Corporate Counsel

About BII

British International Investment is the UK’s development finance institution, owned by the UK Government. With a mission to solve the biggest global development challenges, we aim to create a virtuous circle of investment and impact. Your contribution will be essential. 

It won’t be easy: we do the hardest work in the most complex markets. Be prepared to test your skills, get creative and say your piece as you take on high-profile work as part of a diverse team of exceptionally smart, passionate people. 

In return, you can take your career to all-new places in a culture that rewards curiosity and collaboration, and balances high performance with wellbeing.

BII at a glance

75 years supporting sustainable business growth in developing and emerging markets

£8.1 billion in net assets

1,400+ businesses invested in

950,000 workers in the businesses we support

£9 billion in new investments planned in the next 5 years

600+ people in our diverse global team

3 key development objectives: Productive | Sustainable | Inclusive

Team and role overview

The Legal Team supports BII in its investment business and its general corporate needs. We are an experienced team with backgrounds in private practice and in other financial institutions. The Legal Team has four transaction groups, each supporting a BII product: Equity, Funds, Project Finance and Debt. The Legal Team also supports BII’s corporate needs, principally through the Corporate Counsel and the Chief Legal Officer.

Role

The Corporate Counsel function is an important part of the Legal Team’s management of non-transactional legal risks. We are seeking a mid to senior commercial and corporate lawyer with strong commercial contracting experience to join the Legal Team to undertake non-transactional work. The Corporate Counsel works closely with the broader Legal Team, the General Counsel and other key corporate teams, such as Procurement, Finance, Compliance, Information Technology and Tax. The Corporate Counsel has a broad remit and the opportunity to develop and refine the role by working with adjacent teams to improve processes and manage risks. The role is an exciting opportunity for someone to join a collegiate team in a constantly evolving organisation.

Responsibilities 

• Ensuring that supplier contracts are managed and executed in a way which balances legal risk with efficiency of process, including developing and maintaining procedures and processes (including contract management applications).
• Negotiating commercial contracts with suppliers (including professional advisers, IT, real estate and travel).
• Maintenance and management of non-investment precedents and templates, including updates for legal, policy and regulatory changes.
• Outsourcing of commercially significant matters and specialised work to external counsel.
• Presenting advice verbally and in writing to governance bodies such as boards and executive committees.
• Advising on data protection and Freedom of Information Act issues.
• Drafting, maintaining and advising on BII group policies.
• Intellectual property, trademark and copyright issues, including management of trade mark agents and responding to potential infringements.
• Analysing, reporting on and implementing BII’s response to legal and regulatory changes.
• Intra-group funding and other contractual arrangements between group entities.
• Establishing new offices, branches and subsidiaries within and outside the UK, including obtaining local legal advice, assessing risk and determining appropriate corporate structures.
• Supporting the Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel and Company Secretary on major changes to corporate or organisational structures, disputes and other non-transactional matters.
• Building and sharing know-how and best practice, including training to other teams.
  
  

The candidate 

A UK-qualified commercial lawyer with at least seven years’ post-qualification experience, including in-house experience, working on:

• commercial contract negotiation and management (essential)
• company registration and maintenance in the UK and abroad (preferable)
• data protection (at least a working knowledge, in depth experience preferable)
• developing markets (preferable)
• organisational policies and procedures (preferable)

Background

The successful candidate will:

• have a commercial mind-set and be constantly seeking solutions
• have superb attention to detail, administrative capabilities and drafting skills
• have strong information technology skills
• be a team player with communication, project-management, organisational and interpersonal skills
• be able to work across cultures
• be motivated by BII’s development mission and ideally demonstrate some commitment to development or social goals
  
  

Our cultural values

We look for team members who aspire, as we do, to work at our best and to be:

• Impact-led, commercially rigorous
• Tenacious in the face of challenges
• Collaborative and caring

British International Investment is committed to diversity and inclusion and welcomes all applicants regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation or educational background. 

Please provide a cover letter with your application

Salary: Competitive