Lawyer/Legal Adviser

Additional information: Please note, this role is open to both full time and part time applications. The minimum days we could consider are 3 days per week (we are open to how you wish to work your hours, this could be across more than 3) and we are also happy to consider full time applications (37.5 hours per week). The salary advertised will be pro-rated to the part time equivalent if this is your chosen option.

The Challenge:

This specialist role is critical to supporting our Strategic Missions and Programme Interventions and is embedded into the Catapult’s Commercial Services Team, working with business development and Mission Programme delivery teams across a broad variety of innovative projects. 

Your knowledge and experience will ensure that contracts are drafted, compliant and placed on time, to allow project schedules and business delivery to be maintained and secure value for money. This role will provide professional contract support, legal and sometimes, procurement advice on inbound and outbound contracts across the projects, working closely with the Mission Teams, Strategic Account Directors, project business leads and delivery managers. 

As part of the Commercial Services team and supporting the Head of Commercial Services, this individual will ensure the Catapult has full visibility of legal risks and working with a variety of stakeholders to ensure the necessary mitigations are present.  The successful candidate will possess appropriate collaboration skills and experience to be able to respond to agreed commercial priorities and support due diligence & governance for the Catapult. The role will also incorporate knowledge transfer on contractual obligations, policy and procedures providing timely advice and support to colleagues throughout the project or programme lifecycle. 

Skills & Experience required: 

• Significant experience and background in contract management & legal based roles. 

• Qualified solicitor (or equivalent) with significant Post Qualification Experience (PQE) with proven in-house Commercial / Corporate legal experience 

• Good all-round knowledge of drafting and negotiating a range of commercial contracts and experience in reviewing and drafting collaborative agreements within innovation, technology or technical orientated organisations. 

• Ability to work independently and able to recognise when to escalate issues 

• Commercially minded with experience of working with Business Development /sales teams, Technical Innovation and bid management. 

• The ability to explain complex legal matters in appropriate terms to those without legal backgrounds. 

• Experience of providing support to the contract management lifecycle, during the bid process, contract drafting, procurement phase, contract mobilisation and supplier - budget holder/’owner’ contract reviews, as required. 

• Up to date with legal matters and best practice 

• Knowledgeable on legal obligations & their effect upon contract management, procurement or delivery of projects with the ability to interpret these areas & predict where encroachments may lie. Able to propose mitigating actions well in advance. 

• Analytical, able to pickup technical understanding and use situational judgement to recognise commercial ramifications and impact of their decisions. 

• The ability to influence and persuade key stakeholders, within a collaborative and matrix managed organisations or business cultures. 

• Will be experienced in negotiating with external parties / maintaining strategic relationships. 

Desirable Skills & Experience: 

• Experience in managing, protecting IPR, and managing patents is desirable 

• Effective at knowledge transfer for example providing training on the differences between, ‘know how’, Background IPR, Foreground IPR, IP protection and patent management  

• A working knowledge and experience of public procurement process, such as Public Sector Contract Regulations the procurement thresholds framework and new legislation (the Procurement Act 2023) 

 You know you have been successful when… 

• Your impact is recognised in the ownership & management of contracts within the Sales, Bids & Mission / Intervention Programme Delivery teams. 

• Contracts are successfully drafted, reviewed & awarded compliantly, on time, representing value for money. 

• Our business processes and due diligence is well understood and followed by all internal stakeholders. 

• We are implementing a contract lifecycle management strategy that enables us to be develop strong supply-chain relationships and proactively engage the market. 

The purpose of your new team: 

Our Strategic Advisory Teams lead on contract management, legal and procurement support. We possess a breath of experience from a variety of industries and drive early engagement with business leads, Mission teams and project managers to support them with the development of collaborative & commercial opportunities. We provide clarity of information, contract scrutiny, risk evaluation, legal support, guidance and compliance advice allowing the Catapult to leverage its position and ultimately deliver revenue, outputs and impact. 

We support Business Development (Sales) Leads, Bids and Project Managers, Budget holders & their objectives - delivering best value, compliance & timely contract award. The team also facilitates compliant market & supplier engagement within internal control mechanisms & relevant procurement and public contract regulations. 

About us & how we work: 

We strive to create a high trust, high performance, and inclusive environment that enables team members to bring their whole selves to work – this helps to create the foundations of an innovation culture. Our shared values are critical to this: 

• We care - for our people, our partners, and our planet. 

• We connect - and engage with people and ideas. 

• We learn - and grow, as people and as an industry. 

Underpinning this is our belief in great teams; our combined efforts will always deliver outcomes beyond that of any individual, providing we are honest through debate, experiment and reflect, and create shared resolutions in support of our purpose. Live these values, work to our principles, take ownership to deliver, and we are certain you will thrive with us. 

This job description set outs the skills and experience we think are needed to be able to perform in this job. However, if you believe you can deliver in this role then we want to hear from you.

Important notice for applicants: We use tools to detect plagiarism and the use of AI or chatbots for applicant answers. If plagiarism, AI use (such as ChatGPT) or similar software are found to have been used in your application you will not be considered for this or future roles within the Satellite Applications Catapult.

At Satellite Applications Catapult, we're committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workforce. We welcome candidates from all corners of the globe, but due to legal and logistical considerations, we want to be transparent about the potential visa-related challenges that could arise. Our ability to offer sponsorship will depend on the level of interest for our roles and salary level.

If you need any additional support during the application process, please do reach out and connect. We also invite you to share feedback via Applied.