Legal Counsel, Procurement

Centrica; Windsor; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Centrica is seeking a Legal Counsel for Procurement to join its Legal team in Windsor. The successful candidate will be responsible for providing comprehensive legal support, managing contracts, and ensuring compliance with energy regulations. The role requires a qualified lawyer with a strong background in commercial law and excellent negotiation skills, aimed at delivering pragmatic legal advice and managing risks effectively.

Qualifications

• Demonstrable experience in consumer and commercial law.
• Ability to manage diverse stakeholders and prioritize effectively.
• Interest in technology law and energy regulation is beneficial.

Responsibilities

• Support a wide variety of legal work related to procurement and energy.
• Deliver high quality legal and commercial support across the business.
• Negotiate and facilitate major impact contracts.

Skills

Drafting contracts

Negotiating commercial agreements

Interpretation of regulatory requirements

Clear and pragmatic legal advice

Stakeholder management

Education

Professionally qualified Lawyer

Job description

We have a brilliant new opportunity for a Legal Counsel, Procurement to join our Legal, Regulatory Affairs, Ethics & Compliance, and Secretariat Function (LRECS). Reporting directly to our General Counsel for Legal Shared Service, you will be a key member of a strong, high performing legal team that is closely engaged with the business and aligned to its objectives.

Location: We work flexibly in line with our Flexible First working arrangements believing that empowered colleagues are happier and more productive. The successful candidate will, however, need to be comfortable commuting to our Windsor office on at least a weekly basis and to our other locations as may be needed.

What will you do?

You will support a wide variety of legal work including supporting the customer facing businesses of British Gas. This will largely relate to the procurement of goods and services but will include the development of partnerships and collaborative arrangements with 3rd parties and drafting of energy supply arrangements for businesses.

The role is a broad commercial position with a focus on balancing the need for clear and pragmatic commercial advice while ensuring compliance with the laws and regulations governing the supply of energy and services to consumers and businesses.

Key areas will include:

• Delivering high quality, high impact, high value legal and commercial support across the business with the right balance of risk awareness and pragmatism.
• Supporting the businesses in managing operational and regulatory risks, including the development and delivery of key policies, training and guidance to the business to better manage legal risk.
• Structuring, drafting, negotiating and facilitating non-standard contracts of major impact to Centrica.
• Providing advice to senior stakeholders on key business decisions, policy and customer journeys.
• Procuring advice and support from the wider Legal, Regulatory, Ethics, Compliance and Company Secretariat ("LRECS") team on any other legal or regulatory matters that arise including privacy, IP, dispute resolution, employment or commercial issues and changes to regulation and legislation.
• Keeping informed of industry-specific laws and regulations and ensuring that appropriate risk management strategies are in place.
• Instructing and managing external lawyers and third parties where appropriate to ensure appropriate and cost-effective advice is provided to the business.
• Developing strong stakeholder relationships and networks within the function and the other business units to support the delivery of objectives and the management of risk.

Who are we looking for?

As a professionally qualified Lawyer, with demonstrable experience, the variety of the work means that you must be able to consistently exhibit a highly flexible and inquisitive approach to not only how you and the business deliver services, but also in your range of legal work. You must have the ability to manage a diverse set of stakeholders, be able to prioritise effectively and deliver high quality commercially savvy work.

The ideal candidate will have a strong understanding of consumer and commercial law in the UK, an interest in technology law, energy and net zero, and an understanding of energy regulation would be beneficial.

Key legal skills:

• Experience of drafting contracts and negotiating commercial agreements with a range of complexity.
• Expressing complex concepts in plain and simple language.
• Pragmatic and clear advice focussed on delivering solutions.
• Interpretation of and advice on regulatory and compliance requirements, balancing risk and commercial objectives.