Legal Contracts Manager

The National Physical Laboratory's (NPL) science helps save lives, protect the environment, and enable citizens to feel safe and secure. For over a century, we have worked with industry to encourage innovation and translate scientific expertise into economic prosperity, skilled employment, and improved quality of life.

Who sets the standards to ensure that anything that can be measured is done so with consistency and reliability? We do. Through our vital research, the National Physical Laboratory supports scientific and commercial innovations, international trade, environmental protection, and health and wellbeing. We're finding more ways than ever to put our products and services to good use. As our Contract Manager, you'll help us maximise income by managing and safeguarding our commercial interests.

At NPL, we touch ordinary lives in extraordinary ways, and you could too.

As part of the legal team at NPL, you will support all areas of the business and be involved in negotiating a wide range of commercial contracts and collaborations. NPL works with companies in cutting-edge industries and is at the forefront of pioneering science in the UK. You will develop strong relationships with key stakeholders, both internal and external, and will need to respond to live issues as they develop.

Responsibilities include:

1. Draft, negotiate, and advise on a variety of commercial and collaborative agreements.
2. Provide support to the business on legal or compliance matters, including supporting colleagues and teams across the organisation.
3. Develop and manage relationships with stakeholders in addition to scientists, including finance, procurement, project management, strategic business development, and commercial functions.

You will be pragmatic, commercially-minded, and keen to work in an exciting and ever-changing environment. You will be a team player, a quick learner, and able to manage and prioritise a varied workload. This role would suit an LPC graduate with subsequent commercial experience or a newly qualified lawyer with some in-house experience.

Skills and Experience required:

• Qualified solicitor or LPC graduate with substantial paralegal experience.
• A background working within universities, tech, pharma, or defence would be helpful but not essential.
• Highly organised and efficient to enable management of a large and varied workload.
• Ability to plan ahead and deliver on targets and deadlines.
• Effective and clear communicator.

We actively recruit citizens of all backgrounds, but the nature of our work in specific departments means that nationality, residency, and security requirements can be more tightly defined than others. You will be asked about this throughout the recruitment process. To work at NPL, you will need to obtain BPSS security clearance.

Note: Applications will be reviewed, and interviews conducted throughout the duration of this advert; therefore, we may bring the closing date forward at any time. We encourage all interested applicants to apply as soon as practical.