Legal Counsel

About Re-turn

Ireland has one of the most beautiful natural environments in the world, and we want to keep it that way.

Appointed by the Irish government, but operating as a standalone company, Re-turn is a not-for-profit organisation established to run Ireland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), a simple solution to achieving higher collection rates for drinks containers. DRS schemes operate successfully in more than 40 countries, with the average collection rate of established EU schemes now over 90%. As well as higher recycling rates DRS schemes reduce litter, prevent waste, lower emissions and relieve pressure on natural resources.

The Irish scheme went live on 1 February 2024 and has already collected over 2.5 billion drinks containers across the country. This means high quality material can be reprocessed and used to make new products – supporting a truly circular economy.

We’re a small but growing team and we’ve got off to a great start, but there’s still plenty to do to ensure Ireland’s scheme runs as efficiently as possible and achieves its high recycling ambitions.

What you’ll do:

Legal Advice

• Support the Head of Legal (General Counsel) in delivering a responsive, practical and trusted legal service aligned with Re-turn’s obligations and objectives as operator of Ireland’s national Deposit Return Scheme.
• Provide practical, commercial advice across a broad range of areas including compliance, governance, commercial contracts, competition, consumer, data protection, employment and environmental regulation.
• Manage assigned matters from instruction to completion, translating complex issues into clear advice, coordinating stakeholders and escalating significant matters appropriately.
• Monitor relevant Irish and EU legal developments and advise on implications, risks and opportunities.
• Support other members of the legal team as required including on company secretarial and data protection matters.
• Develop a strong understanding of the Deposit Return Scheme’s statutory framework, operating model and stakeholder arrangements and apply that knowledge to day-to-day advice.
• Prepare clear written advice, briefings and decision papers setting out legal risk, available options and recommended actions.

Commercial Contracts & Commercial Legal Support

• Draft, review and negotiate commercial agreements with suppliers, retailers, producers and technology partners, including confidentiality agreements, licences, statements of work, variations and renewals.
• Work with business owners to achieve balanced commercial outcomes, advise on contractual rights and obligations and escalate non-standard, high-risk or strategic issues.
• Support procurement and tender processes and maintain clear records of negotiations, approvals, key obligations, renewal dates and contractual risks.
• Assist business owners with contract implementation, performance issues and practical mitigation of contractual risk.

Legal Operations & Governance

• Maintain and improve contract-management processes, templates and playbooks to streamline operations.
• Maintain accurate matter files, advice records and contract data with appropriate document retention, confidentiality, version control and audit trails.
• Prepare legal updates and management information tracking key matters, deadlines and risks.
• Assist with developing and delivering practical internal training and guidance on legal, compliance, contract and data-protection matters.

Compliance, Risk & Disputes

• Support compliance initiatives, reviews, investigations and audits identifying and documenting legal and regulatory risks and proportionate controls.
• Manage disputes, regulatory enquiries and potential litigation to minimise financial, operational and reputational exposure.
• Support accurate and timely responses to statutory information requests, incident response and remediation plans, preserving confidentiality, privilege and a clear audit trail.
• Assist with fact gathering, legal analysis and implementation of agreed actions arising from investigations, audits and regulatory matters.

Cross-Functional Business Support

• Work proactively with Operations, Finance, People & Culture, IT and Marketing to understand priorities and provide timely legal input.
• Influence stakeholders to adopt proportionate risk measures while enabling effective commercial outcomes; communicate advice confidently and challenge constructively.
• Support projects and governance meetings by identifying legal, contractual and compliance considerations early, recording decisions and undertaking required actions.
• Build legal capability through accessible guidance, early engagement and effective working relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Build constructive relationships with government bodies, regulatory agencies and scheme participants to support effective legal-service delivery.

Who Are you?

• Qualified solicitor with approximately 3–7 years’ PQE gained in a top-tier law firm and/or in-house environment.
• Broad generalist experience across commercial contracts, business advice, corporate governance and contentious matters with knowledge of relevant Irish and EU regulatory law.
• Strong drafting, negotiation, research and analytical skills with the ability to turn complex issues into clear, practical recommendations.
• Commercial judgment and legal business-partnering capability with strong influencing, communication and relationship-building skills.
• Proactive, collaborative and accurate with the ability to independently prioritise a varied workload, meet deadlines and escalate appropriately.
• Confident using Microsoft 365 and legal or contract-management tools and adopting process improvements.
• Strong attention to detail and sound understanding of professional conduct, confidentiality and legal privilege.
• Comfortable working in a developing regulatory and operational environment and responding constructively to changing priorities.
• Genuine interest in sustainability and Re-turn’s mission; relevant regulated-sector experience would be advantageous.

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About our benefits

We offer a competitive salary and benefits packaging which includes:

• • 23 days’ holiday plus 2 company days (Good Friday & Christmas Eve) plus 10 bank holidays
  • Hybrid working: we operate a hybrid working arrangement with 2 days home working permitted per week (1 to be a Friday)
  • Flexible working: 37 hour week with core times Monday to Thursday 08:45 to 15:45 & Friday 08:45 to 12:45
  • Company Pension Contribution of 5%, increasing with service
  • Company Health Insurance Scheme
  • Employee Assistance Programme
  • Income Protection
  • Life assurance
  • Parking on site
  • Subsidised Canteen
  • Gym Membership Subsidy
  • Leap Card Subsidy

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We are an equal opportunities employer and happy to discuss any reasonable adjustments that may be needed for successful candidates.