Associate Legal Counsel
The Opportunity
Associate legal Counsel
Construction, Manufacturing and Major Projects
Laing O'Rourke is looking to appoint an Associate Legal Counsel to support major construction projects, advanced manufacturing activities and emerging commercial ventures.
This is a front-end, non-contentious legal role working closely with project, commercial and operational leaders. You will provide practical advice from the early stages of projects and commercial arrangements, helping the business structure contracts, manage risk and establish the right contractual and governance foundations for successful delivery.
The position sits within Laing O'Rourke's established in-house Legal function and supports its Strategic Programmes business. In practical terms, this is the part of the organisation focused on major and complex projects, industrialised construction, advanced manufacturing, technology and the commercialisation of new capabilities. This is an opportunity to move beyond purely transactional legal work and become closely involved in how major projects, manufacturing operations and new commercial propositions are structured and delivered.
You will join an expanding in-house legal team within a privately owned, international engineering and construction business, with the opportunity to influence projects and initiatives that are helping reshape the construction industry.
The role
You will work across a combination of major projects and wider business initiatives. Responsibilities will include:
- Advising on the negotiation, interpretation and application of construction, manufacturing and commercial agreements.
- Supporting projects during procurement, contract formation, mobilisation and early delivery.
- Reviewing and negotiating main contracts, subcontracts, supply agreements, manufacturing agreements and strategic partnering arrangements.
- Helping ensure that supply-chain contracts appropriately reflect the obligations and risk profile of the main contract.
- Advising project and commercial teams on contractual notices, change, record keeping and governance requirements.
- Identifying legal and commercial risks early and providing clear, proportionate recommendations.
- Supporting new ventures, technology-led initiatives, intellectual property matters and the commercialisation of new products and services.
- Providing focused legal training and practical guidance to project teams.
- Supporting the early management and resolution of commercial or contractual issues before they develop into formal disputes.
About you
You will be a qualified solicitor, likely with approximately 2 to 5 years' PQE, although relevant experience and capability will be more important than an exact PQE range.
You should bring:
- Front-end, non-contentious legal experience gained within construction, engineering, infrastructure, manufacturing or an associated sector.
- Experience reviewing and negotiating complex commercial contracts.
- A practical understanding of how legal risk affects project delivery, commercial outcomes and operational decision-making.
- The ability to work confidently with senior project, commercial and operational stakeholders.
- A collaborative and commercially pragmatic approach, with the judgement to know when to challenge and when to find a workable compromise.
Experience of construction contracts such as NEC or JCT would be valuable. Exposure to manufacturing contracts, intellectual property, nuclear, technology or international commercial arrangements would also be beneficial, but is not essential.
About us:
We are an international engineering and construction company delivering state-of-the-art infrastructure and buildings projects for clients in the UK, Middle East and Australia.
Certainty, reliability, quality – this is what our clients want. And at Laing O'Rourke, we have more than 150 years of experience delivering it. Laing O'Rourke's story is one of energy, passion, ambition, people and teamwork. We harness the power of our experience, stretching back over a century and a half to deliver certainty for our clients.
As part of the Disability Confident scheme, we would like to enable access to candidates with long term health conditions and disabilities through the ‘Offer an interview scheme'. This supports applicants that meet the essential criteria by offering an interview for the advertised position. Please let us know prior to interview what adjustments are required as well as discussing how we can support you in the workplace
