Legal Counsel - English & Academic Team - 5873

Cambridge University Press; Cambridge; Hybrid; GBP 56,000 - 70,000

Job description

Job Title: Legal Counsel – English & Academic Team

Contract: Full time, maternity cover until July 2026.

Salary: £56,200-£70,000 depending on level of experience

Location: Cambridge, Hybrid

We are Cambridge University Press & Assessment, a world-leading academic publisher and learning and assessment organisation, and a proud part of the University of Cambridge.

We are looking for a pragmatic, commercial lawyer to come and help us support our global business with strategic legal advice.

This is an opportunity for you to join Legal & Business Affairs (L&BA), an approachable team which empowers the business to make effective and ethical choices and is enthusiastic about operational excellence to help us continually improve the way we support Cambridge. We are a large yet close-knit team that supports each other, enjoys solving problems, and loves changing the way our colleagues think about Legal, Business Ethics and Compliance. We are seeking team members who share our passion and our values: collaborative, innovative, empowering and responsible.

What will you do in this role?

In this role, you will report to the Assistant General Counsel – English & Academic. You will provide legal advice and support to colleagues in our global English and Academic product groups in relation to the sale and licensing of our print, digital and assessment products and services, and to our relationships with our customers globally. You will also provide legal advice and support to colleagues in other shared services teams, including Finance.

You will act as a key business partner and support the Assistant General Counsel. You will focus on being commercial and proactive, developing strong working relationships across the shared functions and wider business.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Advising on a wide range of contracts required for the commercial and corporate needs of the English and Academic product groups and colleagues in Finance and other shared services.
• Drafting and reviewing bespoke and non-standard contracts and addenda and supporting the negotiation of all types of commercial agreements.
• Work with other members of the team to propose, develop and implement improvements to our operations and contracting processes.
• Becoming a key contact to the English and Academic product groups and helping to advise on all commercial matters, interpreting the law to provide practical guidance and actionable advice.
• Contributing to L&BA department-wide initiatives and projects and provide input to the creation and maintenance of an efficient, effective digital contracts solution and the use of our other compliance software and tools.

Who are you?

We don't mind which university you went to or where you trained. While we give an indication in the job description of desired experience in relevant roles as a guide, we're keen to hear about different experience which would make you a strong addition to our team.

You're curious to learn (we are an education and research publishing organisation after all), and a perfect mix of self-starter and team player. You show us how you balance your ethical responsibilities with your commitment to helping colleagues – it's a fine line which we pride ourselves on being good at navigating, and we're always keen to learn from colleagues.

Along with sound legal skills, you will communicate effectively, providing expert guidance at a time and in a way that enables business colleagues to achieve their objectives. Whatever you are working on, you will be able to deliver your own initiatives and projects in a way that inspires confidence, as well as working collaboratively with others in the team and the wider organisation.

Your success will be underpinned by your ability to prioritise, with a practical and pragmatic approach, when advising on a wide variety of day-to-day matters.

For further detail on the role, please see the attached Job Description and, if you are interested in applying, please complete the attached form.

Ready to pursue your potential? Apply now.