LLP - Commercial Health Experienced Associate (5+PQE)

Job Introduction

DAC Beachcroft is looking to appoint a commercial Senior Associate to join our highly successful and award winning team in our Leeds office on the back of some significant client wins and growth in our team and work. We have a thriving public sector client base, particularly in healthcare and Central Government and a large commercial client base which provides works and services to the public sector. We’ve got high ambitions for the team and are looking for candidates who would like to help us realise these.

We regularly work on excellent quality, high profile, cutting edge contracts, projects and procurements that attract media attention. The ideal candidate will be able to assist with realisation of our business plan focusing on delivery of prompt, first class services to the public and private sector clients of the firm.

Collaborative working across our national offices is at the heart of what we do and, working with some of the highest ranked lawyers in the sector, there are constant opportunities for development and growth. The DAC Beachcroft Flex Forward approach means most of the team work flexibly either remotely or on a hybrid basis, spending some time in one or more of our offices, allowing them to find a life that works.

This opportunity is for an ambitious commercial lawyer, with expertise in negotiating and drafting a broad array of contractual arrangements ideally focussed on the health sector. Knowledge of or a keen interest in the health sector is important to us. Knowledge of and experience with advising on public procurement law and/or subsidy control law (or a willingness to develop experience and expertise in either or both of these areas) would also be an advantage.

Role Responsibility

Handling own caseload and working with other lawyers on major projects, encompassing the full range of commercial work within the team (with an appropriate level of support and supervision) alongside contributing to business development initiatives. Your main role will be drafting and negotiating commercial contracts, project management, and providing risk advice that is commercial and solution based.

Work that you may be involved in includes:

• Progressing, drafting and negotiating a diverse workload of commercial contracting matters of varying complexity and scale in a variety of sectors including health, central government, local government and utilities
• Undertaking, preparing and managing contracts and other key documents relating to the procurement of large scale projects that fall within the scope of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016 or Concessions Contracts Regulations 2016
• Advising on NHS collaboration (including the documents associated with the creation of “Teckal” and “Hamburg” arrangements) 
• Advising on commercial joint ventures
• General advice on contractual and commercial matters for a range of health and social care clients.

The role includes the following responsibilities:

• Managing your own matters, time and relationships and being a team player at all times
• Actively identifying and exploiting business development opportunities and marketing activity for team clients and your own contacts
• Initiating and participating in marketing / network activities in order to maintain and develop work from existing clients and potential clients
• Creating content for, and presenting and assisting in client and other external seminars and training opportunities, leading and taking part in pitches and leading and contributing positively to business development
• Maintaining and developing technical knowledge through attending training sessions, reading appropriate publications and exceeding Law Society CPD requirements
• Leading and contributing to technical and sector knowledge within the team and firm
• Supporting the effective running of the team e.g. contributing to team meetings, reviewing advice, reports and documents of more junior fee earners and providing guidance and feedback, assisting with the allocation of work
• Providing support for colleagues where appropriate e.g. progressing matters in colleagues’ absence, supporting CRM activities
• Continually monitoring and taking responsibility for own financial performance and demonstrating proactive financial management; attention to billing regimes, credit control, debt collection, accounting procedures and client service level agreements
• Handling confidential data in line with the firm's data security protocols.

The Ideal Candidate

The Ideal Candidate

Qualified solicitor or barrister with previous experience of and solid demonstrable interest in commercial work.

Experience in commercial health, procurement law and/or subsidy control law is an advantage. A strong interest in the health and social care sector is essential.

We are seeking the following qualities:

• Solid experience of progressing, drafting and negotiating a diverse workload of commercial contracting matters of varying complexity and scale.
• Solid experience of undertaking, preparing and managing contracts and other key documents relating to the procurement of projects that fall within the scope of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016 or Concessions Contracts Regulations 2016
• Highly-motivated, sharing our commitment to providing an excellent service to our clients
• Strong academic background coupled with the ability to formulate and present sound, coherent advice, both orally and in writing
• Ability to think creatively and pragmatically to add value and provide risk-focused, practical advice
• Ability to adopt a client focused and commercial perspective rather than an ‘academic’ approach to legal issues, coupled with a keen grasp of legal issues, as these arise (demonstrating a clear ability to learn quickly ‘on the job’)
• Willingness to take responsibility and ownership of client work, balancing confidence in your own ability and appropriate self-sufficiency with a willingness to learn and awareness of the boundaries of your own competence/authority
• Ability to deal confidently and professionally with clients on a day to day basis and to develop relationships with individual clients
• Ability to work alongside other professional advisors and consultants as part of a project team
• Ability to work effectively with colleagues, participate in team-working and develop relationships within the firm
• Change oriented with a positive, flexible approach towards the implementation of new initiatives

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