Legal Associate

An opportunity has arisen to recruit a Legal Associate to join our growing Legal team. The Legal team works closely with our commercial, project development, procurement, and corporate finance departments to provide high quality, business focused advice and to support with risk management and making sound commercial decisions. We’re looking for a commercially astute, dynamic lawyer with experience of working in the UK’s power and/or infrastructure markets to develop their career within our team. The role will be based in our London office with the requirement for occasional travel to meetings in the UK and Ireland.

Key Responsibilities

• Advising the project and execution teams on legal and commercial issues and risks arising through the whole lifecycle of renewable and conventional energy projects.
• Advising, independently and in conjunction with EPUKI’s senior lawyers and/or external counsel, on a range of contracts with local and international counterparties related to the construction, project development and commercial operation of our assets.
• Drafting and negotiating standard form and bespoke contracts for the procurement of assets and services.
• Advising on the acquisition of renewable and conventional energy assets, businesses, and development opportunities.
• Working closely with and advising the commercial and financial specialists within the team in negotiations and assisting prompt decision-making among key stakeholders.
• Assessing project risks and risk management strategies and presenting these to directors and senior team members.
• Providing proactive legal support to our commercial and operations teams on projects that are in-contract and completed and assist with the monitoring of on-going performance to enable the business to anticipate issues and manage risks that may arise.
• Ensuring that projects and transactions comply with all relevant corporate and regulatory requirements.
• Reviewing or performing legal due diligence where required.
• Ensuring ongoing compliance with responsibilities under law and regulation.
• Instructing, liaising with, and working alongside external legal counsel where required, including managing such external legal counsel to ensure that costs are minimised and delivered on budget.
• Contributing to the know-how of the team, researching, and presenting research to other legal team members.

You will have access to in-depth supervision and support from senior team members, but the expectation is that you will be able to independently manage your own workload.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• Background
• Qualified lawyer with demonstrable post qualification experience in a law firm or an established business working in relevant sectors - essential.
• Previous experience within the energy or infrastructure sectors - desirable.
• Experience working in house - desirable.
• Experience drafting and negotiating key commercial, construction and/or procurement contracts - desirable.
• Experience of advising on and managing disputes within the infrastructure or energy sectors - desirable.

• Behaviours
• Excellent drafting, negotiation, communication, and presentation skills.
• Good commercial instincts and an ability to identify, understand and manage risk.
• Capable of displaying initiative and critical thinking.
• Ability to successfully coordinate, prioritise and manage a varied workload in a fast-paced environment.
• Displays a strong, professional attitude and takes pride in delivering work to the highest standards, demonstrating attention to detail.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to work with confidence both independently and as part of a mixed legal / commercial team.
• Interest in identifying and using technology to improve efficiency.

Qualifications

• Degree qualified (or equivalent) with a relevant legal qualification - essential.