Senior Legal Advisor
ESP Utilities is seeking an experienced Senior Legal Advisor to join our growing business. This is an exciting opportunity for a commercially minded legal professional to play a key role in supporting the organisation across a broad range of legal matters. Working closely with stakeholders across the business, the successful candidate will provide expert legal guidance, manage risk, and help drive strategic objectives in a dynamic and fast-paced environment.
Our business model is to adopt networks constructed by our accredited partners and to operate and manage these networks safely and efficiently. These arrangements are subject to contractual and legal arrangements which must be robust and well managed to ensure best outcomes for ESP.
This role is responsible for:
- Managing and negotiating land rights and water/sewage adoption transactions from instruction to completion.
- Supervising junior members of the legal team on land rights matters.
- Identifying risk in relation to legal matters and developing and implementing appropriate mitigations.
- Assisting with the resolution of complex legal matters.
- Assisting with the general/commercial contracts function of the business on an ad-hoc basis and where there is residual capacity.
Key Responsibilities
- Managing utilities leases, transfers and wayleaves, from instruction to completion
- Provide ad-hoc legal advice and support to ESP colleagues relating to legal matters
- Provide instructions to external counsel on land rights projects
- Develop and draft bespoke contracts terms for land rights where appropriate to reflect the needs of ESP
- Be involved in the negotiation of the legal framework supporting major and minor Gas/Electricity/Water/Heat schemes which are nationally significant
- Supervise Paralegals and Legal Assistants on land rights transactions, helping them assess the risk of proposed amendments to ESP deeds/leases
- Interact with internal and external stakeholders to provide updates and guidance on the status of legal matters.
Person Specification
- Experience managing and negotiating leasehold and freehold purchase and sales.
- Experience dealing with easements, deeds of covenants, licences to alter.
- Commercial contract negotiation experience (desirable).
- Experience within the energy and/or utility sector (desirable).
- Experience supervising or managing junior members of staff (desirable).
- Strong communication and inter-personal skills with the ability to work effectively and collaboratively with colleagues and external parties. Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Strongly analytical, with well-developed problem-solving skills and proficient with MS Office.
- A good organiser with a natural ability to plan and organise to achieve objectives and targets.
Qualifications:
- Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (or working towards), or
- Qualified Solicitor or Conveyancer.
Senior Legal Advisor in Guildford employer: ESP Utilities Group Ltd
ESP is an exceptional employer that prioritises employee growth and development, offering a dynamic work culture where collaboration and high delivery standards are at the forefront. As a Senior Project Manager, you will have the opportunity to lead complex multi-utility infrastructure projects while benefiting from a supportive environment that encourages continuous professional development and mentorship. With a site-based role that involves travel to various project locations, you will gain diverse experiences and build valuable relationships across the industry.
