Senior Commercial Lawyer, Networks (12 month FTC)

BT Group; Belfast City District; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company car scheme (or cash)

15% on target annual bonus

Private healthcare for you and family

Online private GP 24/7

Pension scheme 5%/10%

Holiday purchase scheme

Job summary

BT Group is seeking a senior commercial lawyer to help realise the company’s network strategy. You will lead or support on high‑value supplier and partnership negotiations, draft agreements, and provide commercially focused advice across multiple projects.

With 5+ years PQE, you will influence senior stakeholders, manage external counsel, and help BT navigate regulatory and governance requirements while enabling growth and innovation.

Qualifications

• First class technical commercial lawyer with 5+ years post‑qualification experience.
• Strong communication, drafting and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders and lead high‑value negotiations.

Responsibilities

• Lead legal support on complex, high‑value supplier and partnership transactions, including negotiation and drafting.
• Resolve commercial disputes with suppliers and partners.
• Draft and negotiate collaboration agreements and technology trials.
• Provide practical, commercially focused legal advice balancing risk and opportunity.
• Support product development and funding initiatives linked to BT's programmes.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory and internal policy requirements and escalate risks.
• Build relationships across BT and manage external lawyers to deliver value.

Skills

Commercial lawyer

Communication

Drafting

Stakeholder management

Job description

Locations - London (Preferred),Belfast (Preferred), Birmingham, Manchester or Bristol.

Hybrid working - 3 days in the office, 2 days in the office

About the role

At its core the role supports the business in realising its network strategy, but spans across a breadth of projects and disciplines helping BT break new ground and get back to growth.

The role holder will be a key partner to the business and deliver first class commercially focused advice. They will need to be comfortable working in new areas and without precedent as they will be leading and/or supporting on a range of complex contract negotiations with suppliers and partners together with strategic and/or operational projects.

A key area of focus is working on the latest innovative technology developments, meaning you will be at the forefront of the use of EE/BT's technology in areas such as 5G slicing, AI and quantum networks.

What you'll be doing

• Lead legal support on complex, high-value supplier and partnership transactions, including negotiation, drafting and project management.
• Resolve commercial disputes with suppliers, partners and industry competitors.
• Draft and negotiate collaboration agreements, emerging technology trials and commercialisation arrangements.
• Provide practical, commercially focused legal advice to stakeholders, balancing risk with business opportunity.
• Support product development and funding initiatives linked to BT's research and innovation programmes.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory, governance and internal policy requirements, identifying and escalating risks where appropriate.
• Build strong stakeholder relationships across BT, collaborating with legal colleagues and managing external lawyers and service providers to deliver value and successful outcomes.

Essential Skills / Experience

• First class technical commercial lawyer with 5+ years post‑qualification experience.
• Strong communication, drafting and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to build trusted relationships, influence senior stakeholders and deliver strategically important initiatives across the business.
• Commercially minded and proactive, with the confidence to challenge constructively, provide sound recommendations, solve complex problems and continuously learn, improve processes and drive new approaches where no precedent exists.

Desirable Skills / Experience

• Strong understanding of the technology and telecommunications sector, with knowledge of Networks' objectives, processes and the legal and regulatory environment in which BT operates.
• Collaborative team player who builds effective relationships across legal and business functions, contributing proactively to shared goals and supporting colleagues where needed.
• Self‑motivated, resilient and adaptable, with the ability to manage competing priorities, work under pressure to demanding timescales and continuously learn, upskill and improve processes.

Our Package

Tailored benefits make a real difference. That's why we offer a comprehensive range to support your growth, wellbeing, and everyday life. You can design the package to suit you and your lifestyle. Your core benefits include:

• Company car scheme (or cash alternative)
• 15% on target annual bonus
• Private healthcare for you and your family
• Access to an online private GP 24/7 for you and your immediate family
• Market‑leading paid carers leave with up to 2 weeks off
• Equalised maternity, paternity, and adoption leave - 18 weeks' full pay and 8 weeks' half pay
• Discounted EE and BT products, including mobile and broadband
• Market leading Pension scheme - 5% from you and 10% from us
• Holiday purchase scheme

You can select additional benefits, including healthcare, dental, gym memberships and more when you're ready.

BT Group is the UK's leading communications group and the holding company behind some of the country's most recognised brands - including BT, EE, Openreach and Plusnet. Our purpose is as simple as it is ambitious: we connect for good. Our customers include consumers, small, medium and large businesses, public sector organisations and other communications providers.

BT Group's role is about setting direction, unlocking value and creating the conditions for our brands and businesses to thrive.

Having come through the most capital‑intensive phase of our fibre investment, our focus now is on what comes next - simplifying how we operate, using technology and AI to work smarter, and organising ourselves to serve customers better and grow sustainably. Group teams shape strategy, policy, brand, capital allocation and transformation, helping the whole organisation perform at its best.

We have a singular culture that unites all our people: we are customer‑first challengers, who are committed, clear and connected. These behaviours unite us as one team to deliver for our colleagues, our customers, our stakeholders and the country. Joining BT Group means working at the heart of a business that matters to the UK, with the opportunity to shape decisions, influence outcomes and help set the future course of one of the country's most important companies.