Legal Counsel

At Acenda Group, everything we do is driven by a clear purpose: to help our customers and their families live, save and retire with confidence. We bring together some of Australia and New Zealand’s most trusted life insurance brands. With over 176 years of combined heritage and deep expertise across our local markets, our Group includes Acenda Life, Resolution Life Australasia, and Asteron Life New Zealand. Backed by the global strength of Nippon Life, we are one of the largest life insurance businesses across Australia and New Zealand. More than two million customers rely on us for life insurance, wealth protection and retirement solutions that support their confidence at every stage of life. We’re building an inclusive, dynamic and future focused business. Joining us means stepping into a period of integration and growth, where your work will help shape our future. If you’re energised by change and motivated by purpose, this is your moment to make an impact.

The Opportunity

Are you a dispute resolution lawyer looking for the opportunity to work on complex, high-profile matters in the life insurance and financial services sector? We're seeking a commercially minded legal professional to join a collaborative and high-performing team, where you'll play a key role in managing litigation, dispute resolution and AFCA matters. This is an opportunity to take ownership of challenging and meaningful work, partner with senior stakeholders, and influence business outcomes while working across a broad range of legal issues. Beyond life insurance disputes, you'll have exposure to regulatory, superannuation, employment and commercial matters, making this an ideal opportunity for someone who enjoys variety, autonomy and the chance to make a genuine impact.

How will you make an impact?

• Lead the strategy, management and resolution of complex disputes and litigated matters.
• Manage claims and disputes before the Courts, AFCA and other external bodies.
• Engage and instruct external law firms, ensuring efficient and commercially effective outcomes.
• Provide pragmatic, risk-aware legal advice that supports business objectives.
• Partner with senior stakeholders to navigate complex legal issues and manage risk.
• Contribute to a broad range of regulatory, superannuation, employment and commercial dispute matters.
• Drive legal excellence, continuous improvement and collaborative ways of working across the business.

About You

You're an experienced lawyer who combines strong technical expertise with commercial acumen. You enjoy solving complex problems, building trusted relationships and delivering practical advice that helps businesses make confident decisions. You thrive in a fast-paced environment, remain calm under pressure, and bring an adaptable and solutions-focused mindset to your work. Most importantly, you're a team player who enjoys working with stakeholders across the business to achieve positive outcomes.

To be successful in this role, you will demonstrate the following:

• 4-8 years' post-qualification experience in private practice and/or an in-house financial services environment.
• Australian legal qualifications and a current unrestricted practising certificate.
• Strong experience managing life insurance disputes, litigation and AFCA matters.
• Deep understanding of life insurance, financial services and superannuation law.
• Proven ability to provide commercially focused legal advice and influence stakeholders at all levels.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to simplify complex legal issues for non-legal audiences.
• Strong organisational skills, attention to detail, and the ability to manage competing priorities in a dynamic environment.

If you're looking for a role where you can work on challenging matters, build strong stakeholder partnerships, and make a meaningful contribution within a respected financial services environment, we'd love to hear from you.

Join us in building confidence— for our customers, our communities and each other.

• Your work makes a real impact. Everything we do helps our customers and their families live, save and retire with confidence, and your contribution will directly support that purpose.
• You’ll help drive meaningful change. As an inclusive, dynamic and adaptable organisation, we offer a unique opportunity for you to grow while shaping the future of our organisation.
• You’ll feel supported and included. Our team culture is flexible, collaborative and people‑centred, with hybrid working to help you balance life and work.
• By making things simpler. We help our people operate efficiently, adapt easily and spend more time on meaningful work that drives personal and organisational growth.
• We celebrate success. Our incentive and recognition programs ensure great work is acknowledged and rewarded.
• Your wellbeing comes first. We offer tools, resources and benefits that support your whole self, including additional lifestyle leave.

We celebrate the diversity of our customers and community, and we embed diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging into how we do business. We encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, cultures, experiences, and identities.

Should an applicant be the preferred candidate, background checks (including Federal Police Checks, Employment checks, ASIC banned and disqualified persons and Bankruptcy checks) will be completed prior to the candidate's employment being confirmed. The outcomes of the background checks do not automatically bar candidates, however they will be assessed against the inherent requirements of the position.