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Commercial / Public Procurement Lawyer

Employer
Southern Water
Location
West Durrington, West Sussex
Salary
£Competitive
Closing date
10 Jun 2021

View more

Practice area
Company and commercial
Contract type
Permanent
Hours
Full time
PQE
3 years, 4 years, 5 years, 6 years
Position
Solicitor
Sector
In-house

Job Details

Why Water?

Without water, life as we know it would be impossible. Every day, we rely on it for drinking, washing and cleaning. It helps create the energy we need for heat and light. It’s also essential to the products we enjoy and the natural world we depend upon.

Yet the South East faces a future of more people and less water. Our population is growing fast, and climate change is bringing greater risk of both drought and flooding.

In the water industry, your work will help to address these challenges and give people access to sustainable, high-quality water and wastewater services for decades to come.

The South East is also home to over 700 miles of coastline, two National Parks, four Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and some of the world’s rarest chalk streams. As well as working within these breath-taking environments, your activities will help preserve them for generations to come.

Why Southern Water?

Each day, over four million people across Sussex, Kent, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight count on us for their essential water or wastewater services. Our work is vital, because we’re providing water for life.

Do you want to make a difference? At Southern Water, you work will help to enhance health and wellbeing, protect and improve the environment and sustain the economy. You’ll also play an important role in helping us deliver a resilient water future for the South East.

Are you a natural collaborator with a strong moral compass and high standards? If so, you’ll fit right in. Everything we do is underpinned by three values: succeeding together, doing the right thing and always improving. Do you want to bring your authentic self to work every day? We do too. That’s why we’re building an inclusive culture and are proud to offer equal opportunities regardless of age, cultural background, disability, gender, marital status, nationality, political belief, race, religion or sexual orientation. We believe the unique perspectives and experiences each of us brings make us stronger.

Job Overview

Following appointment of the existing post-holder to our recently advertised Commercial/Regulatory Lawyer role, Southern Water is currently looking for an intellectually capable and highly motivated Commercial / Public Procurement Lawyer on a full-time, permanent basis with a competitive salary.

The role is based in Durrington, West Sussex, but may be required to work from other offices especially Falmer (Brighton), and there is flexibility for Working from Home.

Responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:
• To provide focused accurate, effective and timely legal advice, analysis and support to the relevant business functions to enable those business functions to meet /manage their objectives.
• To provide advice in a clear, useable way enabling others (at whatever level in the business) to immediately understand key facts and issues.
• To responsively advise senior management on developments and issues which may impact the functional business area, and to proactively notify and inform the senior management team of key matters, risks, developments, providing on-going briefing on that advice/issue.
• To identify areas of risk for the company and either directly provide or work with others to implement solutions to manage these risks.
• To stay abreast of legal developments in order to identify the potential impact on the company.
• To prepare and undertake negotiations on behalf of the company.
• To draft requisite legal documents quickly and accurately.
• To lead by example, developing standards and practices for the General Counsel team, and motivating and informing other lawyers within the team, to provide the best possible legal advice and support to the company.

What you’ll bring to the role

We are ideally seeking a candidate with 3 - 6 years relevant commercial legal PQE, with excellent communication and interpersonal skills; a proactive, positive nature, as well as the ability to work as part of a team and build relationships at all levels.

Key skills we are looking for include:
• Technical expertise in general English commercial and contract law
• General knowledge of English law, English court/tribunal procedures and legal precedents
• Previous experience working on similar commercial legal issues required
• Good knowledge of the regulatory environment within which the company operates
• Adequate IT skills, Excellent written and verbal communication, Self-starter with ability to work as part of a team and to work pro-actively across and with a number of other functions, Relationship builder with drive to engage directly
• Qualified solicitor, barrister or FILEX with appropriate post-qualification experience

Please note: If you are a current Southern Water employee, please confirm within your application / CV / covering letter that you have informed your Line Manager or People Services Manager that you are applying for this role.

All applicants must be eligible to live and work in the UK. You will need to provide evidence of eligibility (e.g. a passport or long birth certificate and proof of NI) and current proof of address (dated within the last 3 months), will be required as part of the recruitment process. If you do not meet these criteria, your application will not be considered

By submitting your details to this position at Southern Water, you are also agreeing to share your details with Gattaca PLC who are the managed service provider for all recruitment with the Southern Water Business. Should you wish to see the Gattaca PLC privacy policy please go to https://www.gattacaplc.com/help/privacy-statement

Company

Why Southern Water?

Without water, life as we know it would be impossible. Every day, we rely on it for drinking, washing and cleaning. It helps create the energy we need for heat and light. It’s also essential to the products we enjoy and the natural world we depend upon.

Yet the South East faces a future of more people and less water. Our population is growing fast, and climate change is bringing greater risk of both drought and flooding. 

In the water industry, your work will help to address these challenges and give people access to sustainable, high-quality water and wastewater services for decades to come.

The South East is also home to over 700 miles of coastline, two National Parks, four Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and some of the world’s rarest chalk streams. As well as working within these breath-taking environments, your activities will help preserve them for generations to come.

Each day, over four million people across Sussex, Kent, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight count on us for their essential water or wastewater services. Our work is vital, because we’re providing water for life. 

Do you want to make a difference? At Southern Water, you work will help to enhance health and wellbeing, protect and improve the environment and sustain the economy. You’ll also play an important role in helping us deliver a resilient water future for the South East.

Are you a natural collaborator with a strong moral compass and high standards? If so, you’ll fit right in. Everything we do is underpinned by three values: succeeding together, doing the right thing and always improving. Do you want to bring your authentic self to work every day? We do too. That’s why we’re building an inclusive culture and are proud to offer equal opportunities regardless of age, cultural background, disability, gender, marital status, nationality, political belief, race, religion or sexual orientation. We believe the unique perspectives and experiences each of us brings make us stronger.

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