Contract Specialist

**Details**:
**Reference number**:

- 338363**Salary**:

- £51,685 - £58,105- A Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 27%**Job grade**:

- Grade 7**Contract type**:

- Permanent**Business area**:

- CEFAS - International Funding & Partnerships**Type of role**:

- Commercial**Working pattern**:

- Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time**Number of jobs available**:

- 1Contents

Location

About the job

**Benefits**:
Things you need to know

Location
- This vacancy is based at our site in Lowestoft.About the job

**Job summary**:
The Commercial Advice Team (CAT) are a customer facing, professional team responsible for Cefas’ contractual and legal documentation. This primarily involves reviewing, drafting, negotiating and advising on various types of contractual/ legal documentation and identifying associated commercial risks. For this role we are looking for someone who is able to review and draft various complex legal/ contract documents, highlight commercial risks and provide pragmatic commercial advice to various areas of the business to achieve the following:

- Ensuring mitigation of risks through the most effective/ appropriate type of Contract or Agreement whilst adhering to internal policies and Government regulations.
- Interpretation of legal terms to project teams to ensure compliance with contract terms.
- Protection of Cefas’ interests through contractual arrangements whilst enhancing the chance of winning successful funding contracts.
- Implementation of consistent commercial advice and approaches throughout Cefas.
- Input and delivery of the Commercial Advice Team yearly strategy including development/ mentoring of team members.
- and late-career changers with transferable skills, people from all backgrounds and circumstances regardless of disability, gender, age, ethnicity, LGBT+ identity and socio-economic status.

**Job description**:
The main duties of the successful applicant will be to take the lead in constructing complex legal arrangements with multiple partners. This will include collaborating with both internal project teams and external organisations to advise, draft and negotiate suitable contract terms which meet the needs of the project whilst also protecting the interests of Cefas. The successful applicant will also liaise with Portfolio Leads and project teams to provide commercial advice on a variety of topics during both bidding and delivery phases of the project. These topics include highlighting commercial risks and mitigations for input into bidding go/no go decisions, review of final bidding documentation, advising on legal aspects within contracts, explanation of contract terms and conditions to project delivery staff, advice to project delivery staff on addressing contractual issues should they arise, commercial risk mitigation and representation of the CAT on various internal boards.

Where necessary the successful applicant will liaise with external lawyers to obtain advice that is outside the current field of CAT expertise (e.g. international law) and interpret the external legal advice for the project delivery team or senior managers to provide recommendations which support decision making. The successful applicant will work with various types of organisations including government, universities, commercial and international partners to draft and agree appropriate collaborative agreements. In addition, there is also a strong drive within the team to improve and streamline procedures and documents to ensure they comply with the latest standards.

The successful applicant will be expected to work closely with the Head of Commercial Advice to create the Commercial Advice Strategy, focussing on improving the team’s delivery of services and the development of both the team and others within Cefas in commercial/ contractual matters. The successful applicant will support the Head of Commercial advice by taking an active role in driving the implementation of the strategy and ensure that the team is effective in its delivery of services.

In addition, Cefas reserves the right to ask staff to take on additional duties and responsibilities which are commensurate with their grade. Team Leaders and management will have a discussion with staff to explain the changes that are to be made. A new job description will be issued if required.

**Person specification**:
The following are essential criteria required for this role and you must be able to demonstrate your skills and experience in the following areas:

- Ability to draft and negotiate legal contract wording with an in depth knowledge of contractual terms and their implications, such as liabilities, insurances, Intellectual property, force majeure and termination.
- Experience and knowledge of complex multi partner legal arrangements and the ability to draft suitable legal documentation to support these (experience of cross-UK government collaborations is desirable).
- Effective commu