Senior Contracts Associate in Islington

The successful candidate will be a proven contracts professional with experience of the full contract lifecycle from drafting to completion. An immediate start is available, with an initial 12 months assignment and potential to extend. Pay per hour is between 29.56 and 32.02 depending on skills and experience. This is a hybrid role.

Overview: We are looking for a Senior Contracts Associate who will be an integral member of the Contracts Team, which provides a professional, effective and efficient service for Kings researchers by drafting, reviewing, negotiating and advising on contracts from private and public sector organisations for Kings research and consultancy activity. The candidate should have experience of negotiating legal and research-related agreements, preferably in a university environment, and be confident and persuasive negotiators with a track record of successful negotiation with different stakeholders. Applicants also require excellent organisational, communication and literacy skills, proven decision-making ability and the ability to work well under pressure, both individually and as part of a team.

Key responsibilities:

• The Senior Contracts Associate will be required to negotiate the following agreement types:
• Research contracts, collaborations and framework agreements
• Consultancy and Service Agreements
• Other agreements, including material and data transfers and CDAs
• To be the primary point of contact for contract support and legal expertise in their area and to establish good practice and procedures for their area of work.
• To cost and price projects using the Kings costing tool, Worktribe.
• To negotiate effectively the price to maximum advantage to Kings with particular attention to the recovery of full costs and favourable payment terms.
• To review and secure optimum terms in research or research-related agreements (including publication and intellectual property rights, institutional risk and liability exposure, strategic value general provisions, apportionment of risk and reward, reputational management), referring to the Contracts Team Leader and Director of Research & Consultancy Agreements where appropriate.
• This will involve collaboration with partner organisations as well as service providers.
• To draft legal agreements for projects and provide a level of expertise in contractual negotiation.
• To have delegated authority and responsibility within certain limitations to negotiate contractual conditions, draft agreements and submit official costs related to his/her area of activity.
• To develop and deploy an expertise in external funders' terms and relevant costing/pricing methods in the context of Kings policy.
• To ensure that contracts they negotiate comply with Kings regulations and policies and, where relevant, those of external funding organisations and NHS collaborators.
• To disseminate information on relevant Kings policy and procedures and explain them as appropriate to academic and research support staff, including participating in seminars as necessary.
• To give academic staff accurate, clear advice on legal/contractual and policy matters and to hold meetings with academic staff, departmental staff, senior managers and/or external organisations as necessary to develop relationships and negotiate terms for activity.
• Provide training for academic and administrative staff, in conjunction with the Contracts Team Leader and the Director of Research & Consultancy Agreements.
• To recommend the acceptability of contracts in their area for signature in conjunction with the Contracts Team Leader and the Director of Research & Consultancy Agreements.
• To prepare detailed information and instructions as may be necessary for the financial administration of contracts they negotiate so they can be administered and managed properly and efficiently by the Award Management Team.
• To be personally responsible for his/her own work but to refer to the Contracts Team Leader and Director of Pre-award, Research & Consultancy Agreements on complex matters of policy and/or legal matters.
• Work closely with Kings staff on all campuses, including other colleagues in the Research Management & Innovation Directorate to ensure a consistent and integrated approach and response in policy and practice.
• To ensure that proper records of activity are maintained using Worktribe and contribute to the preparation of Divisional and Directorate reports and analyses of activity.
• To undertake such other duties as are consistent with the role of a Senior Contracts Associate as required by the Director of Research & Consultancy Agreements, or the Contracts Team Leader where delegated, and to work on such campuses as may be required.
• To contribute to forming the Kings view on legal policy and practice in their area and in related areas.
• To support the work of and advise the Contracts Associates in their area.

Essential requirements:

• Degree or equivalent professional qualification.
• Proven negotiation/influencing skills with a track record of negotiation of contracts and agreements, including negotiation of intellectual property, liability/indemnity and price.
• Proven negotiation/influencing skills in relation to external funders and partners and ability to analyse and problem solve complex contractual issues.
• Ability to manage a large and diverse turnover of bids and contracts & have excellent organisational skills.
• Ability to explain complex ideas with clarity and liaise effectively with a wider range of stakeholders of varying seniority.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Self-starting, a completer/finisher and able to work largely unsupervised.
• Demonstrably high levels of accuracy and attention to detail.
• Good analytical skills and practical, sound numeracy skills & IT literacy and experience of word processing, spreadsheets and databases.
• Knowledge of material transfer and data protection legislation.

Desirable Criteria:

• Knowledge of regulations for AI and Clinical Research.
• Understanding of service provision and performance standards.
• Knowledge of full economic costing methodology.
• Broad research funding administration in the university sector, or other relevant institutions (e.g. the public sector).
• Working knowledge of the university research funding environment, including experience and familiarity with key funders' terms and conditions.