Associate Director - Civil Engineering (Transmission & Distribution)

Mills & Reeve; City of Westminster; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading national law firm in the UK seeks an experienced solicitor for its public procurement team. The role involves giving legal advice, supporting litigation, and supervising junior staff. Ideal candidates will have 2+ years PQE in public procurement law, excellent written English, and strong commercial management skills. This position offers a salary of £45-60k, depending on experience, with opportunities for business development and client engagement.

Qualifications

• 2+ years PQE with previous public procurement experience.
• Understanding of the public sector and a passion for public procurement work.
• Excellent commercial legal skills and sound commercial acumen.

Responsibilities

• Advising on all aspects of public procurement law.
• Working with procurement litigation specialists on proceedings.
• Assisting in maintaining the Procurement Portal resource.
• Supporting business development activities.
• Contributing to internal know-how and precedent development.
• Supervising junior members of the team.

Skills

Public procurement law

Commercial law

Excellent written English

Marketing and business development

Public speaking

Commercial management skills

Time management

Paper management

Job description

Job Overview

We need a first‑class experienced solicitor to join our leading national cross‑sector public procurement team. This role is to work alongside our other public procurement lawyers, as well as lawyers in the commercial team, in providing support and advice in relation to public procurement law to clients including central and local government, national agencies, NHS bodies, education institutions, charities and utility companies, as well as suppliers to the public sector and utilities from SMEs to PLCs. Ideally based in Birmingham or Cambridge, although we also welcome applications from candidates wishing to be based in Leeds, Manchester or Norwich, you will be involved in all aspects of procurement advice for both procuring entities and suppliers.

Key Responsibilities

• Advising on all aspects of public procurement law
• Working with our procurement litigation specialists advising on proceedings in the High Court (both defending and bringing challenges)
• Assisting in the maintenance of our market‑leading procurement online resource, the Procurement Portal
• Supporting other business development activities, including speaking at training events, seminars and external conferences, contributing to newsletters, blogs, tenders and pitches
• Contribution to internal know‑how and precedent development
• Supervising more junior members of the team, trainees and apprentice solicitors

Qualifications and Experience

• A breadth of experience of public procurement and commercial law
• Excellent written English for drafting purposes
• Marketing and business development experience
• Experience of public speaking
• Excellent commercial management skills including experience in scoping and pricing work
• Excellent time and paper management skills
• 2+ years PQE with previous public procurement experience
• Excellent commercial legal skills and sound commercial acumen
• Understanding of the public sector and a passion for public procurement work

Salary

£45‑60k DOE

About Mills & Reeve

Mills & Reeve is centred on achieving more for clients, their businesses and the wider communities we serve. Our clients and their industries benefit from our knowledge and learning, and receive consistent experiences with no surprises. We build personal relationships, with advice individually tailored to individual need. We are a firm that is not only ranked in the top 50 UK law firms, but also truly values its people.

• Ambitious – We aim high, we embrace new ideas and we’re passionate about our work
• Open – We communicate openly and honestly to build trust, and we do what’s right
• We care – We’re committed to each other, our clients, our communities and the planet
• Collaborate – We’re easy to work with, we offer help willingly and we get things done together

Additional Information

We encourage everyone to ask if they feel they need any workplace adjustments, and will do our best to support with these.