General Counsel, Electric Thermal Solutions

Spirax-Sarco Ltd.

10d•Remote

About The Position

The General Counsel (GC), Electric Thermal Solutions (ETS), is the senior legal leader for the ETS Business Unit within the Spirax Group. Operating with significant autonomy, the GC defines and leads the legal strategy in alignment with ETS’s Together for Growth strategy. This is a forward-facing role requiring the ability to lead through a team of legal professionals and recognized subject matter experts, ensuring legal performance delivery, change readiness, and risk alignment across all facets of ETS. As a report (dotted line) to the ETS Managing Director, and a key member of the ETS Executive Leadership Team, the GC plays a critical leadership role in delivering the business’s strategic objectives, with functional accountability to the Group General Counsel. This position is directly accountable for the performance of the ETS Legal Function, overseeing a small team of legal professionals, embedding a proactive risk culture, and championing legal transformation through digitalization and efficiency-focused service delivery. The role holder will also be Chief Compliance Officer for the business.

Requirements

Law degree and admission to practice in a recognized jurisdiction.
Minimum 10+ years’ PQE, with experience leading legal functions in industrial, process or B2B manufacturing sectors and/or large decentralized global businesses.
Proven record of strategic legal leadership, M&A execution, and embedding legal risk frameworks.
Experience in building high-performing international teams and scaling legal services through digital means.
Strategic Leadership: Drives vision, sets direction, and ensures execution through others.
Business Acumen: Understands commercial levers and aligns legal outcomes with P&L impact.
Change Leadership: Navigates ambiguity and leads legal change initiatives with confidence.
Digital Fluency: Experienced in selecting and deploying legal tech to improve performance.
Communication: Influences at senior levels; builds trust through clarity and integrity.
Cultural Agility: Operates effectively across global teams and multiple legal systems.
Willingness to travel internationally.
Strong commitment to Spirax Group values and sustainable growth agenda.
Resilient, self-directed and collaborative.

Responsibilities

Define and lead the long-term legal functional strategy for ETS, ensuring alignment with the BU’s strategic roadmap and future business model.
Own the performance and delivery of legal support across ETS, with accountability for outcomes rather than shared advisory input alone.
Act as the primary legal voice in ETS strategic decision-making, M&A strategy, supply chain management, and business risk management.
Lead cross-functional initiatives that integrate legal innovation into commercial, regulatory, and technology programs.
Lead a team of 2+ legal professionals based in the US and in Europe, empowering and developing contract specialists.
Build leadership succession, subject matter expertise, and team capability through coaching, mentoring, and structured development.
Lead through other leaders—ensuring the legal team acts as a strategic enabler for change.
Set ETS’s legal and compliance priorities, with annual plans aligned to growth, efficiency and regulatory goals.
Drive change-readiness through legal service models, contract lifecycle innovation, and digital transformation.
Direct responsibility for complex commercial transactions, with delegated authority to regional counsel.
Embed balanced risk appetite in customer/supplier engagement, joint ventures, and technology collaborations.
Collaborate closely with other members of the ETS Executive Leadership to align legal strategy with commercial objectives, ensuring legal frameworks support scalable and sustainable growth.
Partner with other key stakeholders to optimise contracting process and value creation.
Maintain oversight of legal entity management in 30+ jurisdictions.
Chief Compliance Officer, responsible for compliance programmes in ETS including ensuring integrity in relevant internal controls and adherence to global and local regulations including anti-bribery frameworks.
Ensuring effectiveness of whistleblowing arrangements across ETS.
Set strategy for global claims, litigation and dispute resolution.
Use data and root-cause analytics to reduce recurring legal exposures.
Lead legal structuring and due diligence for M&A, divestments and cross-border investment.
Act as legal sponsor for growth and business model innovation programmes.
Champion the deployment of contract management, legal automation and compliance tracking tools.
Improve service scalability and quality through technology-led solutions.
Serve as a trusted advisor to ETS leadership, senior management team in particular divisional directors, influencing decisions through legal insight.
Engage externally with regulators, trade bodies, and law firms on behalf of the business.