Senior Contract Specialist (Contract) in London

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, initial 12 months assignment with potential to extend. Pay per hour between 29.56 and 32.02 depending on skills and experience. Hybrid role.

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.

The Senior Contracts Associate will be required to negotiate the following agreement types:

• Other agreements, including material and data transfers and CDAs

Responsibilities include:

• Being the primary point of contact for contract support and legal expertise in their area and establishing good practice and procedures for their area of work.
• Costing and pricing projects using the Kings costing tool, Worktribe.
• Reviewing and securing 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 necessary.
• Drafting legal agreements for projects and providing expertise in contractual negotiation.
• Developing and deploying expertise in external funders' terms and relevant costing/pricing methods in the context of Kings policy.
• Ensuring that contracts comply with Kings regulations and policies and, where relevant, those of external funding organisations and NHS collaborators.
• Disseminating information on relevant Kings policy and procedures and explaining them as appropriate to academic and research support staff, including participating in seminars as necessary.
• Providing accurate, clear advice on legal/contractual and policy matters to academic staff and holding meetings with academic staff, departmental staff, senior managers and/or external organisations as necessary to develop relationships and negotiate terms for activity.
• Providing training for academic and administrative staff, in conjunction with the Contracts Team Leader and the Director of Research & Consultancy Agreements.
• Preparing detailed information and instructions for the financial administration of contracts negotiated so they can be administered and managed properly and efficiently by the Award Management Team.
• Being personally responsible for their own work but referring to the Contracts Team Leader and Director of Pre-award, Research & Consultancy Agreements on complex matters of policy and/or legal matters.
• Working 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.
• Maintaining proper records of activity using Worktribe and contributing to the preparation of Divisional and Directorate reports and analyses of activity.
• Undertaking 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 working on such campuses as may be required.
• Supporting the work of and advising the Contracts Associates in their area.

Required skills:

• 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.
• Understanding of service provision and performance standards.