Legal Counsel in Birmingham

An opportunity has arisen for a Legal Counsel to join a Central Government team on an interim basis. This role is to deliver a full range of legal advice to the team and all its business directorates, which includes key internal stakeholders, in order to optimise contractual outcomes in relation to a variety of subjects (including supply chain, utilities, local authorities, etc) and support compliance with legislation and regulations.

Key Requirements for the Legal Counsel

• Ability to produce and present communications and information in a variety of ways adapted for the relevant audience.
• Interpersonal and influencing skills.
• Legal drafting skills.
• Problem-solving skills including working without established precedent or procedure.
• Ability to juggle and prioritise numerous tasks in a high activity environment.
• Ability to consistently deliver high quality outputs under pressure whilst maintaining attention to detail.
• Planning and organisational skills.
• Ability to work within a multidisciplinary team on a wide range of commercial legal issues.

Knowledge:

• Qualified Solicitor or Barrister with contracting or construction experience, preferably gained in both a "client" and a "contractor" environment.
• Demonstrable specialism in contract law and/or procurement law, preferably with a focus on large projects.
• Commercial contracts/construction contracts knowledge.

Type of experience:

• Experience of managing the provision of external legal advice.
• Experience of public sector procurement processes.
• Problem solving experience.
• Commercial legal experience of UK based construction or infrastructure projects, or experience of dealing with Government Departments, utilities or transport projects, gained either in house or in private practice.

Key responsibilities for the Legal Counsel

• Work with minimum supervision to provide high quality legal advice including drafting documents and providing advice to staff at all levels on all aspects of commercial/contracts law.
• Main Lawyer and point contact for legal advice on General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018 including privacy policies and supporting the Data Protection Officer. Ensuring standards set by supervisory bodies (such as the ICO) on data protection are adhered to.
• Responsible for running weekly legal surgeries for contract management and Corporate Procurement to provide legal advice to enable them to maximise efficiencies and minimise external legal costs.
• Advise on resolution of contractual claims and disputes (not including conduct of litigation or arbitration), using external lawyers where appropriate.
• Point legal contact for all Phase 2a procurements including leading on the early works procurement.
• Preparing and delivering targeted training to internal staff to help them understand areas of law (example, procurement law PCR and UCR) relating to legal issues as they arise.
• Drafting template precedents for the legal team including providing self-help tools/templates for internal staff to save time and cost to continuously improve performance and compliance.
• Assisting the legal function as and when required on legal research and also keep abreast of the law and providing legal updates which affect the business.
• When required, manage the provision of external legal support including responsibility for managing and monitoring cost, assisting with the setting of budget and timescales and managing quality.

This is a fantastic opportunity to join a well-established team that prides itself in the first-class service it offers to clients.

If you believe you have the necessary skills and experience for the Legal Counsel role, please apply now, or contact Albert Pearson at Sellick Partnership for a confidential conversation.

Sellick Partnership is proud to be an inclusive and accessible recruitment business and we support applications from candidates of all backgrounds and circumstances.