Legal Assistant

Ishida Europe Ltd; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

A multinational legal service provider in Birmingham seeks a Legal Assistant to support their legal function by managing contracts and ensuring compliance across various business units. Candidates should hold a law degree and possess strong interpersonal skills. This role offers valuable in-house exposure and the opportunity for career advancement in legal qualifications. Expect a dynamic and supportive work environment.

Qualifications

• Recent law graduate or paralegal with legal experience.
• Eagerness to develop skills in a business-focused environment.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Draft, review, and negotiate commercial contracts.
• Provide business-focused legal guidance to teams.
• Conduct legal research and summarize legal concepts.
• Manage governance and compliance activities.

Skills

Commercial law understanding

Strong interpersonal skills

Attention to detail

Proactive approach

Education

Law degree

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite

Job description

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As a Legal Assistant, you will support the legal function helping deliver timely, practical, and business-focused advice to teams throughout the EMEA region.

You will play a key role in assisting the Legal Team run efficiently and stay responsive to business needs. Working in a dynamic, fast-paced in-house environment, you’ll gain exposure to a broad range of legal matters, commercial functions, and valuable cross-border experience.

Responsibilities include commercial contract reviews, legal drafting, governance and compliance activities, intellectual property management, legal research, and coordinating various legal processes.

This role is ideal for a law graduate looking to start their legal career in-house, or for someone with prior experience in a legal environment, such as a paralegal, who is ready to further develop their skills and build a long-term career within an in-house legal team.

For the right candidate, the role also includes the opportunity to work toward legal qualification as part of their long-term development.

Primary Responsibilities

The below list is comprehensive but not exhaustive. The Legal Team remains relatively small, and we are looking for proactive individuals who are keen to contribute across all areas of the legal function and support its continued growth.

1. Commercial Contracts

• Draft, review, and negotiate a wide range of commercial contracts, including:
• Customer and Supplier agreements
• Confidentiality/Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs)
• Distribution Agreements
• Intercompany Agreements
• Equipment Loan Agreements
• Support the delivery of practical legal advice on contractual terms, risks, and obligations.
• Oversee the full contract lifecycle - from initiation, through effective coordination with relevant Ishida teams, to execution, ensuring timely completion and accurate tracking of all contractual matters.
• Maintain and update contract templates, playbooks, and internal legal processes to promote consistency and minimise legal risk.

2. Legal Advice & Risk Management

• Support the Legal Team in providing clear, business-focused guidance to teams across Sales, Finance, Procurement, and Projects, and other relevant functions.Assist in identifying legal risks and gathering information to support the development of risk mitigation strategies.Support legal risk assessments and the preparation of risk scoring documentation.Participate in the resolution of contract-related issues, disputes, and claims through the preparation of supporting materials.Conduct legal research and help summarise complex legal concepts into clear, practical information for internal use.

3. Legal Drafting, Policy & Document Management

• Draft and prepare a variety of legal documents, including internal communications, letters, reports, and responses to claims or disputes.
• Contribute to the drafting, review, and implementation of internal legal and compliance policies, ensuring alignment with business and regulatory requirements.
• Maintain legal templates, precedents, and guidance materials to support consistency and knowledge sharing.
• Ensure proper document archiving and record-keeping in accordance with Ishida procedures.

4. Governance, Compliance & Regulatory

• Assist in the execution of governance and compliance activities, including audits, internal investigations, regulatory reporting, and tracking of required company declarations, ensuring compliance with anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws, data protection requirements, and other applicable legal and ethical standards.
• Support the management of Ishida’s intellectual property portfolio, including monitoring patents and coordinating renewals.
• Monitor legal and regulatory developments to ensure business practices remain compliant.
• Respond to internal legal queries and requests, coordinating timely and accurate information.
• Contribute to operational improvements within the Legal Team, including process optimisation and internal reporting.
• Support the use and development of legal technology tools such as contract lifecycle management systems, e-signature platforms, and document repositories.
• Help deliver internal legal training and awareness sessions on relevant legal topics and policies.

6. Stakeholder Engagement

• Develop strong working relationships across the business to support collaboration between the Legal Team and other teams.
• Maintain consistent communication with key stakeholders to align on legal, commercial, and compliance priorities.

What skills are we looking for?

To be successful in this role, you must have a law degree. You may be a recent graduate looking to build your career in-house, or a paralegal with existing legal experience and a demonstrated ability to quickly understand new concepts.

You’ll have a genuine interest in commercial law and be eager to develop your skills in a fast-paced, business-focused environment.

We’re looking for someone with a positive attitude, a proactive approach, and a willingness to take on new challenges. You’ll be comfortable to take ownership of tasks with guidance and support, using your initiative to move tasks forward, whilst also being a strong team player who enjoys collaborating with others. A genuine eagerness to learn, grow within the role, and a strong work ethic will be key to your success.

As part of a relatively small legal team, you’ll work closely with colleagues across different functions and regions, so strong interpersonal skills and a collaborative mindset are key. You’ll need good judgment and professionalism, especially when handling sensitive or confidential information.

Excellent written and verbal communication skills are essential, along with strong attention to detail and the ability to stay organised while managing multiple priorities. You should also be confident using Microsoft Office applications, including Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.