In-House Contract Lawyer - Associate or Solicitor, Leeds

Job Introduction

DAC Beachcroft is looking to appoint an in-house Contract Lawyer (Solicitor or Associate) into our Practice Governance & Risk team in Leeds.

The role sits within DACB’s in-house Practice Governance & Risk Team (PG&R). The role is primarily to provide quality legal advice, support, and assistance to the business on (client, suppliers and 3^rd party) contractual matters.  Ancillary to that role are other responsibilities that may arise from time to time within PG&R that require lawyer support.

Role Responsibility

• Reviewing, drafting and negotiating a wide range of commercial contracts with suppliers, working  with our in-house Procurement team;
• Working closely with the business to draft and negotiate terms of engagement with clients;
• Assisting our Bids team with the contractual aspects of client bids and pitches;
• Working with the PG&R International team to support consistent contracting arrangements where services may be required in different jurisdictions;
• Ensuring any risks in contracts are highlighted and mitigated where possible;
• Supporting effective governance processes surrounding contractual relationships from inception to renewal and termination;
• Ensuring that the legislative and regulatory requirements (e.g. data protection and information security) that the Group needs to comply with are covered off in contracts;
• Maintaining awareness of legal, regulatory and compliance changes which impact on the Group's contracts and ensuring knowledge is shared with others in the team;
• Assisting with the development of template documentation and keeping it updated in light of new developments in law and regulation;  
• Assisting with the completion of client due diligence questionnaires and the review and risk assessment of supplier due diligence responses; and
• Assisting with developing and promoting an understanding of the regulatory and professional environment in which the Group operates by building relationships within the Group.

The Ideal Candidate

You will be have the following:

• 0-3 years PQE.
• Ability to analyse information and to use the results of that analysis to make effective decisions and find solutions.  
• Ability to communicate persuasively, both verbally and in writing.  
• Good attention to detail.  
• Responsive to the demands of the Group, clients and suppliers and have the ability to work under pressure.
• The ability to plan and organise effectively in order to meet business priorities.  
• The ability to form working relationships with others, both inside and outside of the PG&R team.
• The ability to work on own initiative and manage own workload.
• A good team player who is supportive of others within the PG&R team and wider Group.
• A confident decision maker.
• Responds positively to change and adapts easily to new processes and initiatives.
• Good IT skills with a knowledge of Microsoft Office packages although further training can be given if required.
• Flexibility to travel to other offices as required - this can involve staying away from home.

About the Company

We are a leading international legal business with over 2,500 colleagues and a diverse range of capabilities. We have 11 offices in the UK as well as offices in Dublin, Madrid, Paris, Singapore, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Miami. We also have associations/alliances with firms in Malaysia, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Central America, the USA, Australia and Germany.

We are a broad-based commercial firm with a strong heritage in insurance, health and real estate. This is complemented by a fast-growing Business Advisory capability. We represent a wide range of clients, ranging from household names to government departments and NHS bodies. We act for all of the UK’s top-ten insurers, we are market leaders in the provision of strategic, commercial and regulatory advice to providers and commissioners in the health sector, and in real estate we advise all of the UK’s top-12 housebuilders.

We have an impressive legal pedigree, with 142 Chambers UK 2021 practice area and individual lawyer rankings. In Legal 500 UK 2021, the firm received a top tier ranking for 37 of its practice areas, and 58 DACB lawyers were singled out in the ‘Leading Individual' rankings.

Our successes have been recognised by the legal industry and the markets in which we operate. These accolades include two top prizes in the ‘Excellence in Business Development’ and ‘Excellence in Technology & Innovation’ categories of the 2020 Law Society Excellence Awards – the highest accolade for law firms in England & Wales. Our health sector team won the ‘Crisis Management Team of the Year’ award at the 2020 British Legal Awards for its support to the NHS at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and our Cyber & Data Risk team received the ‘Business Development Innovation Award’ at the 2020 Legal Innovation Awards, as well as ‘Cyber Law Firm of the Year’ at the prestigious Insurance Insider Cyber Rankings Awards, for its market-leading suite of digital tools to help our clients prepare for and respond to cyber and data risk crises.

Our vision is to be leading business advisers, recognised for our insight and our outstanding commitment to clients, and for being the place where talented people want to work. For further details on our work and our culture, please visit www.dacbeachcroft.com.

Application Details

At DAC Beachcroft, we don’t just accept your differences we celebrate them.  From bespoke solutions for our clients, to treating you like an individual.  Our strength comes from your diverse ideas and bringing the whole you to work. So if you’re good at what you do, come as you are.  We welcome direct applications and are happy to talk flexible working.

We also want you to be at your very best.  Please feel free to let us know of any changes we can make at any point in the recruitment process that will help support your application.  If this opportunity sounds of interest to you, please make an application and submit your CV.  Your application will be dealt with in the strictest of confidence.

Note for Recruitment Agencies – the DAC Beachcroft recruitment team is responsible for managing all current vacancies through direct hiring and referrals wherever possible.  We do work with recruitment agencies and where we require external support we will formally release those vacancies to the agencies on our Preferred Supplier List deemed best placed to assist us.  Speculative CVs sent by any agency to any DAC Beachcroft employee without a specific request by the recruitment team will not be accepted and with no introduction fee applicable.  Our recruitment team can be contacted at recruitment@dacbeachcroft.com

DAC Beachcroft