Commercial Lawyer

Job Introduction

Job Description for Commercial Lawyer:

There’s never been a more exciting time to be part of the nuclear sector. New opportunities are being created all the time. At NNL, you’ll be in the ideal place to capitalise on this momentum, face new challenges and develop a long, successful and meaningful career. 

We’re an organisation that’s here to experiment and push the limits of what’s possible. So, if you’re keen to excel in your chosen field, this is the place to do it. Because at NNL, anything is possible.

For an experienced commercial thinking lawyer to support the Head of Legal, offer strategic legal advice and take on a commercially focused role to support the various functions in achieving their objectives. To be accountable and responsible for drafting, reviewing and negotiating contracts.

Role Responsibility

Main Responsibilities for Commercial Lawyer:

• Advise on a broad range of legal matters, including contracts, transactions, claims.
• Lead negotiations across broad range of commercial and procurement contracts.
• Draft and review a range of legal documents relating to supply including NEC contracts and flow down of terms for subcontracts.
• Draft, review and advise upon a range of legal documents relating to procurement (including Public Procurement Regulations).
• Provide training to Commercial and Procurement colleagues on relevant legal topics and procedures.
• Provide legal advice and support to the business.

The Ideal Candidate

Essential Criteria for Commercial Lawyer:

• Demonstrable experience PQE as a UK qualified commercial lawyer/solicitor.
• A lawyer with a track record in 'business law' environment (be that from a contracts, corporate or projects background) ideally gained at a major commercial law firm or well respected in house team.
• Will need first rate technical legal skills, as well as the softer communication skills that are so essential in such a visible client facing role working closely with the business.
• Strong knowledge in commercial and public procurement law in areas such as bidding, sales, purchasing and service contracts.
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills with the ability to work autonomously and lead key negotiations as necessary.
• Will need to be responsive to tight timescales as and when required and be resilient and adaptive to dealing with the work.
• The key criteria for this role are to be pragmatic and commercially minded. 
• Ability to obtain BPSS level security clearance (this includes but is not limited to identity, employment and criminal record checks). 

Desirable Criteria for Commercial Lawyer:

• The role requires an adaptable, proactive and commercially focused lawyer who will support and allow the Legal team to best support the business going forwards.

About the Company

Grounded in robust science and decades of experience, National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) is the authoritative voice in the UK and beyond for technological development within the nuclear power sector.

Our unparalleled understanding of the science, challenges and opportunities makes us an unrivalled authority and partner in the field, providing experts, technologies, and access to cutting-edge facilities to organisations around the world.

Harnessing potential technologies and translating them into to industry-ready solutions means our pioneering approach spearheads international improvement and technological progress.

We work on projects as small as drilling a hole to analyse underground wastes with our integrated micro drilling technology, or as large as developing state-of-the-art power systems for spacecraft, based on radioactive materials

NNL has a vision for Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (ED&I) where NNL aims to be an inclusive workplace that attracts diverse talent through transparent and equal policies and procedures. We want you and the diverse mix of people that we employ, customers that we service and stakeholders that we influence to feel valued. We encourage a workplace culture where everyone can thrive with a sense of belonging.

Recruitment Agency Notice

We operate a strict Preferred Supplier List (PSL) for the provision of recruitment services. Only agencies on our PSL may provide CVs and only when the role is released to them by our recruitment team. We will not accept unsolicited CVs from suppliers not currently on our PSL. We explicitly reserve the right to add candidate details from unsolicited CVs from non-PSL agencies into our own candidate database and to pursue/hire such candidate(s) without any obligation, financial or otherwise, to the agency concerned.

National Nuclear Laboratory