Senior Legal Counsel (Manager) – Property Planning & Environment

Sydney Water is seeking a committed and experienced Senior Legal Counsel to join our Legal and Compliance team. You will be providing expert legal advice and services to Sydney Water in the areas of law relevant to Property, Planning & Environment.

You will lead, coach and mentor Legal Counsels and other team members within the Legal and Compliance team.

About the Role

In this position, you will advise on all types of commercial agreements and Sydney Water's rights and obligations under relevant legislation, work with a diverse range of third parties (including government authorities), and support the business on a broad range of legal, commercial, and operational challenges.

Key Responsibilities

• Assist the Head of Legal and Compliance, in providing timely and high quality commercial legal advice to Sydney Water in all areas of law affecting Sydney Water’s business and operations with particular focus on property, planning and environment law.
• Manage a range of issues across property, planning and environment matters including compulsory acquisitions, regulatory issues, planning and environment approvals, land access, easements, leases and licences, land rights and disposals, crown land issues, developer access rights, environment incidents and environment and EPA related issues.
• Advise on Sydney Water’s rights and obligations under relevant legislation.
• Initiate legal actions as required and oversee defence of the organisation in any legal action initiated against it, in conjunction with external legal advisers.
• Advise on early intervention and dispute resolution strategies in potentially complex, sensitive and litigious matters to minimise risk to Sydney Water and maximise outcomes of any dispute, action or liability.
• Lead and provide mentoring, support, technical advice and training to direct and indirect reports and other team members.
• Identify capability gaps and collaborate with your direct and indirect reports to improve team effectiveness.
• Manage key stakeholders across a broad range of matters, brief executives and contribute to Executive, Board and Committee reporting requirements 

Skills and Experience

• Extensive post admission experience as a lawyer predominantly in property and planning law, ideally also with experience in environmental law, with training in a top tier law firm before moving in-house.
• Proven commercial, strategic thinking, research and analytical capacity related to complex matters, sound problem solving skills and the ability to make balanced and logical judgements.
• Sound negotiation skills with the ability to persuade, negotiate and document outcomes favourable to Sydney Water.
• Demonstrated high quality legal drafting skills and experience.
• Excellence in preparing high quality written legal advice.
• Experience leading a legal team.

Essential Requirements

• Tertiary qualification in law with an unrestricted practising certificate (or eligibility to hold an unrestricted practising certificate).

Please note as part of the application process, you will be asked to undergo background checks which includes a criminal history check and a medical assessment.

You must be an Australian Citizen or Permanent Resident at the time of submitting your application to be considered for this role.

Please see the position description for the role’s full accountabilities. For any additional questions please reach out to connor.may@sydneywater.com.au – Application closing date is Sunday 27th April

Why join us? 

At Sydney Water, your work will make a real difference in people’s lives—and your own. With diverse projects and roles, you'll find ample career growth opportunities.

At Sydney Water, we actively seek and celebrate diversity, equity, inclusion, and individuality., fostering a safe environment where everyone can thrive and shape impactful community projects. We offer flexible working arrangements and opportunities for career progression among our many benefits. 

Dive into Our Great Benefits: 

Competitive Remuneration: We’ll ensure that your skills and contributions are valued and rewarded appropriately. 

Hybrid Work Environment: We offer a hybrid work model that balances remote work and office collaboration, supporting our team's productivity and well-being. 

Continuous Professional Growth: We will invest in your career with leadership and development programs to propel your success. 

24/7 Wellbeing Support: Access for you and your family to free and confidential mental health and general health support through our EAP portal. 

Discounted Private Health Insurance: Unlock affordable access to top-tier health coverage with our discounted insurance plans. 

Family First: Prioritise your family with up to 18 weeks of fully paid parental leave and a childcare allowance. 

Fitness Passport: Achieve your physical fitness goals using our Fitness Passport, granting you access to a multitude of gyms and pools across NSW. 

Novated Leasing: Get in the driver's seat of your financial future with our novated lease options. 

As part of the application process, Sydney Water will be collecting your personal information to assess your suitability for the role. We will also use your personal information to establish a LiveHire talent profile in our Talent Community. 

Your personal information will be collected in accordance with LiveHire’s Terms, Privacy Policy and Sydney Water’s Privacy Collection Statement – Job Application.