Senior Legal Counsel (Fixed Term, Maternity Leave Cover)

About Us:

The Unison Group consists of specialist companies delivering critical network and energy solutions, including the electricity networks of Hawke's Bay, Taupō and Rotorua, New Zealand's leading distribution transformer manufacturing company, an electrical switchgear business and a product solutions group focusing on developing world leading asset management and monitoring solutions. Our vision is to enable our communities' sustainable energy future.

The Opportunity:

We're looking for an experienced Senior Legal Counsel to join our in-house team in Hastings. This is a fixed-term opportunity providing maternity leave cover for a period of up to 14 months, and we are open to discussing full-time or part-time opportunities with the right candidate, ideally working between 32 - 40 hours per week.

This role provides high quality legal advisory services to Unison Networks Limited in a commercially relevant and cost-effective manner, supporting the business to manage legal, contractual, governance and compliance risks.

You'll work closely with the Corporate Counsel and key stakeholders across the business, including the Board of Directors, Group Leadership Team, employees, external legal advisors, statutory and regulatory bodies, and local government institutions.

Key Responsibilities include:

• Provide practical and commercially relevant legal advice and transactional legal support across the business.
• Draft, review and negotiate contracts to support Unison's business activities.
• Identify, assess and help mitigate legal and contractual risks within business operations.
• Support legal compliance programmes, including monitoring actions and helping ensure the business understands its statutory obligations.
• Review and advise on the legal implications of internal policies, procedures and governance matters.
• Help improve legal capability across Unison through training, standardised contracts and legal processes.

What You'll Bring:

• A Bachelor of Laws, LLB
• Admission as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand.
• A minimum of 5 years' post-qualification legal experience.

A full job description is available on our website.

Only candidates who can demonstrate full current NZ working rights will be considered for this role.

What We Offer:

At Unison, we know that great performance comes from great people. That's why we offer:

• Competitive salary and benefits
• Life, trauma, and income protection insurance
• Health insurance for you, and discounted rates for your family.
• $460 annual ‘Dress for Your Day' allowance
• $200 annual wellbeing subsidy
• Company iPhone
• Onsite gym
• Ongoing training and development
• A safe, inclusive, and forward-thinking workplace

If this sounds like the opportunity you have been waiting for, apply today! Applications close 24 August 2026.

Unison is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.