Associate General Counsel

The Associate General Counsel plays a pivotal role in advising on and dealing with legal matters across our business, in particular in respect of a wide variety of commercial contracts and providing legal and regulatory advice and support in a number of other areas. You will interface with all functions across our business including pre- and post-sales, product, marketing, service delivery, sales operations and supply chain. As part of this, you will be responsible for our ROW sales contracts alongside our sales teams and will work alongside other members of the Legal team on customer sales contracts and compliance and export control matters, as required. You will also support with all corporate legal activity, including investment rounds, M&A activity and secretariat, and will assist with the management of the company’s IP portfolio and related matters including in respect of IP strategy.

Requirements

Commercial Contracts:

• Draft, negotiate and finalise contract terms and conditions for sales outside of the U.S., including in collaboration with our sales, product, supply chain, export control, engineering and service delivery functions, and aligned with company policies and processes including relevant legislative, regulatory and export controls compliance.
• Develop and implement appropriate template direct and indirect sales contracts, including in conjunction with all members of the Legal Team to ensure as much uniformity as possible regardless of type of customer and territory.
• Ensure compliance obligations on all parties are drafted appropriately in sales contracts and meet all relevant legislative and regulatory requirements, in conjunction with Legal Assurance.
• Consider, advise and report on any customer flow-down requirements in sales contracts.
• Draft, negotiate and finalise contract terms and conditions for suppliers, including in collaboration with supply chain and engineering, aligned with the company’s standard purchasing terms, policies and processes including relevant legislative, regulatory and export controls compliance.
• Implement and manage a continuous development programme for the company’s template supplier contracts, including in conjunction with all members of the Legal Team to ensure any relevant customer flow-down requirements are met.
• Analyse all existing supplier contracts to identify key milestones and associated obligations on each party, and work with supply chain to ensure appropriate monitoring and compliance is in place.

Advisory & Support:

• Support the design and implementation of company policies and procedures.
• Support the development of standard form agreements across the business, including in relation to partnerships, collaborations and licensing arrangements.
• Play a key part in promoting legal, compliance and risk management best practice throughout the company.
• Engage with and advise key stakeholders in each department, including IT, Finance and Facilities.
• Monitor legislative and regulatory changes and advise the business on the risks and opportunities these present.
• Draft and negotiate non-disclosure agreements.
• Deliver training for the business and provide support, legal updates and guidance to different business functions on contractual matters.
• Advise on and assist with transactional intellectual property matters where required.
• Stay up-to-date with changes to legislation, particularly in relation to laws, rules and regulations that directly affect our business and specific industry.

Assurance:

• Develop, implement and maintain compliance policies, procedures and standards, including in conjunction with the Associate General Counsel (U.S.).
• Conduct regular legal audits to assess adherence to applicable laws, regulations, and internal policies, including in respect of export controls and sanctions.
• Develop a sanctions screening programme appropriate to and aligned with the company’s manufacturing and supply chain activities and roadmap.
• Assess and mitigate potential legal risks associated with business operations and transactions.
• Provide support to all relevant contracting activity, including reviews and negotiations, to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations (including sanctions and export controls), standards, policies and procedures and mitigate legal exposure working closely with the other parts of the Legal function, Sales, Engineering, Manufacturing & Supply Chain.
• Support the Product and Quality functions with activities relating to product certifications, licensing and regulatory approvals including liaising with external providers where appropriate.
• Investigate and respond to legal matters, incidents and inquiries (internal and external), ensuring timely resolution.
• Assist with, and advise on, the management of confidential information flows within the business and with external partners, including requirements imposed as a result of contracting with military customers.

Corporate:

• Support all corporate legal matters including fundraising, M&A, joint ventures and other strategic business initiatives.
• Provide support to corporate secretariat matters, including assisting the company secretary and making filings at Companies House.
• Work with Associate General Counsel (U.S.) to set up and manage inter-company agreements and relevant policies and procedures for FOCI (Foreign Ownership Control or Influence) mitigation.
• Ensure appropriate delegations of authority are in place, aligned with company structure, policies, procedures and finance management
• Assist with managing the company’s IP, including selection and management of external providers, budget management, new filings and strategic matters (including with regard to trade secrets and proprietary confidential information) in conjunction with engineering.
• Provide support to HR in respect of employment legal matters, in conjunction with external advisers where appropriate and agreed.

Risk:

• Develop and implement a comprehensive risk management framework and associated policies, and review and update the corporate risk register.
• Identify and assess potential risks associated with business operations, projects and strategic initiatives.
• Monitor and analyse key risk indicators to anticipate and address emerging risks, and conduct regular risk reporting to SLT and relevant stakeholder groups including committees.
• Support on all litigation matters and disputes.

QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

• Significant experience as a qualified solicitor, including in-house.
• Excellent understanding, knowledge of and experience in commercial and corporate law.
• Significant demonstrated experience in:
• Drafting, negotiating, closing and managing sales contracts, advising and reporting on in-life contract management matters; and
• Compliance and risk management principles, methodologies and best practices.
• Excellent negotiating and drafting skills.
• Ability to build and maintain strong professional relationships across the business.
• Comfortable in working cross-functionally and with a wide variety of stakeholders both internally and externally to achieve the company’s goals.
• Ability to communicate complex legal issues and risks in terms that non-legal colleagues can understand.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced and dynamic environment.
• Strong communication, presentation and budgeting skills.

Benefits

• Generous Salary and Annual Bonus
• Stock Options
• Contributory Pension Scheme
• 25 days Annual Leave + Public holidays
• Cycle To Work Schemes
• Car Scheme (Salary Sacrifice)
• Free On-Site Gym
• Employee Assistance Programs
• Discounts Platform