Lawyer

NCS (National Citizen Services) London is looking for a Lawyer.

Organisation and programme
The National Citizen Service (“NCS”) is a government-backed programme established in 2011 to help build a more cohesive, mobile and engaged society. By bringing together young people from different backgrounds for a unique shared experience, NCS helps them to become better individuals and, in turn, better citizens with a greater sense of purpose, optimism and belonging.
NCS aims to achieve this through:

• Social mixing: providing young people with the opportunity to build relationships with people from different social backgrounds;
• Challenge: putting them through a series of challenging activities to help develop their strength of character;
• Increased responsibility: placing more responsibility on them as the programme progresses, enabling them to develop the leadership skills necessary to succeed in their future endeavours;
• Reflection: encouraging young people to reflect and learn from their experiences, to become more resilient and confident in their decisions and relationships; and
• Social action: enabling them to connect and engage with their local communities. The programme, which lasts from two to four weeks during school holidays, is open to 15 to 17 year- olds across England and Northern Ireland. It includes outdoor team-building exercises, a residential for participants to learn ‘life skills’, a community-based social action project, and an end of programme celebration event.

Nearly 400,000 young people have now taken part in NCS and it is the fastest growing youth movement in over a century.
NCS Trust is an independent, not-for-profit organisation that works alongside 200 local charity partners to drive and deliver NCS across the country.

Role Context

Role context We are recruiting a commercial lawyer to work full time in NCS’ Legal Department. The role is likely to provide a variety of work ranging from negotiating commercial contracts to providing legal advice to assist NCS with its expansion plans. The role will also require the individual to work closely with other departments around NCS to advise on issues relating to Data Protection/GDPR and Freedom of Information law.

The successful candidate will either have the knowledge and experience of FOIA or be prepared to acquire it early in their time at NCS Trust. It would also be helpful although not mandatory for candidates to have a working knowledge of public procurement law. This also is an area in which the successful candidate is expected to acquire an appropriate level of proficiency if they do not already possess it. This role provides a unique opportunity for a qualified solicitor to gain significant commercial and other experience whilst assisting a growing not-for-profit with their high profile expansion.

Role description
Key responsibilities:

• Drafting and negotiating commercial contracts with a variety of stakeholders (knowledge of general contract and Data Protection/GDPR law is essential).
• legal documentation to assist NCS Trust transfer its contractual assets from a community interest company to a Royal Charter Body.
• Advising on FOIA and public procurement law matters (please see above).
• Working with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders to resolve any concerns or issues with contract negotiations (not employment contracts).
• Providing assistance to other members of the Legal Department to resolve a variety of legal queries.
• Providing assistance to NCS’ Information Security Team to resolve queries concerning applicable law.
• Providing assistance to NCS’ safeguarding team to resolve legal issues or concerns relating to minors.
• Reporting to NCS’ Senior Lawyer.

Person specification
Experience

• Drafting and negotiating commercial contracts (necessary)
• Good knowledge of English contract law (necessary)
• Knowledge of Data Protection/GDPRlaw (necessary)
• Knowledge of IP law (preferred)
• Ability to use and adapt precedent documentation (necessary)
• Basic knowledge of TUPE law (necessary)
• Knowledge of Freedom of Information law (preferred)
• Knowledge of Public Procurement law (as above)
• Knowledge of safeguarding law (preferred)
• English qualified solicitor with at least 3 years PQE (necessary) NCS may consider applicants with less than 3 years PQE on an exceptional basis
• 1 years+ experience in-house or in a commercial/corporate department of a City law firm (preferred)

Skills & attributes

• Excellent attention to detail (necessary)
• Excellent English – written and spoken (necessary)
• Ability to handle negotiations under pressure (necessary)
• Ability to manage priorities, work to deadlines and as part of a team (necessary)
• Ability to provide legal advice with a practical focus and in a manner fully comprehensible to people with no legal training (necessary)

Further Information
Offer type: This is a full time employment contract.
Remuneration: T he salary commensurate with skills and organisational fit] and may be
adjusted based on skills, experience and organisational fit. Additional benefits include a
5% non-contributory pension.
Location: The role is based in West London
How to apply: Please send your CV to victoriachadwick@ncstrust.co.uk. Your covering email should:

• Include the job title in the subject line
• Make clear the role you are applying for
• Outline how you satisfy the specific experience and skills & attributes elements we list above
• Say what attracts you to us and this role