Regional General Counsel - Based in the North of England.

About DFT Operator Join Our Team at DFTO

DFTO is the government's public sector rail owning group. Its purpose is to bring all currently privately-owned train operators into public ownership in advance of the creation of Great British Railways in 2027 - and deliver improvements in the here and now by unifying and integrating train operations under common public ownership.

DFTO has over 30,000 employees, runs over 8,500 services a day and delivers over 640 million customer journeys across its networks every year. 7,000people joined the railway family in the last year

Major improvements are being delivered by DFTO train operators (TOCs) that are already under public ownership - these are LNER, Northern, TransPennine Express (TPE), Southeast, South Western Railway (SWR), c2c, Greater Anglia and WM Trains.

We work closely with the DfT but operate independently with our own governance and leadership teams. Our priority is ensuring efficient, dependable rail services for everyone.

Primary Purpose of Job To lead on providing legal support, oversight and strategic direction to agreed DFTO TOCs ("TOC Group") to ensure the efficient, timely and risk mitigated provision of quality legal advice. Managing a team of legal professionals and reporting directly to the Group General Counsel, this role requires a strong leader who can navigate challenging legal landscapes, manage complex legal issues and multiple stakeholders, and align the TOC Group's legal strategies with the overarching goals of DFTO.

A TOC Group will, ultimately, consist of multiple DFTO TOCs, but in the early stages of the transition programme, a GC may only have responsibility for one TOC. The composition of each TOC Group may change over time, and on more than one occasion, as the DFTO Group grows in size and to reflect wider business decisions in relation to the structure of the Group.

Key Competencies

• Demonstrable experience of rail related legal and regulatory requirements
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to interpret complex legal and commercial documents
• Credible role modeller and ambassador of the DFTO culture/brand
• Consistently delivers on time and accurately.
• The ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Dynamic can do attitude with the ability to find creative legal solutions and seek alternative options in challenging environments
• Track record of building strong relationships with the ability to engage, inspire and influence stakeholders
• Sound judgement, strong commercial acumen, resilience, and a balanced attitude to risk
• Experienced line manager
• Proficiency in identifying, assessing, and mitigating legal risks to protect the company from potential legal issues

Key Responsibilities General legal support and risk management

• Act as the primary legal officer for material and agreed legal matters relating to the DFTO TOCs in the TOC Group, liaising closely with the Group General Counsel and other TOC Group General Counsel to facilitate an aligned approach within the Group legal function.
• Identify and mitigate materially significant legal risks within the TOC Group, providing proactive advice and risk mitigations to senior management on legal issues.
• Provide high-level, professional and strategic legal advice, underpinned by quality and commercially focussed decision making, to the Board, executive team and senior management of each TOC within the TOC Group.
• Maintain effective oversight of materially significant legal matters within the TOC Group, ensuring routine matters and lower risk matters are delegated to appropriate legal team members or handled at an operational level.
• Work closely and in collaboration with the Group General Counsel on any other matters which require support.

Leadership

• Lead, mentor and manage the TOC Group's legal team in their provision of agreed legal support across the TOC Group's TOCs, fostering a high-performance and collaborative culture.
• Promote professional development and ensure the team is equipped to meet the TOC Group 's legal needs.
• Lead the TOCs and team members through legal challenges and high-stakes issues, ensuring minimal disruption to business operations

Strategic support

• Develop and execute the TOC Group's legal strategy, ensuring alignment of TOCs'legal strategies with the goals and directives of the Group General Counsel and the Group legal and compliance function.
• Actively participate in group-level legal initiatives, projects and reporting to facilitate strategic development of the Group legal function, including in relation to the implementation of necessary changes to the legal function as the DFTO Group evolves, the identification and implementation of efficiencies within the legal function and the preparedness of the DFTO Group for transition to GBR.

Collaboration and stakeholder management

• Build relationships with the directors of each TOC within the TOC Group, other stakeholders across the wider DFTO group, and with external stakeholders including DfT, Network Rail and external counsel.
• Work closely with other General Counsel and the wider legal team to ensure consistency of legal approach across the DFTO Group and effective sharing and usage of best practice within the legal function.

Contract and commercial

• Lead negotiations and provide legal oversight on material high risk and/or high value commercial contracts, engaging and managing legal counsel where appropriate.
• Provide strategic support in relation to contract management, enforcement and risk management processes.
• Provide advice on compliance with competition law and procurement rules. Regulatory and compliance
• Proactively collaborate and advise on areas of public law, including the Freedom of Information Act, the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) and public law decision making requirements
• Oversee legal aspects of the Service Agreement with the Secretary of State for Transport
• Support subject matter experts within the DFTO Group compliance function and within TOC businesses, to facilitate adherence to data protection, health and safety, environmental and consumer protection laws.

Dispute resolution

• Manage and oversee high value litigation, arbitration and dispute resolution involving the TOCs, working with external legal counsel on high-risk cases.
• Develop strategies to minimise legal risks and facilitate effective resolution of disputes. Corporate Governance and Board Support
• Advise on corporate governance matters, including director duties and regulatory obligations.

Legal knowledge

• Maintain appropriate legal competency and knowledge, including by staying up-to-date with changes to legislation, particularly in relation to laws, rules and regulations that directly affect the business and the rail industry.

Knowledge, Skills, Experience & Technical Qualifications

• Educated to degree level or higher.
• Solicitor admitted to practice in England & Wales with at least 10 years PQE with a reputable law firm/in house organisation, and with at least 3 years in a leadership role
• Deep understanding of UK rail regulatory frameworks and government contracting.
• Ability to explain complex legal and risk issues in accessible, plain English terms.
• Ability to demonstrate strong legal analytical skills.
• Ability to demonstrate effective persuasion and influencing skills.
• Ability to express, both in writing and verbally, complex legal concepts and commercial problems in a simplified manner without the loss of important nuance
• A proven track record of working at a high level, with experience of strategic decision making, leading high value commercial negotiations and managing legal risk-.
• A strong team player, with a professional and collaborative approach, with the ability to build and maintain strong professional relationships across the businesses and with key external stakeholders (including the DfT and Network Rail).
• Managing stress, maintaining a positive attitude, remaining effective in dynamic environments and supporting the team through times of change.
• Ability to manage a varied workload and prioritise competing demands.
• Ability to work in a highly autonomous role

Vacancy Details Duration: Permanent Location: Whilst this role is ideally based out of our Leeds office we would welcome applications from wider Northern England based candidates. Salary: up to £113,191.74
Closing date: 13th August 2026

DFTO Benefits Annual Leave: Starting at 25 days and rising to an additional day per year of service completed within the first 5 completed years up to a maximum of 5 additional (30 days)

DC Pension Scheme: 10% Employer contribution, 5% Employee contribution

Opportunities to learn and network across the wider industry

Additional Information Disclaimer: Candidates applying for this position on a secondment basis must inform their line manager prior to submitting their application. This is to ensure transparency and facilitate any necessary discussions regarding workload and responsibilities.

About our people and the recruitment process - We're an inclusive employer of choice and we welcome applications from everyone! We encourage our colleagues to work flexibly, as we know traditional working patterns don't always fit. If you want to consider working flexibly, just let us know and we'll do our best to help and invest in your career with us . click apply for full job details