Senior Legal Counsel

Senior Legal Counsel (Construction)

-110,000 - -120,000

Watford (hybrid working)

Permanent, Full Time

Sellick Partnership is exclusively partnered with an international, tier 1 construction and infrastructure business to recruit a Senior Legal Counsel (non-contentious).

This is an excellent opportunity to join an established in-house legal team supporting a broad portfolio of high-profile construction and infrastructure projects across the UK.

The successful candidate will work closely with commercial and operational stakeholders, providing pragmatic legal advice on a wide range of non-contentious construction matters while helping to manage legal risk across the business.

Senior Legal Counsel - Role Overview

Reporting into the General Counsel, the Senior Legal Counsel will play a key role in supporting the business on contractual and commercial matters. The position sits within a collaborative in-house legal team and offers exposure to a wide variety of construction, commercial and project work.

This role is a non-contentious role, with responsibility for reviewing, drafting and negotiating construction contracts, advising project teams throughout the project lifecycle, supervising, mentoring and supporting colleagues and liaising with external legal advisers where required.

Occasional involvement in contentious matters may arise, although previous disputes experience is not essential.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide commercially focused legal advice on a broad range of construction and engineering contracts, together with wider commercial agreements.
• Negotiate and draft key project documentation, including framework arrangements, collateral warranties, novation agreements and other ancillary construction documents.
• Work closely with operational and project stakeholders, offering guidance on contractual obligations, risk allocation, contract administration and dispute avoidance.
• Deliver pragmatic legal solutions that support commercial objectives while appropriately managing legal and contractual risk.
• Develop, review and update template agreements, playbooks and standard legal documentation to improve efficiency and consistency.
• Advise on a variety of commercial contracts, including procurement, supplier, technology and professional services agreements.
• Deliver training sessions and provide ongoing support to enhance contractual awareness across the organisation.
• Identify and mitigate legal and commercial risks throughout the project lifecycle.
• Provide guidance and support to less experienced members of the legal function, encouraging their professional development.
• Instruct and manage external legal advisers where specialist advice is required, ensuring value for money and quality of service.

Requirements

• Qualified Solicitor (England and Wales) with ideally 6+ years PQE and strong experience in non-contentious legal work
• Construction sector experience gained either in private practice or in-house (previous experience from a contractor point of view is highly advantageous)
• Demonstrable experience reviewing and negotiating construction contracts.
• Familiarity with industry-standard contract forms, including JCT, NEC, and FIDIC.
• Experience advising on ancillary agreements, including collateral warranties, bonds, and parent company guarantees.
• Ability to provide clear, practical, and commercially focused legal advice.
• Strong contract drafting and negotiation skills.
• Confidence working autonomously and managing competing priorities.
• Excellent stakeholder management and relationship-building abilities.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to explain legal matters clearly.
• Experience supervising, mentoring, or supporting colleagues in a professional environment.

What''s in it for you?

• Hybrid working (up to two days working from home)
• Flexible working options considered
• Opportunity to join a market-leading Tier 1 construction business
• Broad, varied in-house legal role with excellent exposure across the business
• Supportive and collaborative legal team
• Long-term career development opportunities within a global organisation.

How to Apply:

To apply for the Senior Legal Counsel role, please contact David Scott at Sellick Partnership. Alternatively, apply via the website now and a consultant will be in touch.

Sellick Partnership is proud to be an inclusive and accessible recruitment business and we support applications from candidates of all backgrounds and circumstances. Please note, our advertisements use years'' experience, hourly rates, and salary levels purely as a guide and we assess applications based on the experience and skills evidenced on the CV. For information on how your personal details may be used by Sellick Partnership, please review our data processing notice on our website.