Commercial Legal Counsel

Ideas | People | Trust

We’re BDO. An accountancy and business advisory firm, providing the advice and solutions entrepreneurial organisations need to navigate today’s changing world.

We work with the companies that are Britain’s economic engine – ambitious, entrepreneurially-spirited and high‑growth businesses that fuel the economy – and directly advise the owners and management teams leading them.

We’ll broaden your horizons

The Quality and Risk Management Team (QRM) provides leadership, guidance, and tools to help partners and staff manage quality and risk matters. The team is comprised of an Advisory and Compliance Team, a Chief Information Security Office Team, an Economic Crime Team, a Legal Team including a Commercial & Contracts Team, an Ethics Team plus the Quality Monitoring Team. The team works closely with the firm’s Technical Standards Group and the firm’s leadership.

We’ll help you succeed

Leading organisations trust us because of the quality of our advice. That quality grows from a thorough understanding of their business, and that understanding comes from working closely with them and building long-lasting relationships.

You’ll be someone who is both comfortable working proactively and managing your own tasks, as well as confident collaborating with others and communicating regularly with senior managers, directors, and BDO’s partners to help businesses effectively. You’ll be encouraged to identify and draw attention to opportunities for enhancing our delivery and providing additional services to organisations we work with.

OVERVIEW

This role will focus on providing commercial contracting advice to the Firm’s Digital business to help win and deliver work within acceptable risk parameters. The role will include supporting commercial activity both with clients and with key technology vendors (e.g. Microsoft and other SaaS and hardware vendors) in each case ensuring the Firm complies with applicable laws and regulations whilst enabling revenue generation and business growth. The role sits within the Legal Team, which is based at our London hub, but will be dedicated to supporting the firm’s Digital business and will be closely aligned to Digital’s leadership.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Delivery of legal advice to BDO’s Digital partners and staff:

1. Reviewing and negotiating commercial agreements with Digital clients (engagement letters, NDAs, hold harmless letters, etc.) for the delivery of Digital services (including advisory services, managed services, implementation services, programme management, ERP and like integration services);
2. Supporting other team members on negotiating master services agreements, framework agreements and other more complex commercial contracts for Digital clients;
3. Reviewing supply-side agreements relevant to delivering client services, including alliances, strategic partnerships, referral and re-sale agreements;
4. Liaising with and managing external counsel where additional specialist advice is required;
5. Interpretation and application of legislation, case law, regulations and other relevant developments within technology consulting and integration sector;
6. Staying up to date with legal and regulatory developments relevant to Digital services and BDO’s wider business;
7. Building strong working relationships across relevant business streams and practice management departments.

Managing BDO’s Digital contract precedents and processes:

1. Working with internal stakeholders to maintain and update BDO’s contract policies, precedents and guidance for Digital services;
2. Delivering training and support in the appropriate use of contract precedents and guidance;
3. Advising client-facing teams on the management of contractual risks;
4. Advising on the risk management of new services and products.

REQUIREMENTS

Essential:

1. England and Wales qualified lawyer, or experience practising the laws of England and Wales;
2. Experience of advising on/negotiating/drafting/managing a variety of IT services contracts (including system integration, managed services, solution development and SaaS solutions);
3. Experience of working with software and SaaS vendors and their reseller and distribution network, including a sound understanding of operation of this market and of industry norms for contracting;
4. Strong working knowledge of standard commercial boilerplate clauses;
5. Strong written and oral communication skills;
6. Ability to confidently interact and influence at a senior level;
7. Ability to prioritise and manage own workload under time pressure;
8. Excellent attention to detail.

Desirable:

1. Experience of relevant European and/or US legislation pertaining to the sale of SaaS and professional services;
2. Experience in an in-house legal role at a large commercial organisation;
3. Experience of drafting policy and guidance;
4. Experience of preparing and delivering training.

You’ll be able to be yourself; we’ll recognise and value you for who you are and celebrate and reward your contributions to our business. We’re committed to agile working, and we offer everyone the opportunity to work in ways that suit them, their teams, and the task at hand.

At BDO, we’ll help you achieve your personal goals and career ambitions, and we have programmes, resources, and frameworks that provide clarity and structure around career development.

We’re in it together

Mutual support and respect is one of BDO’s core values and we’re proud of our distinctive, people-centred culture. From informal success conversations to formal mentoring and coaching, we’ll support you at every stage in your career, whatever your personal and professional needs. Our agile working framework helps us stay connected, bringing teams together where and when it counts so they can share ideas and help one another. At BDO, you’ll always have access to the people and resources you need to do your best work.

We know that collaboration is the key to creating value and satisfying experiences at work, so we’ve invested in state-of-the-art collaboration spaces in our offices. BDO’s people represent a wealth of knowledge and expertise, and we’ll encourage you to build your network, work alongside others, and share your skills and experiences. With a range of multidisciplinary events and dedicated resources, you’ll never stop learning at BDO.

We’re looking forward to the future

At BDO, we help entrepreneurial businesses to succeed, fuelling the UK economy. Our success is powered by our people, which is why we’re always finding new ways to invest in you. Across the UK thousands of unique minds continue to come together to help companies we work with to achieve their ambitions.

We’ve got a clear purpose, and we’re confident in our future, because we’re adapting and evolving to build on our strengths, ensuring we continue to find the right combination of global reach, integrity and expertise. We shape the future together with openness and clarity, because we believe in empowering people to think creatively about how we can do things better.

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