Legal Counsel - Commercial (23958) in London

Barnardo's has an exciting opportunity for a Commercial Lawyer (Legal Counsel) to join our Legal Team on a 9-month fixed-term basis. Great option for lawyers considering a move into a charity in-house legal role, or for remote workers on a contract basis.

Hours: 36.25 hours per week
Contract: Fixed Term (9 Months)
Location: Hybrid working with travel to our London office once a week (preferred)

As our principal in-house commercial counsel you will play a key role in ensuring colleagues across the charity have access to high-quality legal advice and support. You will work with teams across the organisation, providing expert guidance on a wide range of legal matters, from strategic governance issues at Board level to negotiating major children's services contracts with local authorities.

Working closely with colleagues across business development, children's services, fundraising, and business services, you will help ensure that Barnardo's delivers its mission while meeting its legal and regulatory obligations. You will also support colleagues by developing legal knowledge and best practices through advice, guidance, and training.

To be considered for this role, you will need:

• A minimum of 2 years' post-qualification experience (PQE).
• Qualification as a Solicitor in England and Wales with current registration with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).
• Prior experience in a general commercial role (in-house experience preferred).
• The ability to work autonomously and make independent decisions.

We appreciate our colleagues' dedication and their commitment to delivering excellence in the vital work we do, driven by their passion and commitment to Barnardo's values. We also know that we can only realise our ambitions and achieve better outcomes for more children, thanks to the talent, hard work and creativity of our people.

We are committed to a rounded colleague experience with an approach to both pay and rewards that are fair, attractive, and progressive. This is in support of our strategic ambition to ensure Barnardo's is a place everyone can belong, grow and thrive.

The salary range advertised is in line with our pay principles, for consistency and fairness while recognising the skills and experience applicants bring to the role. Appointing salaries can be discussed further at appointment stage; we do seek to appoint within this range always exercising responsible stewardship.

Our hybrid working initiative is based on trust, flexibility and empowerment. We understand our workplace offer means different things to different people, and we encourage those conversations. This may mean working at one of our stores, services, working at home, in the community, at one of our Collaboration Hubs or depending on the role any combination of these.

Barnardo's require colleagues to be UK residents, based in the UK and to complete their roles from within the UK (with the exception of colleagues providing Barnardo's services in Jersey and colleagues who live in the Republic of Ireland providing services in Northern Ireland).

Barnardo's believe in creating equality of opportunity in the workplace and supporting people to manage their work-life balance; we are therefore open to offering flexible working arrangements.

Annual Leave entitlement for full-time colleagues is 26 days per annum, increasing to 27 days per annum, after 3 years Barnardo's service, 29 days per annum, after 5 years Barnardo's service and 30 days per annum, after 7 years Barnardo's service. Those working less than full time are entitled to the same level of holiday pro rata.

The ability to buy up to another 5 days annual leave via our Buy Your Leave scheme.

A host of family friendly leave options including company Maternity Paternity and Adoption pay; together with all family additional leave options.

Service related sick pay from day 1.

Access to a Group Personal Pension with a matched 4% or 6% contribution from Barnardo's. Ability to pay via salary sacrifice to garner both tax and NI savings on your own contribution.

Death in service cover of 4x annual earnings for all staff contributing to our Group Personal Pension.

Interest free season ticket loans.

Discounts and cashback from high street shops including major supermarkets, cinemas, gyms, leisure/theme parks, holidays and much more via our Benefit Portal.

20% discount at Barnardo's stores.

Opportunity to purchase a health cash plan to claim towards dental, glasses, therapy etc.

Free access to round the clock employee assistance program for advice and support.

Access to Barnardo's Learning and Development offer.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and cultivating a culture where everyone can belong and thrive through inclusion and connectivity. We want our workforce to be reflective of the communities we work with, and for equality, diversity and inclusion to be embedded in everything we do.

We particularly encourage applications from Black and Minoritised Ethnic and/or disabled candidates who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. For disabled applicants, we offer reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.