Full Time
UK
We are looking for a General Counsel to head up our busy legal team (5 people). This is an exceptional in-house opportunity to use your legal skills in a highly professional environment supporting our mission-led organisation to accelerate the transition to a circular economy.
Reporting to our Chief Operating Officer, you will have overall responsibility for the legal function at the Foundation, including contract management, corporate and commercial contracts, legal and regulatory compliance, disputes, and company secretary responsibilities. You will also contribute to organisation policy, insurance and governance across the organisation’s international activities: as well as Europe, we operate in the US, China and Latin America.
Specific role responsibilities include:
Overseeing the managing of contracts
Advising on charity law, competition law, personal data, and other legal/regulatory obligations including risk and compliance.
Managing insurance within the Foundation
Ownership and management of any prospective or actual disputes and litigation.
Legal inputs into our project management processes.
Providing counsel to our internal team, including the Executive Leadership Team, on organisation policy, identification and management of organisational risk, governance and corporate structure.
Advising the People Lead on matters relating to employment/employee contracts, policies and employee relations.
Managing relevant external stakeholder relationships including external counsel.
Providing counsel to the CEO, COO and Trustee Board on all matters relating to charity governance as well as company secretarial services for this group.
Managing and developing the in-house Legal and Contracts team.
Your profile:
Senior Legal professional: a qualified solicitor in England and Wales with 10+ years’ post qualification experience ideally within a top-tier law firm, followed by in-house experience within a fast paced business or not-for-profit organisation. You must hold a valid practising certificate.
Demonstrated experience in:
A range of non-contentious contractual, corporate and commercial matters (including structuring, negotiating and drafting contracts, and identifying, analysing and reporting on legal risk).
Management and navigation of finance, employment, dispute, insurance, governance, and other customary elements of a broad in-house legal brief.
Managing a team including coaching and support of personal and professional development.
Providing counsel at Board-level across all areas of an organisation.
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills including first class technical legal drafting skills is essential.
International experience is useful, but not essential.
Desired starting date: ASAP
Closing date: 12th May 2023 Salary range: £85,000 - £100,000 per annum depending upon experience.
Benefits package: generous holiday allowance (25 days plus UK bank holidays and discretionary extra days leave) generous parental leave; enhanced pension options/private health scheme after 6 months; wellbeing programme.
Location: UK based with regular attendance at our office in Cowes, Isle of Wight (subject to individual circumstances). Some international travel may be required.
Relocation support: We offer support with relocation from overseas, such as: helping to source accommodation, travel expenses to the UK (dependent on circumstances and eligibility). Many colleagues will have faced the same challenges as you (including relocating pets!) and we will be happy to assist you in this transition.
What we do
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation develops and promotes the idea of a circular economy. We work with, and inspire, business, academia, policymakers, and institutions to mobilise systems solutions at scale, globally. Our mission is to accelerate the transition to a circular economy.
Our vision is a new economic system that delivers better outcomes for people and the environment. Business models, products, and materials are designed to increase use and reuse, replicating the balance of the natural world, where nothing becomes waste and everything has value. A circular economy, increasingly built on renewable energy and materials, is distributed, diverse, and inclusive.
Our commitment to you
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is committed to promoting equal opportunities in employment and providing a working environment free from discrimination. Job applicants will receive equal treatment regardless of age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation or any other characteristic protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate.