Paralegal - Structured Finance and Derivatives (TDU)

Team Overview:

The Simmons & Simmons Structured Finance and Derivatives group comprises the firm’s market leading Structured Products, Asset Backed Finance practice and sell-side Derivatives practices.

We act for financial institutions, asset managers and corporates through our network of offices in Europe, the Middle East and Asia and we are on the panels of nine of the largest global investment banks and act for multiple global asset managers and funds. The team has also been involved with many of the market leading transactions relating to the Fintech sector, in conjunction with our Tier 1 Fintech practice.

In a world of fast-moving regulatory change, we believe that it is critical to provide our clients with a joined-up service combining transactional experience with regulatory expertise. Our Structured Finance and Derivatives team works closely with lawyers in our market-leading financial regulatory practices through which we have been involved in leading industry initiatives affecting the international capital markets.

The Trade Delivery Unit (TDU) is a specialised team within Structured Finance & Derivatives group that focuses on managing and delivering structured products trades and project work. It aims to increase efficiency and profitability while supporting business development initiatives to grow the volume of structured product transactions.

Main duties and responsibilities:

• Working closely with fee earners in the Structured Finance & Derivatives groups in the UK and globally to provide assistance with listings including drafting, reviewing and proof-reading legal documents.
• Working closely and developing relationships with stakeholders in the prospectus approval and listing process including listing agents, national regulators and stock exchanges.
• Researching points of law and other factual issues and preparing reports and external know how on the same.
• Providing general legal support to the group.

Education / qualifications / experience:

• Law graduate with a first or upper second class degree or equivalent.
• Previous paralegal experience or other relevant legal work experience
• Experience using legal research databases (preferred)

Knowledge and technical skills:

• Excellent IT skills, including Outlook, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel
• Previous legal database experience
• Language skills (particularly German) advantageous but not essential.

General Skills/Attributes:

• Highly organised and methodical approach to the role as well as confidence with IT systems
• Attention to detail and the confidence to work independently
• Willingness to travel to London as required
• Highly motivated and commercially astute
• Excellent communication skills and a collegiate, team-based attitude
• The ability to work to tight deadlines whilst maintaining a high level of accuracy
• Self-motivated, hardworking, reliable and works well under pressure

Firm introduction:

Simmons & Simmons is a leading international law firm. We have over 1,600 people located in key business and financial centres across Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Our firm is equal only to the strengths of our people and we place great emphasis on recruiting and retaining staff who meet our high standards. Our philosophy for international growth has been to build practices around local teams who understand the culture, business and languages of the countries and regions in which we operate. In doing so, we believe we have succeeded in developing a cohesive network that meets local business needs as part of a global service.

Our business services groups provide integrated support for our global operations. The firm is organised in line with our clients’ requirements into key practice areas and sector groups. Our sector focus allows us to better appreciate the environment in which our clients operate and to work with them to achieve their objectives. Our client base includes leading financial institutions and a significant number of the current FTSE 100 and Fortune Global 500 companies.

Our focus on a small number of sectors means we are able to understand and respond to our clients’ needs. Our industry sectors are: Asset Management & Investment Funds, Financial Institutions, Healthcare & Life Sciences and Telecoms, Media & Technology (TMT). We also focus on the E&I market, in particular through our international projects and construction teams. We have a track record for innovation and delivering value to clients through new ways of working.

For additional information on the firm, please visit www.simmons-simmons.com.

Equal opportunities:

• We are committed to promoting equality and diversity in the firm and to equal opportunities in employment.
• We believe in equality of opportunity regardless of race or racial group (including colour, nationality, ethnicity, national origins), religion or belief, age, disability, sexual orientation, sex, gender re-assignment and gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy, maternity and paternity. This also includes any incidents of perceptive or associative discrimination and harassment. We ensure that those who serve or who have served in the armed forces, and their families, are treated fairly during the recruitment and selection processes.
• At Simmons & Simmons we seek to attract and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures, to create an exciting and rewarding place to work. We are supportive of flexible working arrangements wherever possible and we would encourage you to discuss this with us, should this be something you are interested in.

Background screening:

All recruits of Simmons & Simmons will be required to go through our background screening process. Depending on the position you apply for this may include a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) certificate. We undertake not to discriminate unfairly against any subject of a DBS certificate on the basis of a conviction or other information revealed. The firm’s policy on the recruitment of ex-offenders is available on request. #J-18808-Ljbffr