Commercial Lawyer (Legal Counsel)

Job description & person specification

In-House Corporate/Commercial Lawyer (at least 3 PQE to 8 PQE)

Title: Legal Counsel

Type: Full-time

Department: Legal

Reports to: Head of Legal

Company Overview:

London Luton Airport (LLA) is a key gateway to the city of London, which is the world’s largest aviation system. LLA is the United Kingdom’s fifth-largest airport.

LLA is an integral part of the local region and a major economic contributor to the UK through direct employment of over 700 people and indirectly supports over 10,000 jobs.

The owner of the airport freehold (Luton Rising) is a subsidiary of Luton Borough Council (“LBC”), and the current concession to operate and develop the airport is held by London Luton Airport Operating Limited (LLAOL), an entity that is joint owned by AENA, the world’s largest airport operator, and Infrabridge, a global infrastructure investment manager.

What we offer:

  1. Market-competitive base salary, 25 days of annual leave
  2. Competitive pension scheme
  3. Private healthcare, free gym
  4. Flexible working, volunteering days
  5. Discounted travel, money off shops and restaurants

Job purpose summary:

We are looking for someone to undertake a commercial lawyer role. This is an exciting opportunity to join the Legal Team at LLA. The airport operates in a competitive, fast-paced, rapidly evolving, and commercial environment, working with various stakeholders and other organisations.

Key responsibilities and accountabilities:

  • Ensuring the provision of timely and effective legal advice to the business.

  • To assist the General Counsel in providing legal advice to executive management and the Board.

  • Drafting, negotiating, and advising on a wide range of commercial contracts.

  • To lead, working with the Head of Legal, the efficient and effective management of contracts is required as part of the procurement process run by LLA’s procurement function.

  • Provision of corporate, commercial, and regulatory legal support to other departments and management, including Estates, Marketing, Finance, Procurement and Commercial, Construction and Technical Services.

  • Supporting legal induction and other legal training for LLA staff.

  • Producing and keeping up to date the corporate policies for which the legal team has responsibility.

  • Supporting legal compliance activities and delivery of compliance programmes.

  • Supporting insurance risk management activities.

  • Working collaboratively as a recognised legal expert integrated in a multi-disciplinary team, including liaising with and advising senior management.

  • Supporting on corporate transactions and construction/development projects when required.

  • Instructing external counsel and specialist advisers as necessary.

  • To manage legal disputes for the business.

  • Contribute to delivering a great guest experience by performing your role with accuracy and efficiency. Recognising that every task, whether guest-facing or behind the scenes, contributes to supporting the company’s overall LLA Way Strategy and service standards.

  • Proactively and positively promote the LLA Way initiatives and projects with all employees and the wider airport community.

Knowledge, skills & experience:

Required:

  • A qualified commercial solicitor with strong academics and at least 3 to 8 years' post-qualification experience gained either at a reputable firm or with a commercial in-house team.

  • Strong technical ability and excellent commercial drafting and negotiation skills.

  • Solid experience in drafting a variety of commercial contracts, including complex contracts requiring bespoke drafting.

  • Strong commercial legal knowledge.

  • A good knowledge of data protection law and GDPR.

  • Interest in compliance.

  • Proactive and able to work autonomously, but also able to work within a team and build relationships with other departments.

  • Able to work with the business to provide practical, compliant solutions to issues.

  • Strong presentation skills.

  • Accuracy, tenacity, diplomacy & integrity.

  • Attention to detail and the ability to see wider, strategic issues and to meet strict deadlines.

  • Strong communication skills - able to deliver clear, practical advice to a wide variety of audiences.

  • Ability to challenge colleagues in a constructive manner.

Preferred (but not essential):

  • In-house experience.

  • Experience in drafting policies and delivering or designing legal training.

  • Experience in designing and/or delivering competition law, anti-bribery, anti-tax evasion facilitation, and modern slavery compliance programmes.

  • Corporate, Litigation, insurance, property, data protection, and/or planning law experience.

  • Experience in the aviation sector.

This job description is intended to give an appreciation of the role and the range of duties and responsibilities to be undertaken. It does not attempt to detail every activity. Specific tasks and objectives will be agreed on an ongoing basis. The post holder will be required at all times to perform any other reasonable tasks, as requested by the Line Manager, in order to meet the operational needs of the business.

For any further information, please contact the Human Resources department at [email protected]. London Luton Airport Operations Ltd collects your personal information when you submit your application. For more details about the personal information LLA collects, how we collect it, why we need it, what we do with it, how long we keep it, and what your rights are, please see our privacy notice at www.london-luton.co.uk/privacy-notice.

LLA is committed to fostering, promoting, and preserving a culture of diversity, equality, and inclusion as we carry out our mission. We will always be respectful and seek to learn from those different from ourselves. We strive to be an equal opportunity employer, and we are determined to ensure that no applicant or employee has a negative experience for being who they are. We welcome all applications!

To apply:

If you wish to apply for this role, please send your CV that summarises your knowledge, skills, and experience within the context of the Commercial Lawyer (Legal Counsel) job description to [email protected], using the reference LC1103 in the subject line. In the body of the email, please make sure to include the following:

  • Current and expected salary
  • Notice period/availability to start
  • Right to work in the UK / sponsorship requirements
  • Whether you are happy to travel to Luton three days a week