Contract Solicitor in Gateshead

Vertu Motors plc

At Vertu Motors, we’re one of the UK’s leading automotive retail groups, and behind our dealerships sits a wide range of specialist teams helping our business operate effectively and continue to grow.

We have an exciting opportunity for a

Contract Solicitor to join our Legal team.

This is a varied in-house role where you’ll work across the Group, providing practical commercial legal advice and supporting colleagues with a broad range of contracts and agreements.

You’ll be joining a fast-paced business where no two days are quite the same.

We’re looking for someone who can combine strong legal expertise with a pragmatic, commercial approach, helping colleagues understand risk and find solutions that enable the business to move forward.

What will you be doing?

In this role, you will

• Draft, review and negotiate a broad range of commercial contracts, including supplier, services, IT and software, marketing, consultancy, outsourcing and procurement agreements.
• Provide clear, practical and commercially focused legal advice to our dealerships, central functions and senior management.
• Draft terms and conditions for competitions, sponsorship arrangements and other marketing activity.
• Develop and maintain standard agreements, clauses, playbooks and contracting guidance, helping us improve consistency and make contracting simpler and more efficient across the Group.
• Support our procurement and business teams with contract renewals, variations, exits and disputes, including identifying and managing key contractual deadlines.
• Help develop and maintain an effective contract approval and governance framework, ensuring material or unusual risks are appropriately escalated.
• Maintain an accurate and effective contract database.
• Use AI and other technology tools to support contract review and drafting, with appropriate professional oversight.

What are we looking for?

• We’re looking for a
• UK-qualified solicitor or equivalent
• , ideally with
• 3+ years’ Post-Qualified Experience

, who has strong commercial contracting experience gained either in-house, within private practice, or through a combination of both.

You’ll also be able to demonstrate

• Strong commercial contract drafting and negotiation skills.
• Sound judgement and the ability to distinguish between material legal risk and issues that can reasonably be accepted from a commercial perspective.
• A clear and concise drafting style.
• The ability to explain complex legal issues in straightforward, practical language to non-legal colleagues.
• Excellent organisation skills, with the ability to manage a high volume of contracts and competing priorities.
• A pragmatic, responsive approach and confidence working in a fast-moving commercial environment.
• The confidence to build strong relationships with stakeholders at different levels across the business.

Experience within retail, automotive, technology or procurement would be beneficial, but isn’t essential.

Why Vertu Motors?

We are proud to be the Motor Retailer who invests more in our colleague's personal development than any other, so if you are successful, you can look forward to on-going training opportunities that provide you with the right career path, career progression and a range of benefits you would expect from an employer of choice which includes:

• 25 days holiday rising with length of service - plus bank holidays
• Access to our online rewards platform giving you cash back and discounts for multiple retailers
• Preferential Service Rates
• Colleague Purchase Scheme
• Share Incentive Scheme
• Pension
• Enhanced Maternity and Paternity

If your application is successful, we will need to complete employment checks prior to you starting with us.

Your role will include us verifying your recent employment, credit history and a criminal record check.

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