In House Contracts Lawyer

Job description
PURPOSE OF THE ROLE
We are seeking an experienced in-house commercial contracts lawyer to support with delivering our firm's procurement service firmwide. Your role will be to work closely with our Procurement team and business stakeholders to review, draft and negotiate a wide range of commercial supplier agreements from initiation to execution, and to provide advice on related contractual matters. You will work closely with our Office of the General Counsel, Information Security team, business stakeholders and senior management.
You will be based in the Leeds or Manchester office. We operate a flexible, hybrid working system comprising a blend of working in the office and working from home, and we expect that that this will continue for the foreseeable future.

THE TEAM
Addleshaw Goddard's (AG) Procurement team is a highly skilled and dedicated group of professionals who are responsible for managing the end-to-end procurement process for the firm. The team is located across Manchester & Leeds and is structured into two sub-teams which include our Legal and Commercial teams.
What sets our Procurement team apart is our holistic approach to procurement. We focus on strategic sourcing and supplier relationship management, as we believe in building long-term partnerships with our suppliers and fostering collaborative relationships. We strive to continuously improve our processes to ensure we deliver added value to the firm.
We are growing as firm globally, therefore in this role, local and international contracts and risk management is key. It is an exciting time to be joining a team that is continually developing, and you will be expected to contribute towards shaping the team's ongoing strategy and delivery.

THE ROLE
● The workload is varied and you will be drafting, negotiating and advising on a range of commercial supplier contracts from start to finish. These will range in complexity and subject matter, and working with our wider team you will help ensure we comply with our legal and regulatory requirements.
● You will work with the firms Office of the General Counsel and Information Security teams to ensure that appropriate due diligence and risk management is performed on all suppliers.
● You will advise stakeholders, often at a senior level, on the commercial and legal aspects of contracts, including highlighting any risks to the business.
● You'll Identify and mitigate legal risks associated with contracts and procurement activities, and support our wider procurement team's improvement plans.

You will be involved in:
• keeping abreast of changing requirements and amending existing supplier agreements to meet them
• training the Procurement team on new legislation which affects the team and the contracts we are responsible for
• preparing and maintaining contract templates
• recording contracts and associated data within the firm's contracts database
• supporting the wider Procurement team and stakeholders in maintaining and improving service levels, driving innovation and ensuring compliance
• developing smarter and more efficient ways to deliver services to our business.

ABOUT YOU
You will:

● be an in-house solicitor with at least 1 years post qualification experience in commercial contracts in a procurement setting
● have strong drafting and negotiation skills and commercial awareness
● be able to analyse issues and draw conclusions clearly and succinctly, in order to articulate the commercial implications of negotiated contractual terms to a wide range of audiences
● be resilient and the ability to deal professionally with situations of conflict
● be comfortable challenging assumptions and practices and delivering difficult messages
● have an eye for detail and ability to prioritise (although part of a supportive team, you will need to work on your own initiative)
● ideally have experience dealing with data protection matters, IT contracts and intellectual property issues in procurement contracts.

OUR FIRM
Addleshaw Goddard is a place where you are valued, encouraged, and challenged to fulfil your potential in a supportive and collegiate environment. Our culture of improvement, growth and collaboration delivers results, drives innovation, and rewards ambition.
We not only provide technical excellence and experience but, crucially, demonstrate real insight into our clients and what really matters to them and as such we are natural choice for FTSE100 clients and their equivalents in other markets.
Our success has been built by people from the widest range of backgrounds, locations, and perspectives. We have a number of employee networks that provide space to discuss the differences that make us who we are and celebrate this at AG.

OUR APPROACH: BEST PLACE TO WORK

We are committed to having a diverse team and actively encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds and communities. We have a number of inclusion initiatives and employee networks that provide space to discuss the differences that make us who we are and the ways in which we can celebrate this at AG.

OUR VALUES
We are dedicated to bringing quality, imagination and positive impact to our client projects and relationships; to our people; and to the communities we serve and work in.
When we talk about imagination we mean finding smart ways to deliver impact for clients, colleagues and communities. We are committed to inclusivity in all its forms and are dedicated to helping everyone fulfil their potential.

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