Senior Legal Counsel – Construction

Job summary

A unique opportunity to join the In-House Legal Team at United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA). UKHSA’s In-House Legal team is actively recruiting specialist lawyers to provide solutions-driven and pragmatic legal advice to UKHSA.

UKHSA is responsible for protecting every member of every community from the impact of infectious diseases, chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear incidents and other health threats. We provide intellectual, scientific and operational leadership at national and local level, as well as on the global stage, to make the nation's health secure.

We are a system leader for health security; taking action internationally to strengthen global health security, providing trusted advice to government and the public and reducing inequalities in the way different communities experience and are impacted by infectious disease, environmental hazards, and other threats to health.

UKHSA’s mission is challenging, innovative and in the spotlight. To achieve our objectives effectively and fairly, we commit to representing modern Britain and all its diversity. We recognise that diversity of background and life experience brings different insights, creates challenge, and encourages change and innovation. This in turn produces more accountable and trusted public services and better decisions.

Working for your organisation

We pride ourselves as being an employer of choice, where Everyone Matters promoting equality of opportunity to actively encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce.

UKHSA ethos is to be an inclusive organisation for all our staff and stakeholders. To create, nurture and sustain an inclusive culture, where differences drive innovative solutions to meet the needs of our workforce and wider communities. We do this through celebrating and protecting differences by removing barriers and promoting equity and equality of opportunity for all.

Job description

The government has committed to a multi-billion-pound investment in UKHSA’s new laboratory facilities – the most significant investment the UK has made in biosecurity infrastructure in a generation. These state-of-the-art laboratories, to be built at a new site in Harlow, will replace UKHSA’s existing facilities at Porton Down and Colindale and will be critical to the UK’s public health resilience and national security for decades to come.

This decision marks a pivotal moment for UKHSA and the wider government science landscape. The new facility will bring together world-class capability under one roof, enabling cutting-edge research, pandemic preparedness, and the protection of the UK from major biological threats.
We are looking for a senior construction lawyer, with substantial experience, to provide legal advice, compliance and legal assurance to senior management on construction and commercial law in complex projects. The post is a crucial role and key to supporting the UK Health Security Campus Programme in meeting its responsibilities.

The candidate will have to be able to manage a complex and varied caseload and work with internal clients, government lawyers, external law firms and counsel, and play an important co-ordination role when commercial matters involve cross-cutting legal issues for diverse teams in UKHSA, other government departments and third party organisations.

As a senior lawyer within the Legal team, the successful candidate will be expected to be a pro-active and collaborative member of a multidisciplinary legal team, to assist General Counsel with ensuring that the processes within the Legal team are fit for purpose and align with the commercial processes within UKHSA, and, where required, to manage at least one lawyer in the Legal team.

The successful candidate will be a team-player and will possess strong communication skills. The candidate will be expected to develop good working relationships with colleagues across the agency and work responsively and creatively, be solutions-driven and able to see the bigger picture.

Duties include:

• Be a senior construction lawyer with substantial experience in providing legal advice on, and the drafting and negotiation of complex construction contracts and project and governance documentation for major infrastructure projects;
• Drafting, reviewing and negotiating a wide variety of construction documents (NEC, JCT) and commercial agreements (to include bespoke drafting of contract terms to supplement standard contracts);
• Manage complex caseload, working with the in-house legal team, colleagues across UKHSA, other government departments, government lawyers, external law firms, external technical advisors and counsel;
• Have substantial experience in managing multiple external law firms to deliver complex projects and play an important co-ordination role where matters involve cross-cutting legal issues for diverse teams in UKHSA, other government departments and third party organisations;
• Be flexible in approach to different legal disciplines and, subject to caseload and capacity, willing to support colleagues within the Legal team by taking conduct of work outside own expertise and in other commercial areas;
• Be expected to assist General Counsel with ensuring that the processes within the Legal team are fit for purpose and align with the commercial processes within UKHSA;
• Where required, be expected to manage at least one lawyer in the Legal team;
• Be expected to provide training and support to colleagues to develop their understanding of construction legal issues;
• Work closely with a variety of internal stakeholders (both external and internal) to reduce the exposure to commercial and litigation risk and to develop realistic contingency plans when such risks materialise;
• Be comfortable about working effectively towards short deadlines;
• Be expected to demonstrate strong communication and leadership skills; and be expected to work responsively and creatively and be solutions-driven and able to see the bigger picture.

Person specification

Essential criteria

• Solicitor or barrister with a significant number of years post qualification experience (PQE), with a good commercial understanding and significant experience in construction law and contract negotiation and drafting.
• Solicitor Regulation Authority (SRA)
• Strong legal skills in the effective management of, and advising on, legal issues arising in complex construction projects.
• Reliable legal judgement, analysis and appreciation of legal risk and the confidence to give persuasive and balanced risk-based advice.
• Solutions-orientated with a commercial focus and the ability to strategic and creative thinking.
• Excellent and persuasive written and verbal communication and advisory skills.
• Ability to communicate confidently and sensitively with those who may be unfamiliar with legal processes/strategies.
• Promote diversity, inclusion and equality of opportunity.
• Welcome and respond to views and challenges from others, despite any conflicting pressures to ignore or give in to them.
• Stand by, promote or defend own and team’s actions and decisions where needed
• Communicate with others in a clear, honest and enthusiastic way in order to build trust
• Explain complex issues in a way that is easy to understand
• Take into account people’s individual needs
• Deliver difficult messages with clarity and sensitivity, being persuasive when required
• Challenge assumptions while being willing to compromise if beneficial to progress
• Build strong interpersonal relationships and show genuine care for colleagues.
• Create an inclusive working en