Employment Legal Counsel at J. Murphy & Sons Ltd, Golborne

Murphy is a leading international, specialist engineering and construction company founded in 1951 with a purpose to improve life by delivering world-class infrastructure. Operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and America, Murphy provides better engineered solutions to infrastructure sectors including transportation; natural resources; energy and water. 

Headquartered in London, Murphy has a number of related businesses – Ground Engineering; Utility Connections; Murphy Plant; Murphy Process Engineering; Pipeline Testing Services; Specialist Welding Services; and Electrical Services. Murphy is a specialist in delivering pipelines, design, structural steel, tunnelling, fabrication, bridges and piling, and has a substantial holding of plant, equipment and facilities.

Murphy employs around 4,000 engineers, professional managers and skilled operatives around the world. Together, they work as ‘One Murphy’ - directly delivering the people, plant and expertise needed to make projects a success. Visit (url removed) or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and X:

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The Employment Legal Counsel  will provide specialist in-house employment law advice and strategic leadership on employee relations, people policy and employment risk across the Murphy Group. The role leads the development and governance of legally compliant, practical and values-led people policies and employee relations frameworks, supporting senior leaders, the People team and the business in managing complex people matters, legal compliance and employment litigation.

We invest in your professional development. Murphy will cover the cost of your annual Practising Certificate and provide a PLC subscription, giving you continued access to high-quality legal resources and professional support.

A day in the life of a Murphy Employment Legal Counsel

• Provide specialist employment law advice to the People team, senior leaders, operational management and other internal stakeholders across the UK and Irish businesses.
• Advise on complex employee relations matters, including grievances, disciplinaries, capability, sickness absence, whistleblowing, investigations, restructures, redundancies, exits and sensitive workplace issues.
• Develop, review and maintain people policies, procedures, templates and guidance to ensure they are legally compliant, practical, accessible and aligned with business needs and Murphy values.
• Support the management of employment litigation, ACAS early conciliation, employment tribunal claims, settlement agreements and employment-related disputes.
• Identify, assess and manage employment law and employee relations risk across the UK and Irish businesses, escalating material issues and trends and recommending proportionate mitigations.
• Partner with People leadership teams to create consistent employee relations frameworks, decision-making standards, manager guidance and case management approaches.
• Provide training, coaching and practical guidance to the People team, managers and senior leaders on employment law, employee relations, investigations and policy application.
• Monitor employment law developments and recommend changes to policies, processes and practices to maintain compliance and reduce risk.
• Support and oversee investigations into sensitive, complex or high-risk workplace matters, ensuring procedural fairness, confidentiality, consistency and appropriate documentation.
• Draft, review and negotiate employment-related documents including employment contracts, consultancy agreements, settlement agreements, secondment arrangements, restrictive covenant provisions and employment-related correspondence.
• Work with stakeholders on diversity, inclusion, wellbeing, culture and employee engagement initiatives from an employment risk, policy and governance perspective.
• Provide strategic advice on organisational change, TUPE and employee consultation processes.
• Identify and manage appropriate external employment legal support where required, ensuring advice is timely, commercially focused, cost-effective and translated into practical business solutions.
• Use employee relations data, case trends and legal developments to identify recurring themes and recommend proactive interventions, policy changes or manager training.
• Promote consistency, fairness, legal compliance and sound judgement in people-related decision-making across the UK and Irish businesses.

Still interested, does this sound like you?

• Qualified Solicitor, Barrister or equivalent employment law professional with significant post-qualification experience in employment law and employee relations.
• Strong working knowledge of UK employment law and employee relations practice.
• Strong technical knowledge of employment law, employee relations, policy governance and employment risk management.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex legal issues into practical guidance for the People team, managers and senior leaders.
• Experience advising on complex, sensitive and high-risk employee relations matters, including investigations, grievances, disciplinaries, sickness absence, capability and exits.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, including confidence advising directors, senior managers, People team colleagues, external legal advisers and other professional stakeholders.
• Ability to balance legal risk, commercial objectives, employee experience, fairness and the Murphy values when advising on people matters.
• Experience developing, implementing and maintaining employment policies, procedures, templates and manager guidance.
• Exercises sound judgement and discretion when handling sensitive employee relations, employment law and people policy matters.
• Influences confidently and constructively at senior level, while maintaining independence, objectivity and professional integrity.
• Experience in a large, multi-site, operational business environment would be advantageous.