Legal Counsel

Around the world, SYSTRA’s specialists plan, design, integrate, test, commission, project manage and deliver mass transit and mobility solutions that are relied on by more than 50 million people every day.

For more than 60 years, the Group has been committed to helping cities and regions contribute to their development by creating, improving and modernising their transport infrastructure with sustainability, accessibility and innovation at the heart of our designs. With over 10,300 colleagues globally and around 1000 in the UK & Ireland we are growing significantly and seeking out the very best talent to join the SYSTRA signature team and be part of leading the way in infrastructure design.

As SYSTRA continues to grow as a business in UK and Ireland, we are looking for a Legal Counsel to join our dedicated in-house legal function. The Legal Counsel will report to the Regional Head of Legal and assist in providing commercial and legal counselling related to matters for SYSTRA in UK and Ireland, with occasional support as required to wider entities in the SYSTRA Group, ensuring that both legal support and policy are consistently and effectively deployed across the business, that contractual risks are controlled and that SYSTRA’s operating needs are met.

The Legal Counsel will ideally be based in our Manchester, Birmingham or Leeds office with the flexibility of hybrid working.

Supporting the Regional Head of Legal, the successful candidate will:

• Provide legal advice and analysis on the full range of issues (mainly contractual and litigation) arising in UK and Ireland.
• Draft, evaluate and advise on a variety of contracts and agreements with respect to SYSTRA’s projects in UK and Ireland.
• Support in contractual negotiations with the client so that business requirements are met.
• Create and maintain relationships with internal clients and operational teams, clients, consortium partners, subcontractors, as the case may be, and their legal advisors on a day-to-day basis to facilitate reporting to senior management.
• Maintain records for correspondence and documentation in relation to established Contracts and those in progress.
• Work closely with the contract management team for the zone covered to secure the close-out, extension or renewal to serve the best interests of SYSTRA.
• Be aware, understand and obtain thorough knowledge about the active projects and the tenders in preparation in the region(s) assigned.
• Challenge legal matters through risks identification and provide mitigation advice.
• Offer support and guidance to other members of the legal department.
• Engage with management to meet goals and ensure adherence to important corporate and regulatory policies through training.
• Liaise with local insurance brokers for projects and tenders.
• Draft legal notices and lead the support towards management of dispute cases.
• Prepare, ensure respect of and apply SYSTRA’s governance (including board of directors and shareholder meetings, company secretarial)/compliance rules, as per the SYSTRA’s Group applicable rules.
• Provide company secretarial support as necessary.

Skills

Essential

• Ability to negotiate both with internal stakeholders and external clients and providers.
• Team player with strong commitment to actively work in alignment with other team members (Not only legal, but also operational and other supporting teams).
• Capacity to build and maintain strong links with the operational level of the business.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment and work to deadlines and under pressure.
• Able to demonstrate strong analytical skills and excellent Judgment.
• Highest ethical standards.
• Excellent communications skills with the ability to influence positively internal and external stakeholders at all levels.
• Ability to learn and understand new requirements under various systems of laws.
• Resilient and positive through change.
• Organized and have excellent attention to detail.
• Very high level of commitment to service delivery.
• Reasonable flexibility in working hours will be required to meet the demands of the role.
• Willingness to travel to client sites and other SYSTRA offices as required

Useful

• Ability to draft dispute pleadings and contentious correspondence.

Knowledge

Essential:

• Thorough understanding of principles of construction law and contracts and other associated agreements (Joint Ventures, Memorandums of Understanding, Confidentiality Agreements and the like)

Useful:

• Understanding of specific construction contracts such as the NEC and Network Rail suites of contracts.

Experience

• Proven experience of negotiating and drafting contracts and transaction documents.
• Previous experience in either construction, transport or engineering sectors.
• Training seats/rotations in at least one construction-focused and one corporate-focused team

Useful:

• Minimum 3 years PQE experience
• Previous experience in an international environment
• Previous experience in procurement law.
• Inhouse experience preceded by law firm experience will be well-regarded.
• Previous experience in company secretarial practice is an advantage.

Qualification

• Qualified Solicitor in England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland or Ireland