Commercial Legal Counsel – Maternity Cover

Ideas | People | Trust

We’re BDO. An accountancy and business advisory firm, providing the advice and solutions entrepreneurial organisations need to navigate today’s changing world.

We work with the companies that are Britain’s economic engine ambitious, entrepreneurially spirited and high‑growth businesses that fuel the economy and directly advise the owners and management teams that lead them.

We’ll broaden your horizons

The Quality and Risk Management Team (QRMT) at BDO comprises several sub-teams including the Office of the General Counsel Legal, Root Cause Analysis, Enterprise Risk Management, Economic Crime, Quality Management, Ethics and Independence and Advisory Regulatory and Compliance. It provides Partners and staff with the guidance, tools and support to enable them to identify and manage quality and risk issues. The QRMT is led by the Head of Quality and Risk Management Team, who is a partner who reports into the Head of Quality and Risk for the Firm and sits on the BDO Executive Board.

We’ll help you succeed

Leading organisations trust us because of the quality of our advice. That quality grows from a thorough understanding of their business, and that understanding comes from working closely with them and building long-lasting relationships.

You’ll be someone who is both comfortable working proactively and managing your own tasks, as well as confident collaborating with others and communicating regularly with senior managers, directors, and BDO’s partners to help businesses effectively. You’ll be encouraged to identify and draw attention to opportunities for enhancing our delivery and providing additional services to organisations we work with.

Overview

BDO’s Office of the General Counsel is seeking a Commercial Legal Counsel to join the team on a fixed-term basis for a period of 15 months, providing maternity cover. The role will support wide ranging client facing commercial contracting activity. A key part of the role will be leading on negotiating complex master services agreements with some of BDO’s largest clients, often with an international element and frequently involving the inclusion of technology provisions.

The role requires an experienced lawyer capable of supporting the business in making pragmatic commercial decisions that will ensure contract negotiations align with BDO’s risk appetite. The role will also offer the opportunity to support the Firm’s internal function on strategically significant contracts and leading on the client flow down elements of risk management in technology procurement.

BDO's Office of the General Counsel, which sits within the Quality and Risk Management (QRM) Team, provides dedicated support on all legal matters arising from our business including commercial contracting, litigation, regulatory proceedings, operations including mergers and acquisitions, governance and partnership matters and supplier contracting. The Office of the General Counsel is based in London (Baker Street); however, this role may be based from BDO offices in London or Liverpool.

We’re Looking For Someone With

When you join us, we’ll make your growth is our priority. If you can demonstrate the following skills, we can help you go far.

Essential:

• qualified to practice law in England and Wales;
• considerable post qualified experience of;
• experience providing legal advice within a regulated sector gained at a reputable law firm or within a fast-paced in-house legal function;
• experience negotiating commercial contracts (master services agreements, framework agreements, NDAs etc.);
• experience drafting client facing technology contracts, including SaaS platform agreements, reseller arrangements and strategic partnership agreements;
• experience mentoring or supervising junior legal team members, including acting as a point of escalation on complex contracting and drafting matters;
• strong working knowledge of EU/UK Data Protection Laws in the context of a global business;
• experience contributing to the creation and/or improvement of template contracts and/or playbooks;
• ability to operate at a senior level, demonstrating strong leadership qualities including the capacity to:
  • understand the firm’s business strategy and goals and develop solutions aligned to these;
  • interpret relevant law and to determine practical, commercial and effective ways of complying with it; and
  • demonstrate exceptional written, verbal and interpersonal skills, with the ability to convey complex legal concepts clearly to stakeholders.

Desirable Experience:

• negotiating contracts incorporating AI-related provisions and advising on AI-related legal and regulatory matters;
• advising on outsourcing and subcontracting arrangements in a global business context, including the negotiation of cross-border service delivery models and relevant governance frameworks;
• use and/or deployment of AI within a legal function to assist in contract review, drafting and negotiation; and
• experience negotiating commercial contracts within a professional services environment, including engagement letters, hold harmless letters, reliance letters and other client-facing risk management guidance.

You’ll be able to be yourself; we’ll recognise and value you for who you are and celebrate and reward your contributions to our business. We’re committed to agile working, and we offer everyone the opportunity to work in ways that suit them, their teams, and the task at hand.

At BDO, we’ll help you achieve your personal goals and career ambitions, and we have programmes, resources, and frameworks that provide clarity and structure around career development.

We’re in it together

Mutual support and respect is one of BDO’s core values and we’re proud of our distinctive, people-centred culture. From informal success conversations to formal mentoring and coaching, we’ll support you at every stage in your career, whatever your personal and professional needs. Our agile working framework helps us stay connected, bringing teams together where and when it counts so they can share ideas and help one another. At BDO, you’ll always have access to the people and resources you need to do your best work.

We know that collaboration is the key to creating value and satisfying experiences at work, so we’ve invested in state-of-the-art collaboration spaces in our offices. BDO’s people represent a wealth of knowledge and expertise, and we’ll encourage you to build your network, work alongside others, and share your skills and experiences. With a range of multidisciplinary events and dedicated resources, you’ll never stop learning at BDO.

We’re looking forward to the future

At BDO, we help entrepreneurial businesses to succeed, fuelling the UK economy. Our success is powered by our people, which is why we’re always finding new ways to invest in you. Across the UK thousands of unique minds continue to come together to help companies we work with to achieve their ambitions.

We’ve got a clear purpose, and we’re confident in our future, because we’re adapting and evolving to build on our strengths, ensuring we continue to find the right combination of global reach, integrity and expertise. We shape the future together with openness and clarity, because we believe in empowering people to think creatively about how we can do things better.

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