Details

Senior Legal Counsel (Subject Matter Expert)

Job Purpose

Provide high quality solutions-focussed legal advice to NWS to support the organisation in achieving its objectives, and to act as an intelligent client for the management of external legal advisors. This role will operate at a senior level and the post holder will take responsibility for a key legal subject area.

There are two roles we are seeking to fill, either with a secondee or a permanent external hire:

(i) Senior Legal Counsel (Subject Matter Expert) - GDF Strategic Procurement.

This role will be focused on providing high quality advice to the strategic procurements required for the next phase of the Geological Disposal Programme.  The GDF will be one of the country's largest infrastructure projects in the UK and these procurements are to bring on board key partners to take NWS to the next phase of the programme - notably the site characterisation, design and safety case phase.  The procurements will be in excess of £1bn in value and are of strategic importance to NWS.  This lawyer will lead the legal input into this part of the programme, overseeing other in house lawyers and managing external counsel to deliver high quality legal advice cost effectively.  This role comes with line management responsibilities.  The successful candidate would ideally have major projects experience in the public sector.

 (ii) Senior Legal Counsel (Subject Matter Expert) - Commercial/Procurement

This role will be focused on providing high quality advice to NWS Commercial teams, responsible for delivering the procurements needed for the next construction phase at the UK's low level waste respository, waste management services, integrated waste management programme as well as the needs of our enabling functions.  This role also involves being the lead for engaging with the Commercial team on their processes for procurement (in compliance with public procurement requirements), and delivering and maintaining contract templates.  This lawyer will lead the legal input in this area, overseeing other in house lawyers and managing external counsel to deliver high quality legal advice cost effectively.  This role comes with line management responsibilities.  The successful candidate would ideally have major projects experience in the public sector.

Department
General Counsel & Legal
Location
Flexible - NWS welcomes flexible working practices
Contract Type
Permanent
Length of contract
Perm or Secondee
Grade
Band 3A Upper
Full Time/Part Time
Full-time
Closing Date
17/02/2025
Ref No
10957
Documents

Job Description

Responsibilities

The legal function interacts with all parts of the organisation for the purposes of project support and providing legal advice. The function also interacts regularly with counterparts within the NDA and in other organisations in the NDA group and with external legal advisers and external stakeholders (e.g., DESNZ legal department, regulators, landowners, sister organisations in other countries) where required to support internal colleagues with the organisation.

Key deliverables include:

  • Lead a core legal subject area, responsible for ensuring consistent legal advice is provided across the team in relation to that legal subject and that the advice is provided to enable NWS to comply with the NWS Board risk appetite in relation to that legal subject and take risk-informed decisions. 
  • Take a lead for ensuring that any developments on their legal subject areas are understood and that learning, and training is cascaded the team and to client teams.
  • coordinate between the team and oversee consistency of advice and positions.
  • Line management of staff (if relevant)
  • provide legal advice to the organisation in a pragmatic, commercially aware and concise manner, seeking guidance and advice from their line manager and other team members as appropriate
  • provide legal support to NWS client teams including enabling functions and projects / programmes, and operations (waste and services)
  • Input to business cases, strategies and frameworks at an early stage
  • instruct external legal advisors, agreeing fees, managing instructions to those advisors and overseeing delivery of legal advice
  • draft and negotiate a variety of legal documents including terms and conditions, contracts, grant funding agreements, data and information sharing agreements, memorandums of understanding, secondment agreement and delivery documents
  • negotiate on NWS’s behalf on legal matters with solicitors representing external stakeholders/other commercial parties
  • provide legal advice and comments on documents prepared by other members of staff (e.g., business plans, strategies, board papers, letters, press releases);
  • Build effective and cooperative relationships with other team members to ensure useful exchange of information across the business and seeking support from the team
  • provide guidance and help to more junior members of the NWS Legal team develop their confidence, expertise and legal skills.
  • Attend at Project Boards and as business partner as appropriate

 Staff will manage, with appropriate support:

  • Own performance, including self-development, training and CPD record
  • Health and wellbeing
  • Own workload, including time and deadline management
  • In addition, they will undertake other activities commensurate with their skills and experience as and when required; and
  • the job holder will be expected to support and implement corporate decisions and initiatives as instructed by their Line Manager.

 Current RWM grade is RWM 3-2 - RWM terms & conditions apply


Who are we?

Simply put, our job is to secure a safer future for us all. We do this by managing and disposing of the UK’s nuclear radioactive waste safely and securely for generations to come. We have a critical role in the biggest multi-decade clean-up project in Europe. As part of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) group, we provide permanent answers for nuclear waste.

Nuclear Waste Services builds on the work delivered at the Low-Level Waste Repository (LLWR) site and the Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) programme, maintaining these key activities whilst also adding further essential services for customers in the nuclear energy, defence, industrial, medical, and research sectors. Maintaining and developing this knowledge and experience is key to securing and developing our unique nuclear waste capabilities for the UK and the rest of the world

If you join Nuclear Waste Services, you’ll be part of a team that brings together some of the most brilliant minds from around the UK, working across many specialisms – scientific, engineering, safety, operations, commercial, community engagement, and regulatory – to name a few.

We want Nuclear Waste Services to be a great place​ to work where people are respected, included and can perform at their best. We do this by living our Nuclear Waste Services values;
​​​​​​​

We are action orientated ​​​​​​​- We deliver for our customers, partners, and people safely & securely.

We are collaborative and inclusive - We have greater success when we work together.

We are ambitious - We are problem solvers who embrace and act upon new challenges.​​​​​

We act with integrity - We are trusted to build a safe, secure and sustainable future


 

What's in it for you?

  • On appointment to NWS you will receive 25.5 days annual leave, plus bank holidays and you can accrue up to 13 extra days leave
  • Rewarding performance (annual bonus scheme)
  • We offer a generous pension scheme through CNNP
  • learning and development support
  • payment of relevant annual professional subscriptions
  • Employee Assistance Programme
  • Financial advice assistance
  • Flexible working
  • Extended family-friendly policies
  • Cycle to work scheme
  • We welcome flexible and agile working practices
  • Flexible working requests can be submitted from day 1 of employment

Equal OpportunitiesDisability

We value the unique differences that each of our colleagues bring to work every day and are committed to creating an environment where everyone feels respected, included and able to perform at their best. At Nuclear Waste Service we are committed to creating a workplace that is diverse and inclusive. We value the diversity of our people and actively seek to have a workforce that represents the rich diversity of the communities we support. Currently we are underrepresented in some areas, and would particularly welcome applicants from Women, Black, Asian and Ethnic Minorities, LGBTQ+ and candidates who have a disability.

In promoting equal opportunities, Nuclear Waste Service welcomes applications from all sections of the community. We select people according to their abilities and our needs. As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet all of the essential criteria for the vacancy. 

Please note: Nuclear Waste Services reserves the right to close the vacancy early. 

If you have any queries or would like to discuss this role, please email nws.recruitment@nuclearwasteservices.uk