Counsel, you will act as a senior legal adviser to the Sky Ireland business, with a particular focus on Irish and EU consumer, competition, telecoms, media and regulatory matters as they relate to Sky's products and services, including Sky Mobile, Sky TV, Sky Broadband and NOW.

You will support complex product, commercial, sales, marketing, customer and regulatory initiatives from initial concept through development, launch and beyond. The role requires a lawyer who can operate with autonomy, exercise sound judgement, manage a broad and high-volume workload, and provide clear recommendations to stakeholders across the business.

You will work closely with the Head Counsel, the Irish Legal team and colleagues in UK and Group legal, regulatory, compliance and business teams to support Sky Ireland's priorities and help manage legal and regulatory risk.

Key responsibilities include:

• Acting as a senior legal contact and trusted business partner for Sky Ireland's product, commercial, regulatory, finance, sales, marketing, customer and operational teams.
• Advising on product and service propositions from initial concept to development, launch and beyond, including customer journeys, customer communications, terms and conditions, sales channels, pricing initiatives and operational processes.
• Providing legal advice on consumer law, telecoms regulation, media regulation, advertising and marketing rules, competition law, e-commerce and other legal and regulatory requirements relevant to Sky Ireland.
• Supporting legal input into growth and strategic initiatives across Sky Ireland, including broadband, streaming, mobile and other developing areas of activity where additional regulatory or financial regulatory considerations may arise.
• Advising on broadcast and non-broadcast advertising, campaign development, product and service claims, promotions and customer-facing marketing activity.
• Drafting, reviewing and advising on consumer contracts, commercial contracts, supplier and partner arrangements, customer communications, internal policies and related legal documentation.
• Working with the Regulatory and Corporate Affairs team to support engagement with government, regulators and industry bodies, including ComReg, the CCPC, the ASA, BEREC and the European Commission, where relevant.
• Supporting Sky's responses to public consultations, regulator queries, information requests, complaints, investigations and compliance projects at Irish and EU level.
• Identifying legal and regulatory risks at an early stage, advising on practical mitigations and escalating material issues to the Head Counsel and relevant stakeholders where appropriate.
• Providing horizon-scanning support and helping the business understand and implement new laws, regulatory guidance and enforcement trends affecting Sky Ireland.
• Managing external counsel where required, including scope and budget and ensuring advice is targeted, practical, cost-effective and aligned with business needs.
• Contributing to the effectiveness and resilience of the Irish Legal team, including by developing templates, playbooks, training and guidance for business teams.

What you’ll bring  

Essential criteria:  

• Be an Irish qualified lawyer, or a lawyer qualified in another relevant jurisdiction with strong Irish legal and regulatory experience, with significant post-qualification experience appropriate to a Senior Legal Counsel role.
• Have strong academics and experience gained in private practice, a leading in-house team or a combination of both.
• Have strong legal advisory skills, with the ability to analyse complex issues, think laterally, identify pragmatic solutions and provide clear recommendations.
• Have experience advising on consumer, regulatory, compliance or competition matters in a fast-moving business environment.
• Be able to manage multiple senior stakeholders with a resilient, collaborative and pragmatic approach.
• Be able to work at pace, manage competing priorities and take ownership of complex matters with appropriate escalation.
• Have excellent drafting, analytical, written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain legal risk clearly to non-legal colleagues.
• Have a positive outlook and enjoy working in a collegiate and collaborative way.

Desirable skills and experience: 

• Experience in the telecommunications, pay TV, digital services, media, technology, consumer services, financial services or another regulated sector.
• A good working knowledge of Irish and EU consumer law and regulation, including how it applies to the advertising, sale and supply of consumer products and services.
• Experience advising on public consultations, regulator engagement, complaints, investigations or implementation of new regulatory requirements.
• Experience drafting and advising on consumer contracts, customer terms and commercial contracts.

Benefits and perks 

There's one thing people can't stop talking about when it comes to life at Sky: the perks. Here’s a taster:  

• Free NOW TV package,
• A generous pension package
• Private healthcare with mental health support  
• Discounts on Sky products, including Sky Mobile, Sky Broadband, Sky Glass and Sky Protect  
• A range of Sky VIP rewards and experiences 

How you’ll work 

We've adopted a hybrid working approach to give more flexibility on where and how we work. The hybrid working expectations for this role are 3 days in the office per week. 

Your office base  

Burlington Plaza is the home of Sky Ireland, a central, well‑connected base for our Dublin teams. We’re just a 20-minute walk to Dublin’s city centre with connections via Dublin Bus, Luas and DART. Our nearest train station is Grand Canal Dock. 

Who we are 

We’re Sky, a leading media and entertainment company who connect millions with entertainment, sports, news and arts through innovative products and services. Working with us means you’ll be bringing the joy of a better experience to more people, every day. All so we can do better and deliver better for our customers, colleagues and society.

We're an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We're a Disability Confident Accredited Employer, and welcome and encourage applications from all candidates. We will look to ensure a fair and consistent experience for all and will make reasonable adjustments to support you where appropriate. Please flag any adjustments you need as early as you can. 

Just so you know: if your application is successful, we’ll ask you to complete a criminal record check. And depending on the role you have applied for and the nature of any convictions you may have, we might have to withdraw the offer.  

To find out more about working with us, search #LifeAtSky on social media.