The FA is looking for a Senior Legal Counsel to provide proactive legal support to The FA Group across a full range of contentious, regulatory and risk issues.

What will you be doing?

• Delivering robust legal advice in an efficient and effective manner to The FA Group.
• Protecting the organisation from litigation and reputational risk.
• Providing legal support on football regulatory matters.
• Providing legal and disciplinary support to the England national teams.
• Advising on FIFA/UEFA regulatory matters.
• Providing advice on player status issues, transfers and agents.
• Handling contentious intellectual property issues.
• Dealing with insurance issues affecting The FA Group.
• Providing support to the safeguarding team on legal issues.
• Providing focused instructions to external law firms when authorised to do so.
• Execute additional tasks as required to meet the FA's changing priorities.
• Comply with all company policies and procedures to ensure that the highest standards of health, safety, and well-being can be maintained.
• As part of The FA's commitment to ensuring a safe environment for everyone in football, every employee will be required to complete a DBS check. The level of the check required will be based on the activity of the specific job role and in line with legislation and government guidance

What are we looking for?

Essential for the role:

• 5+ years experience working as a qualified solicitor at a major law firm or in-house.
• Must be able to demonstrate a breadth of relevant contentious legal knowledge gathered in a major law firm and / or corporate.
• Ability to demonstrate clear and concise written and oral legal advice.
• Ability to demonstrate the application of robust legal advice in a practical manner.
• Excellent organisation skills.
• Demonstrable ability to work and deliver under pressure
• Excellent customer service skills with ability to adapt and tailor approach dependent on needs.
• Excellent planning, prioritisation and time management skills.

Beneficial to have:

• Previous experience of sports law.
• Experience of dealing with arbitration.
• Previous in-house experience.
• Previous experience of instructing external law firms.

What's in it for you?

We are committed to ensuring everyone can flourish in their roles, to achieve this we have unique office spaces under the arch of the iconic Wembley National Stadium, which is the home of English Football. We are also delighted to offer a world-class, Elite Performance Centre, St. George's Park in Staffordshire which is an exceptional setting to develop and inspire high-performing England teams and leaders.

We pride ourselves in offering a competitive salary as well as great opportunities to develop and grow in your role. But that is not all; we also have a range of exciting benefits, some of which can be found below:

• Access to event day tickets at Wembley Stadium, alongside a host of regular internal events throughout the season, encouraging you to connect and learn with your colleagues and look after your mental health and well-being.
• Free, nutritious lunches at Wembley Stadium and St. George's Park.
• Free private medical cover.
• A contributory pension scheme.
• An additional 'Thank You' days leave, volunteering days as well as 25 days annual leave (based on a full-time, permanent contract.)
• A hybrid working model, which offers greater flexibility.

For more information on what it is like to work at The FA, please visit our FA Careers page, https://www.thefa.com/about-football-association/careers

We are a diverse workplace, aspiring to represent football across the country. The Football Association actively promotes inclusion and diversity, encouraging you to be the best version of yourself at work. 

We welcome applications from everyone and are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. If you have any particular requirements in respect of the recruitment or interview process, please mention this during your application.

As part of the FA's commitment to ensuring a safe environment for everyone in football, every employee will be required to complete a DBS check. The level of the check required will be based on the activity of the specific job role and in line with legislation and government guidance.

How to Apply

For further details including how to apply, please follow this link.  The closing date for applications is 11th May, 2025.

Premiership Rugby Limited (PRL) is a private company, owned by the 10 Member Clubs and CVC Capital Partners.  PRL is principally responsible for the management of the Gallagher Premiership Rugby competition and is shareholder in European Professional Championship Rugby (EPCR) which manages the Investec Champions Cup and the Challenge Cup, which the Member Clubs participate in. PRL also manages the Premiership Rugby Cup and Under 18s competition.

At Premiership Rugby our vision is to create “Unmissable World-Class Sporting Entertainment that’s Accessible to All” and to be the “Beating Heart of the English Game”. Our core values are always to be inclusive, respectful, competitive, progressive and professionally excellent in everything we do. You can read more about those values at premiershiprugby.com.

We are an equal opportunities employer totally committed to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion.  We actively welcome applications from across all diverse communities and encourage diversity of thought and lived experience.

Role Overview:  

Reporting into our General Counsel, this role at Premiership Rugby is a great opportunity for a 3–4 year PQE qualified solicitor or barrister to join a commercially focused small in-house legal team that provides legal and business affairs support to Premiership Rugby. With a focus on data protection and compliance, the role will primarily support the commercial business to achieve its ambitious and exciting strategy to grow the English game of Club rugby.

Key Result Areas & Responsibilities:

• Legal and regulatory compliance in relation to data use for a range of projects across the commercial and sporting business including in relation to development of new technology to collect and measure data during Premiership matches – for instance GPS trackers and chip-enabled mouth guards.
• Provide general support and advice to Premiership Rugby in relation to a range of legal and business affairs issues that arise day to day
• Support the commercial team in delivering sponsorship and marketing agreements and negotiate and draft all legal contracts
• Collaborate with PRL’s stakeholders in relation to a broad array of legal issues including use of player images and performance data – including the RFU and the PRL Clubs – to ensure that there is a coherent and consistent position across rugby in relation to data
• Undertake DPIA’s where necessary and make recommendations in relation to suitable Action Plans
• Provide general support and advice to Premiership Rugby in relation to a range of legal and business affairs issues that arise day to day

Essential attributes, skills, knowledge and experience needed:

• 3-4 years PQE in a relevant private practice or in-house team
• High level of integrity and discretion
• Creative and action-oriented, bringing a solution-focused approach to your work.
• Excellent organisational and attention to detail skills
• Ability to work with personal initiative but remaining part of a team
• Proven expertise in working effectively with Microsoft Teams, Office, Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Collaborative and inclusive, able to work effectively with colleagues across the business to enable collective success.

Desirable attributes, skills, knowledge and experience needed:

• Experience in media, entertainment or other IP focused industries

What We Offer

Competitive salary with bonus potential

Professional development in a rapidly expanding organisation

Dynamic, collaborative, and innovative work environment

Hybrid/flexible working

HOW TO APPLY:

In writing with a current CV (maximum 2 pages) and covering letter (maximum 2 pages) by e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

All applicants must have the right to work in the UK. We do not sponsor any applicants under the tier 2 visa programme and are therefore unable to accept applications from any candidates who do not have the right to work in the UK. 

We are committed to ensuring a wholly inclusive workplace by attracting the most talented individuals. We will do everything we can to support you during your application. If you need us to make any adjustments to our recruitment process to accommodate your needs, then please let us know and we will be happy to help you.

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