Lead Counsel, Employment EMEA

Job ID 10141423 Location London, United Kingdom Business The Walt Disney Company (Corporate) Date posted Feb. 06, 2026

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Job Summary:

The Role, & The Team

Reporting to the Chief Counsel, EMEA, this role requires strong expertise in employment law and a drive for excellence. You will provide quality legal advice and proactive solutions to senior leaders in the EMEA HR team and other global stakeholders, including the Global Head of Employment Legal.

Working across all of Disney’s EMEA businesses, your practice will involve the full range of employment law advice including relating to organisational redesign at a macro level, ensuring compliance with new laws, complex investigations, disciplinaries and grievances, overseeing employment litigation. You will manage a dedicated legal budget and will need to develop and maintain strong remote relationships with external legal experts across EMEA.

Values

You’ll join a team grounded in our Disney values — acting with Integrity, welcoming everyone through Inclusion, embracing boundless Creativity, working together through Collaboration and caring deeply for our Community. These values shape how we work and how we support one another every day.

Location

This permanent position is based at our London Hammersmith office, requiring four days on‑site each week, with the flexibility to work from home on either Monday or Friday.

What You Will Do

Provide counsel and support on complex legal issues: Develop and execute strategic, commercially focussed legal advice in a clear and manageable way, managing risk to achieve outcomes that support the business’s strategic priorities on a long-term basis.

Specific responsibilities

Support local markets through a good understanding of employment law in EMEA (UK, EU, Norway, Turkey, Israel, Middle East and Africa) jurisdictions.
Engage, instruct, motivate and manage external legal advisers so that the Company receives good value, relevant and effective advice.
Advise and analyse and apply external legal advice, ensuring smart risk-based solutions are evaluated and discussed with senior stakeholders.
Supervise and provide strategic guidance on the conduct of employment litigation in some countries in EMEA.
Horizon Scanning: Understand the impact of upcoming regulations on and how they may affect the long-term future of the EMEA businesses. Provide guidance to ensure Disney is ready to meet those challenges to enable long term success.
Provide advice to compensation & benefits and the global mobility teams
Collaborate effectively with the EMEA Privacy team on all aspects of the collection and processing of employee, worker and candidate data to manage data risks.
Work closely with the contingent labour management team globally to ensure a compliant approach to engaging contingent labour.

Experience & Role Requirements

Significant and relevant post qualification experience, preferably including some time spent both in-house and in private practice covering the full range of employment law and practice
Thorough knowledge of employment law in the UK or another European country with strong proven experience of advising in a pan-European environment
Qualification in the UK or other European jurisdictions with a proven track record of advising in respect of employment law in a pan-European environment will also be considered

Core Skills & Behaviours

Strategic thinking and comfortable making important and nuanced decisions, assessing risks and opportunities, to enable the success of the Company whilst upholding high ethical standards and leading a team to do the same
Experience utilising an outside network to stay ahead of change
Assured self-starter able to work under pressure at the highest levels of the organisation and prioritise deadlines in a fast-paced business
Ability to work independently, and lead others with courage and optimism, coaching and mentoring team members
Strong analytical skills, including attention to detail and the ability to articulate and assess multiple options
Excellent communication skills and ability to build strong professional relationships, collaborative and skilled at navigating complex matrixed organisations.
Confidence to challenge and provide practical advice in the face of complex circumstances and across multiple jurisdictions
Manage relationships with external legal advisers, ensuring effective collaboration and optimizing legal spend while maintaining high-quality services

This role will be advertised until 22nd February. However we reserve the right to close the posting earlier should we receive a high volume of applications.

The Walt Disney Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We strive to build a workforce that is representative of our audiences—where all people can thrive and belong. We welcome candidates from all backgrounds and are happy to discuss reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.

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About The Walt Disney Company (Corporate):

At Disney Corporate you can see how the businesses behind the Company’s powerful brands come together to create the most innovative, far-reaching and admired entertainment company in the world. As a member of a corporate team, you’ll work with world-class leaders driving the strategies that keep The Walt Disney Company at the leading edge of entertainment. See and be seen by other innovative thinkers as you enable the greatest storytellers in the world to create memories for millions of families around the globe.

About The Walt Disney Company:

The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise that includes three core business segments: Disney Entertainment, ESPN, and Disney Experiences. From humble beginnings as a cartoon studio in the 1920s to its preeminent name in the entertainment industry today, Disney proudly continues its legacy of creating world-class stories and experiences for every member of the family. Disney’s stories, characters and experiences reach consumers and guests from every corner of the globe. With operations in more than 40 countries, our employees and cast members work together to create entertainment experiences that are both universally and locally cherished.

This position is with The Walt Disney Company Limited, which is part of a business we call The Walt Disney Company (Corporate).

The Walt Disney Company Limited is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, colour, religion or belief, sex, nationality, ethnic or national origin, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital or civil partner status, disability or pregnancy or maternity. Disney fosters a business culture where ideas and decisions from all people help us grow, innovate, create the best stories and be relevant in a rapidly changing world.

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Explore this Location EMEA

Disney EMEA aims to drive growth, innovation and brand affinity across an extremely diverse collection of countries with a team of over 6,000 employees operating in 59 markets with offices in 29 countries.