Legal Counsel (Commercial) - #1701526

Location: Either Birmingham, Two Snow Hill or London, The Podium.

Salary for Birmingham: Base salary: £40,750pa to c.£50,950pa depending on skills and experience. In addition, we offer flexible benefits fund of 20% which is paid on top base salary and is fully pensionable, as well as a range of competitive benefits - check them out in the Benefits section on our website. 

Salary for London: Base salary: £43,750pa to c.£54,650pa depending on skills and experience. In addition, we offer flexible benefits fund of 20% which is paid on top base salary and is fully pensionable, as well as a range of competitive benefits - check them out in the Benefits section on our website.

HS2 Ltd endeavours to ensure everyone working for us and with us feels included, thrives and achieves their full potential. In practice, this means we are positive and inclusive about making adjustments, providing flexible working, encouraging our staff networks to flourish and providing personal and professional development opportunities. 

As a Legal Counsel (Commercial) at HS2 you will play a key role in providing legal advice which supports the delivery and future operation of the largest infrastructure project in Britain. You will gain experience advising on a broad range of topics including advising on HS2’s relationships with its supply chain for construction, rail systems and stations (from procurement through to operations), as well as HS2’s relationships with utilities, local authorities and other stakeholders. You will also advise on HS2’s compliance with legislation and its other commitments.  

You will be part of an approachable and supportive legal team spanning offices in Birmingham and London, with experience in procurement and commercial law obtained in the construction and projects industry. You will work on your own matters directly with the internal client as well as working with the wider legal team at all levels. On occasion you may be required to liaise with and manage the provision of external legal support. 

This role will provide you with broad practical legal experience and you will learn how an infrastructure project is procured and delivered.  It will allow you to work on complex issues that arise as a result of working: (i) on a major, publicly funded infrastructure project; (ii) in a largely regulated environment; and (iii) alongside government sponsors and other private and public sector stakeholders.  

This is your opportunity to be part of something unique and work alongside our talented engineering, project delivery teams and supply chain partners to deliver the HS2 strategic benefits HS2 will bring, by providing fast, frequent and more reliable rail services between London and Birmingham to create capacity on the congested network for better local and regional services, meeting increasing passenger demand and also providing regeneration centred on HS2's four new stations. 

About the role: 

• Assisting with the provision of high quality legal support including drafting documents and providing advice to staff at all levels on all aspects of commercial/contracts law in connection with HS2 LTD (including in relation to the procurement and negotiation of high value, complex construction, funding agreements and other contracts, corporate law, intellectual property, and finance and technology issues), to ensure that the Company is not exposed to undue risk and that consistent business standards are adhered to;


• Assisting with provision of statutory advice as required; 


• Assisting with advice on resolution of contractual claims and disputes (including supporting, but not directly conducting, litigation or arbitration using external lawyers where appropriate);


• 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; 


• Contributing to the preparation and drafting of reports and briefings for senior management to support the decision-making process including liaising with senior lawyers and policy advisers across relevant government departments; and


• You will actively promote and embed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in all your work and support and comply with all organisational initiatives, policies and procedures on EDI.

About you:

Skills:

• Ability to produce and present complex documents and reports to a variety of audiences, including internal stakeholders at various levels in the organisation;


• Ability to prepare complex legal drafting without supervision;


• Ability to influence stakeholders at all levels of the organisation and externally, and to build effective working relationships;


• Problem-solving skills, including working without established precedent or procedure;


• Ability to balance and prioritise numerous tasks, while maintaining attention to detail, and to deliver to agreed deadlines;


• Advanced planning and organisational skills;


• Flexible approach with experience of working within a multidisciplinary team on a wide range of commercial legal issues.

Knowledge:

• Qualified solicitor or Barrister with contracting or construction experience, gained in a “client” and/or a “contractor” environment;


• Has specialised in contract law and/or procurement law, preferably with a focus on Major Projects. 

Type of experience:

• Experience of managing the provision of external legal advice within defined budgets/scopes;


• Experience of public sector procurement processes;


• Problem solving experience;


• Recent and relevant 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; 


• Experience of serving as the main point of contact to clients.

The post-holder is expected to behave at all times in a manner consistent with the HS2 values of Safety, Leadership, Integrity and Respect

It is expected that you will actively promote and embed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in all your work and support and comply with all organisational initiatives, policies and procedures on EDI.

As HS2 Ltd do not hold a sponsorship license from the Home Office, we are not able to provide sponsorship to any applicant. Applicants must already have the Right to Work in the UK at the time of application and our process involves a Right to Work validation prior to the interview stage. Note, there are certain types of time-bound visas that we cannot accept.

Any offers made to applicants will be subject to satisfactory completion of pre-employment checks which include Nationality & Immigration Status, employment references, DBS, Financial and Education checks.

We ask for a variety of detail in your online application, however we perform the first assessment of suitability for a role based solely on the information in your CV. In a further development of our efforts to create a more diverse workforce, your CV will be anonymised and personal information will be removed during the first stage of the application review. This removes bias from the process and makes it even more important that you attach an updated word version of your CV for each new application ensuring you include evidence directly related to the criteria in the job advert.

 Watch this video on how we remove bias in the recruitment process: Removing bias in the recruitment process (youtube.com)

Any applications received after the closing date will not be considered.

High Speed 2 (HS2 Ltd) will be the UK’s new high speed rail network. As well as improving capacity, the new scheme will shorten journey times between a number of Britain’s major population centres, boost the economy and create thousands of jobs

HS2 Ltd will create a skills legacy and develop a diverse range of talent. We aim to be a leader in EDI practice by creating a safe & inclusive working environment for all our staff - living our values of Safety, Respect, Integrity and Leadership

In practice, this means we are positive and inclusive about making adjustments, providing flexible working, encouraging our staff networks to flourish and providing personal and professional development opportunities

HS2 Ltd is also a safety-critical organisation. Employees are required to ensure reasonable care of their own and others’ health and safety by taking personal responsibility for working to our ‘Safe at Heart’ programme principles and following safe working procedures at all times

HS2 Ltd endeavours to ensure everyone working for us and with us feels included, thrives and achieves their full potential