Job Description

Location

- London or Birmingham

HS2 Ltd endeavours to ensure everyone working for us and with us feels included, thrives and achieves their full potential. In practice, this means we are positive and inclusive about making adjustments, providing flexible working, encouraging our staff networks to flourish and providing personal and professional development opportunities.

Job Purpose

The General Counsel leads a team of c.30 professionals to ensure the timely, economic and high-quality delivery of the legal and Company Secretariat functions. The General Counsel is responsible for all legal services provided to HS2 Limited in connection with a very broad range of matters which are part of a very complex, engineering mega-project, with a substantial property acquisition programme. The General Counsel is further responsible for the management of the Company Secretariat function. The role includes responsibility for a substantial annual budget (c 9m).

About the Role

Governance: Adviser at the HS2 Board and these Board sub-committees: Commercial & Investment Committee and Audit and Risk Assurance Committee; member of Commercial Investment Panel (commercial sub-committee of the HS2 Executive); adviser at Change Panel and Chair of the Conflicts of Interest Panel Member of the CFO Senior Leadership Team and wider HS2 SLT Responsible for delivery of all legal advice in relation to the HS2 project (including commercial contracts, procurement, land and property, the documentation governing the relationship between HS2 and DfT/SoS and any legal disputes arising), covering a very wide range of public and private law legal topics, as well as responsibility for an internal team of 20+ lawyers, supporting the numerous procurements and contracts/agreements required to be put in place to support delivery of the HS2 project Accountable for overall strategy for the selection and performance of external solicitors/barristers and for ensuring value for money in the delivery of a significant external legal budget (4-6m/yr) Responsible for management of the Company Secretariat function Disputes: responsible for strategic input into HS2 Limited's litigation strategy in respect of disputes, supported by specialists within the legal team and external law firms where appropriate. Seeks to limit HS2 Ltd exposure and ensure there is an exit strategy from litigation where appropriate Development Agreement / Framework Document - responsible for legal advice to Sponsorship team/Exec/Board on DfT relationship, interpretation issues and amendments from time to time Information Asset Owner for the Legal and Company Secretariat functions Actively promote and embed Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in all your work, and support and comply with all organisational initiatives, policies and procedures on EDI

About You

Skills:

Communication skills (both written and spoken) - including the ability to draft effective and concise legal briefs and manage stakeholder relationships effectively Business judgment - including the ability to consider legal risk, programme risk and cost risks as decision making factors Ability to distil expert advice of complex legal issues into material that can quickly inform management decision-making Team management skills - including the ability to manage a large team of lawyers - whether within a law firm environment or in-house Supplier Management Skills - including the ability to manage external legal services providers efficiently achieving value for money

Knowledge:

Qualified solicitor with substantial post-qualification track record in a full spectrum of procurement and contract law Knowledge gained in-house or in private practice and understanding of dealing with government departments, utilities and/or transport undertakers

Type of Experience:

Experience gained either in-house or in private practice dealing with Government Departments, Executive Agencies and statutory regulators Experience as a Head of Legal or General Counsel, either on secondment or in a permanent role Experience of contract/commercial law, including high value construction or infrastructure projects based in the UK Experienced lawyer in the some of the following legal disciplines: contract, procurement, environmental, public, real estate, EU, regulatory, and Freedom of Information law Experience of managing budgets - including both team costs and external budget

We ask for a variety of detail in your online application, however we perform the first assessment of suitability for a role based solely on the information in your CV. In a further development of our efforts to create a more diverse workforce, your CV will be anonymised and personal information will be removed during the first stage of the application review. This removes bias from the process and makes it even more important that you attach an updated word version of your CV for each new application ensuring you include evidence directly related to the criteria in the job advert. Watch this video on how we remove bias in the recruitment process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ6FdKqMu4g

Any applications received after the closing date will not be considered.