General Counsel and Company Secretary

The Carbon Trust; London; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

The Carbon Trust is seeking a General Counsel to lead its legal team in providing strategic and commercial legal advice. This pivotal role involves overseeing legal compliance, managing risks, and advising on contracts for international activities. The successful candidate will gain the opportunity to contribute to sustainable solutions in a supportive work environment that fosters a healthy work-life balance.

Benefits

28 days paid holiday plus bank holidays

Generous pension scheme

Flexible working arrangements

Travel card loans

Cycle to work scheme

Company away days

Qualifications

• Broad commercial legal knowledge with significant contract experience.
• Experience advising on data protection and disputes.
• Experience in leading a legal team and managing a budget.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic legal advice on compliance and commercial matters.
• Lead a legal team for effective service delivery.
• Manage legal operations and enterprise risk across the group.

Skills

Commercial Legal Knowledge

Stakeholder Management

Legal Operations

Risk Management

Good Governance

Education

Qualified English solicitor with substantial years PQE

Job description

About the role:

The General Counsel supports the Carbon Trust’s international business by providing strategic and commercial advice on a broad range of legal and compliance matters.

The General Counsel and Company Secretary is a key member of the leadership team, responsible for all company secretarial and board-related matters, advising on and managing risk, and providing strategic, commercial and compliance advice to decision-makers on all contracting, international activities, investment decisions, corporate governance, and regulatory issues.

This is an opportunity to work for an organisation that values the importance of a healthy work-life balance, it is embedded into our organisational culture. We believe that supporting our employees' well-being contributes to their overall happiness, productivity and success. Offering a range of flexible and hybrid work opportunities, empowers our employees to manage their professional responsibilities alongside their personal lives, fostering a positive and productive work environment.

Join our team and experience the benefits of a healthy work-life balance whilst making a real impact on the environment.

About us

The Carbon Trust is a global climate consultancy driven by the mission to accelerate the move to a decarbonised future. We offer our clients and partners leading edge practical solutions to turn climate ambition into impact. We have been climate pioneers for more than 20 years, working with leading businesses, governments, philanthropies and financial institutions to reduce carbon emissions and accelerate their route to Net Zero.

We have a global network of over 400 experts, who enable our clients and partners to take ambitious climate action.

Main duties and responsibilities:

• Provide expert and strategic advice on a broad range of legal, compliance and commercial matters.
• Lead and develop a team of lawyers (currently 3 lawyers in London, 1 lawyer in Singapore and a secondee lawyer in Mexico) to ensure effective delivery of services, including driving and implementing changes to legal operations.
• Be an ambassador for the Legal Team, encouraging good engagement with the wider organisation.
• Advise on, draft, review and amend commercial contracts and grant agreements with both private and public sector clients and funders.
• Provide legal and compliance advice and analysis on all material legal matters across the group on a global basis.
• Provide company secretarial service for all group companies, or oversee and coordinate local company secretarial support, including attending board and committee meetings and coordinating the drafting of board reports.
• Oversee and be responsible for the Group’s legal and regulatory compliance matters including advising in respect of data protection, anti-bribery and corruption, modern slavery and environmental claims.
• Responsible for managing the group’s key risks including legal, regulatory and reputational. Provide advice on disputes and litigation risks including in respect of greenwashing. Advise on programme development, intellectual property, marketing and other commercial/ corporate law issues.
• Manage the group’s IP portfolio, all leases and support with insurance coverage and ensuring internal compliance with policies.
• Manage and develop productive relationships with external counsel, where necessary, to manage the group’s more complex UK and international business needs and relationships cost-effectively and efficiently.
• Manage the legal team’s budget to ensure cost effective and appropriate delivery of the legal function.

Key performance indicators:

• Provision of timely and clear advice.
• Pragmatic and commercial approach.
• Clarity and practical relevance of advice to the group.
• Broad knowledge of the group’s businesses and key areas of risk.
• Effective prioritising of competing demands.
• High functioning, efficient and approachable legal team.
• Efficient management of board meetings.
• Good governance is embedded throughout the group.

Qualifications, skills and experience:

Essential:

Commercial Legal Knowledge

• Broad commercial legal knowledge, including significant commercial contract experience.
• A qualified English solicitor with substantial number of years PQE.
• Experience in commercial contract matters including negotiating and drafting commercial and public sector service contracts, grant agreements, consortium arrangements, and licensing agreements.
• Experience of advising in relation to intellectual property and brand-related matters, data protection, property, and disputes.

Stakeholder and relationship management

• Experience of working with senior management and commercial stakeholders. Demonstrated emotional intelligence to work collaboratively with colleagues and influence and challenge where necessary.
• Experience explaining complex ideas in a clear and pragmatic way that is understood by colleagues at all levels.
• Experienced working with external legal counsel and able to maximise the benefit of these relationships cost-effectively.

Legal Operations

• Experience managing and developing colleagues.
• Experience managing a team budget.
• Experienced at managing own time to meet agreed targets, agile and intuitive in guiding and delegating both routine and non-routine issues.
• Demonstrated experience improving processes to promote business efficiency.

Strategy, Risk and Crisis-Management

• Experienced advising on, and developing, strategic opportunities, including demonstrated ability to identify legal and compliance risks.
• Demonstrated ability to assess risk, including horizon-spotting and think strategically.
• Demonstrated experience tactfully and calmly handling crises to a pragmatic resolution.

Good Governance

• Knowledge of good governance and demonstrated implementation of best practice procedures and policies, leading to good compliance.
• Demonstrated commitment to the Carbon Trust’s mission.

Desirable

• Experience as an in-house commercial solicitor or specifically in a consulting environment.
• Experience of acting as company secretary and liaising with executive and non-executive board members would be beneficial.
• Previously developed a legal team strategy, including experience implementing AI into operations would be beneficial.
• Experience of international business operations would be beneficial.
• Knowledge of assurance accreditation and/or labelling schemes would be beneficial.

Salary & Benefits:

We offer a competitive salary and a performance based bonus. Our hours are 37.5 per week with 28 days paid holiday plus bank holidays and a generous pension scheme.

At the Carbon Trust we offer flexibility around working between the office and home, our employees can work from home up to 3 days per week.

Our head office is in London, close to Blackfriars and Waterloo stations, we offer travel card loans, a cycle to work scheme, company away days and a 24-hour Employee Assistance Helpline.

Joining the Carbon Trust offers the opportunity to work alongside leading experts in the low-carbon field, contributing to innovative solutions for a more sustainable future. To apply, please visit our application page and submit your CV and cover letter.

We believe that when people feel respected and included, they can truly flourish. We’re committed to advancing equal opportunities and we’re dedicated to building a multifaceted, equitable and inclusive culture. If you don’t meet all the requirements but you have the skills and the experience, we would encourage you to apply and tell us why you are the right person for the job.

The role is advertised as full time, we welcome applications from candidates seeking part time or flexible working arrangements.

The application deadline is Sunday 15th June 2025 however, we may close the position early if we receive a high volume of applications. We encourage you to apply as soon as possible. Due to our hybrid and flexible working policies, some interviews and onboarding processes may be conducted via video conferencing.

At the Carbon Trust, we are guided by our core values: integrity, ambition, collaboration, and excellence.