Senior In-House Counsel: IP, Contracts & Strategy Lead in Sedgefield

CPI helps make great ideas and inventions a reality. We’re a team of intelligent people using advances in science and technology to solve the biggest global challenges in healthcare and sustainability. Through our incredible people and innovation infrastructure, we collaborate with our partners in industry, academia, government, and the investment community to accelerate the development and commercialisation of innovative products. From health technologies and pharmaceuticals to sustainable food and materials innovations, we turn the entrepreneurial spirit and radical thinking of our people and partners into incredible impact that makes our world a better place.

CPI has an exciting opportunity for a Senior Solicitor to join their established and growing legal team. Reporting to General Counsel & Company Secretary, the Senior Solicitor will be responsible for providing comprehensive and advanced, in-house legal support to the CPI Group of Companies.

Key tasks in the role will include:

• Effectively managing the team’s goals and performance, sharing and translating area strategy, ensuring identification and delivery of departmental goals.
• Providing strong managerial support, performance management, and recruitment, development, and allocation of resources to ensure project delivery and longer-term planning of deliverables.
• Undertaking all management activities to ensure the smooth running of the group, including medium term forecasting and planning of activities and objectives.
• Setting team and individual objectives to meet departmental, business area, and company objectives, contributing to the wider strategy.
• Identifying and conducting performance management activities to ensure behaviours and performance of team meet required expectations.
• Acting as a point of contact for team members’ queries and escalations regarding more complex matters.
• Conducting regular meetings, one to one sessions and performance development conversations with team members.

To progressively provide supporting day-to-day intellectual property, commercial and contract law advice, mainly assisting internal clients in relation to confidentiality agreements, standard contractual terms, and bespoke advanced transactional agreements including funding agreements, collaboration agreements, contractual joint ventures, and complex sales agreements.

To provide creative legal advice across the full range of business activity where legal input is required, which may include:

• Corporate transactional advice, including transactions in relation to the disposal of subsidiaries, the attraction of investment into subsidiaries, corporate restructuring, membership models, and related due diligence matters.
• Intellectual property advice.
• Property and construction law advice relating to the Group’s current and any future premises.
• Commercial contentious matters pre-litigation with a view to early settlement.
• Supporting the Governance team on legal matters relating to purchasing, procurement law and subsidy control.
• Supporting the HR team on matters related to employment law.
• Maintaining contractual legal templates used in the Group’s business development and procurement activities.
• Providing advice on regulatory matters.

To deliver legal training to Group staff on confidentiality, intellectual property, contractual matters, and any other areas of law where required.

The person must be educated to Degree level (or equivalent) in a business or legal subject, be a qualified solicitor in England and Wales with a current Practising Certificate and have substantial experience of working in a commercial law firm, or in industry as an in-house lawyer. They should have experience of complex commercial contract matters, proven experience of managing direct reports, and experience of working in a cross-functional role, interfacing with people at all levels within a business.

Additionally, they should have an up to date understanding of intellectual property and contract/commercial law, experience in high value and/or complex transactions, and possess the ability to provide quality legal advice with a commercial slant in line with business objectives.

What does CPI offer you? At CPI, we offer a wide range of benefits to our employees, including up to 36 days holiday, including bank holidays, plus a holiday purchasing scheme, life assurance and accident insurance schemes.