Legal Counsel - London

Main purpose of the role

CIFF works on a wide variety of projects all over the world, from grant‑making to more complex arrangements supporting research and development, impact investments and organisational development support. It generates its income from an investment portfolio that is deployed to finance its work and donations. Reporting to the Head of Programme Governance, you will have the opportunity to be involved in some of the most innovative and important philanthropic work in the world.

As a legal expert, primarily you will be responsible for leading the granting process from a legal perspective. You will provide advice and guidance on the development of projects, as well as their implementation, including drafting and negotiating agreements with grantees, partners and service providers and conducting due diligence. You will assist the Head of Programme Governance in managing the rest of the contracting team, in terms of day‑to‑day allocations and training and monitoring. This will also encompass leading on the more complex programmatic arrangements, as well as pharmaceutical transactions/investments, and engaging external counsel where necessary. You will also provide advice and guidance to the organisation on governance arrangements (e.g. internal policies and approval processes, risk management) and programmatic governance, to ensure that the organisation remains legally compliant and any risks are appropriately dealt with.

The role is front‑facing and requires a great deal of collaboration across the various teams in the organisation and you will be required to lead and contribute to a number of cross‑collaboration working groups. You will also be given the opportunity to lead and work on internal projects where legal input is required, including in relation to regular review and updating of processes and procedures. You may also be involved in assisting on matters related to CIFF’s endowment. Finally, you will have opportunities to work with risk, compliance and safeguarding colleagues. In all cases the work will relate not only to our activity in the UK but to work in our local offices and around the world, and you will be working independently to ensure legal compliance across the remit.

Role’s responsibilities

• As a legal expert, provide up‑to‑date, professional advice to the Sector Teams, on a variety of matters relating to programme issues, legal and regulatory concerns, programme governance issues, conflicts of interest, commercial contracts and consultancy contracts, to support the development of initiatives.
• Advising on appropriate legal structures for programmes, including work with external counsel and other stakeholders where appropriate.
• Leading the contract drafting and negotiations process with CIFF’s grantee organisations in children’s development and climate change, as well as related service activities (monitoring and evaluation contracts, consultants) and commercial transactions.
• Advising and supporting governance and programme management issues, particularly project approval processes (including our grant management software).
• Managing CIFF’s suite of standard contract templates and where relevant and as needed updating them to reflect business needs or changes to laws.
• Provide input to any specific legal strategies that are developed as part of projects or more generally as part of CIFF’s strategy and business plan.
• Closely collaborating with the Head of Programme Governance to review legal compliance and risk on programmes and designing appropriate legal structures for programmes, including work with external counsel where appropriate.
• Closely collaborating with the respective Director leading Legal Risk & Compliance on matters related to compliance and risk.
• Take the lead, when required, on corporate, cross‑cutting initiatives and projects, as required by the Executive Team, General Counsel or other stakeholders.
• Supporting due diligence on CIFF’s proposed grantees.
• As a recognised legal expert, provide advice and specialist guidance to colleagues (within and beyond the Legal team) to deepen the skills, capability and professionalism of the organisation.
• Conducting staff training sessions, developing know‑how and streamlining processes, ensuring that everyone in the organisation is kept informed of regulatory and compliance matters that affect their work but may also enable more efficient programme design and delivery.
• Developing and maintaining relationships with CIFF’s law firms across the world and staying updated on changes to laws/legal developments affecting CIFF and its work.
• Developing knowledge sharing relationships with CIFF’s key partners, including grantees and co‑funders.
• Participating in cross‑organisation groups and committees on behalf of the Legal team.
• Assisting the General Counsel from time to time on arrangements related to CIFF’s financial endowment and investment management relationships.
• Keeping abreast of legal developments and issues that could be relevant to CIFF and its work by horizon scanning, maintaining information gathering network relationships and channels to deepen professional knowledge and skills.
• Providing added value, commercial and legal advice on relevant aspects of programme design and delivery.
• Providing advice and support to sector teams in the context of relationships with partners and other stakeholders to ensure they remain effective and collaborative.
• Ensuring compliance with Charity Commission audit and financial best practice.
• Review the processes and procedures in place across the Legal team, to identify and implement improved ways of working that increase operational effectiveness and efficiency.

Membership of the team

Be a role model to less experienced team members, demonstrating CIFF’s leadership behaviours and providing mentorship to aid their growth. Adopt a coaching approach with colleagues which instills a culture of openness and trust, embraces diverse thinking, and encourages continuous improvement and learning.

Skills & Experience

• UK qualified solicitor
• UK and/or US not‑for‑profit sector experience desirable
• Strong personal motivation to work in the not‑for‑profit sector and interest in international development
• Ability to think critically and analytically to draw sound conclusions in the context of complex programmes.
• Ability to provide commercial and technically accurate advice.
• Experience of working with SMEs and transaction management in a corporate, funds or financing law context desirable would also be of value
• Good understanding of effective governance models and risk management frameworks
• Ability to work unsupervised and under pressure
• Willing to adapt to changing priorities, and flexible enough to respond to the demands of a growing organisation
• Possess strong interpersonal skills and work well as a team player
• A flexible and friendly attitude with the willingness to learn and enjoys working in a high‑achieving environment
• Excellent English written and oral communication skills
• Excellent attention to detail essential

Key working relationships

• Head of Programme Governance
• General Counsel
• Legal Counsels
• Programme teams
• Finance and HR teams
• Grantee and partner organisations

The salary for this role is £63,790. CIFF operates a hybrid work policy across all locations, which means employees work in the office and some of the time from home. We are happy to provide more information on this as part of the recruitment process. Alongside a competitive salary, we offer a generous benefits package here at CIFF that includes, but is not limited to the following:

• Annual leave - 25 days per annum, increasing by 1 day after each year of service to a maximum of 30 days.
• Bonus - CIFF currently operates a discretionary bonus scheme.
• Training allowance
• Wellbeing allowance
• Life insurance
• Medical insurance

Please submit your application on or before Thursday 16th April. CIFF reserves the right to close the job advert early if we receive a high number of suitable applications.