Senior Legal Counsel - 12 month FTC

Informa Group Plc.; London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job description

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Company Description

Informa is a leading academic publishing, business intelligence, knowledge and events business, creating unique content and connectivity for customers all over the world. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the FTSE 100.

Taylor & Francis Group operates globally and produces high quality, peer reviewed books and journals. We produce unique, trusted content by expert authors, spreading knowledge and promoting discovery globally. We aim to broaden thinking and advance understanding, providing academics and professionals with a platform to share ideas and realize their individual potential.

Our purpose is to foster human progress through knowledge. We strongly believe that this requires us to encourage and examine different ideas and voices, so that any work that meets our exacting levels of quality deserves to be included in our publications. This requires open minds, the opportunity for robust debate, and the courage to defend perspectives that stand up to scrutiny, even if they conflict with our personal beliefs or values. Because that's the only way to find the best obtainable version of the truth and, ultimately, foster human progress. If you agree, then we'd love to hear from you.

Job Description

We are currently recruiting for a talented Senior Legal Counsel to join the Taylor & Francis legal team (maternity cover for up to 12 months). This is an exciting opportunity to become a valued business partner to a global content business, and to be part of a collegiate and supportive legal team.

Reporting directly into the General Counsel for Taylor & Francis, you will be responsible for supporting Taylor & Francis on all legal matters, with particular focus on the Researcher Services (Journals) business. In this business-facing role, you will work closely with senior management and other key stakeholders, including in the Editorial, Production, Marketing, Commercial and Product/Technology functions.

The Taylor & Francis legal team is a highly respected and valued business partner to Taylor & Francis, with lawyers based in the UK, US and Singapore. The team combines technical legal expertise with commercial insight and an appreciation for the business' objectives to provide constructive, balanced and effective advice. You will also sit within the wider Informa Group legal team. In 2017, the Informa Group legal team's successes were externally recognised, winning Legal Week's "In-house TMT Team of the Year" award, and in 2019 it was short-listed for The Lawyer's "In-house TMT Team of the Year" award.

Responsibilities are expected to include:

• Taking a lead on the legal team's support to the Researcher Services (Journals) business, for example including:
  • Proactively building effective working relationships with senior leadership in the business and representing the legal team at management meetings contributing expertise and influencing
  • Identifying and managing projects end to end to mitigate any identified areas of legal risk
  • Identifying and then leading support to the Researcher Services business on upcoming changes to legislation or policies that might impact its operations
  • Representing Taylor & Francis at external events, trade body meetings and industry initiatives as appropriate
  • Oversee work of junior Legal Team members if required
• IP/copyright/commercial
  • Leading support to the business on complex IP/copyright-related matters, including for example advising on rights in a licensing context or IP policy developments
  • Drafting, negotiating and advising senior leaders on a wide range of commercial contracts, including customer contracts, publishing agreements, author/editor contracts, distribution and agency agreements, supplier agreements and IT/technology contracts
• Dispute resolution
  • Advising on content-related issues and disputes, both pre- and post-publication, including issues related to copyright, defamation and privacy
  • Taking a lead on managing and resolving third party disputes
  • Instructing external counsel where necessary and managing external legal costs
• Collaborating effectively with the other lawyers in the Taylor & Francis legal team (based in the US, UK and Singapore) to ensure a consistent and effective approach to managing legal risk across the business globally

Qualifications

Knowledge and experience required

• A qualified lawyer with around 6 years plus post-qualification experience (PQE is given as a guide only. This will not be a determining factor of suitability and applicants of other levels of PQE may apply).
• Prior experience of building effective working relationships with senior commercial stakeholders in a business.
• A robust understanding of intellectual property/copyright law and demonstrable experience of advising clients on, and finding pragmatic solutions to, complex copyright and licensing issues, ideally within a content industry. Experience of advising on copyright issues within an AI context is desirable but not essential.
• A professional qualification in IP would be helpful but not essential.
• Demonstrable experience of managing and resolving legal disputes to an effective solution.
• Prior experience of instructing external counsel and managing external legal costs is desirable but not essential.
• Prior inhouse experience and/or experience of the publishing industry is desirable but not essential.

What makes you stand out

• Strongly commercial thinker able to find pragmatic and workable solutions.
• Evidence of ability to exercise commercial judgment and balance business needs with legal risk in a commercial, constructive and business-sympathetic way.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and an ability to work cooperatively and build strong relationships with others, including within the legal team and with internal senior business stakeholders.
• Ability to take ownership and work independently, and to take a lead and own issues and projects within the role's remit.
• An enthusiastic and proactive approach to work, with an ability to prioritise effectively.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills including an ability to explain complex legal issues in a clear and simple manner to a non-legally trained audience.

Additional Information

Location: The successful candidate will be able to utilise our balanced working model. We ask that candidates live within a commutable distance to ensure that as a balanced worker they can make it to our office locations to collaborate as required.

Closing Date: Applications will close on 21/02/2025

What we offer in return:

• An excellent work/life balance with a fantastic, flexible working culture
• 25 days annual leave per year plus a day off for your birthday
• 3 additional discretionary days off during the holiday season at the end of the year
• 4 paid volunteering days each year
• Company funded single cover private medical insurance
• Employee assistance programme - offering 24/7 well-being support
• Share Match - Plan that matches every share purchased with two free shares
• Pension scheme
• Life assurance, plus optical and medical care

Being Yourself at Taylor & Francis: If you're excited about working with Taylor & Francis to foster human progress through knowledge, we invite you to apply even if your existing skills and experience don't fit every item listed above. At Taylor & Francis, we are at our best and most successful when colleagues can be themselves and make a contribution regardless of their identity or background.

Taylor & Francis is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We believe in and value diversity of people and thought, fostering a supportive and inclusive environment where all colleagues can learn and succeed as their true selves. Taylor & Francis recruits, develops, and retains colleagues without regard to any protected personal characteristics or other non-merit based factor.

We genuinely care about our colleagues, promoting work-life balance, wellbeing, and flexible working. We believe that the skills and experience you bring to Taylor & Francis are invaluable. We want you to have the opportunity to develop your abilities, and to innovate and develop in areas which you are passionate about.