By 2050, the planet could be using twice as much electricity compared to today. Are you interested in contributing and helping to shape the future of the world’s energy? If so, read on.
Fusion, the process that powers the Sun and Stars, is one of the most promising options for generating the cleaner, carbon-free energy that our world badly needs.
UKAEA leads the way in realizing fusion energy, partnering with industry and research for groundbreaking advancements. Our goal is to bring fusion electricity to the grid, supported by tomorrow's power stations. In pursuit of our mission, UKAEA embraces core values: Innovative, Committed, Trusted, and Collaborative.
As an employee of UKAEA you will benefit from:
* Outstanding defined benefit pension scheme, details of which can be found at the end of this advert.
* Corporate bonus scheme up to 7%and a Relocation allowance (if eligible).
* Flexible working options including family friendly policies and the right to request flexible working from the start of your employment.
* Employee Assistance Programme and trained Mental Health First Aiders,
* Generous annual leave allowance starting with 25 days, plus 3 days Christmas closure and 2.5 privilege days, in addition to UK bank holidays
* Wide range of career development opportunities
* A vibrant culture committed to equality and being fully inclusive
Job Description
The salary for this role is £64,723 (inclusive of a Procurement Market Premium Payment (MPP) - MCIPS Required. Onsite working is expected for 3 days each week, however, we actively support requests for flexible working.
This role can be based at any of the following sites; Rotherham, South Yorkshire or Culham, Oxfordshire, or Whitehaven, Cumbria .
This role requires employees to complete an online Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), including The Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) checks for criminal convictions and possibly a search of open source data.
The Role
Are you looking for an exciting opportunity to make a difference? Join our team and contribute to the future of fusion energy. As Strategic Legal Supplier Business Partner, you will play a pivotal role in partnering with Legal Business Partners, Legal team, Innovation Team colleagues, and external legal advisors to manage external legal support. This involves building and maintaining a relationship with seven firms on the legal panel, and two firms on the Patent Attorney panel to ensure that the service provided to the UKAEA is appropriate and cost-effective. You will require an extensive understanding of the legal market and the structures for appointing and monitoring legal advisors within Government, including liaison with Commercial colleagues, Government Legal Profession, and suppliers, monitoring KPIs and collecting and communicating feedback.
You will also be required to develop a pipeline of future legal work and ensure that this is distributed amongst panel members fairly, that their costs estimates are adhered to, and that over-charging or inefficiency is challenged robustly. You will also support the Commercial team in the re-procurement of both panels when required, and will develop measures to monitor quality, benchmark costs and maximise value for money – for example, through harnessing external panel training and secondment opportunities.
Key Responsibilities:
* Responsible for supporting the Deputy Director of Legal and Strategic Legal Business Partners in appointing and instructing external advisors including panel firms, non-panel firms, Counsel and legal consultants
* Maintain oversight of framework and contractual KPIs and producing reports and management information. Using data to develop policies for choice of legal advisors (internal, external panel, other) to guide future procurement and recruitment
* Monitor standards of service including timeliness, compliance with process, reasonableness of charges and level of seniority of advisors, time spent and client feedback
* Monitor costs and working with directors and legal business partners in identifying and addressing likely legal budget overspend
* Work with suppliers to ensure their capacity and specialist knowledge is maintained and improved, and encouraging collaboration between UKAEA and suppliers on knowledge sharing and training
* Develop ‘know your client’ materials to better inform legal suppliers of UKAEA’s mission, priorities, ways of working and risk appetite, delivering training to panel firms
* Maintain regular communication with panel relationship leads, resolving any conflict and escalating any professional ethics or similar matters to the Director of Legal
* Work with Commercial colleagues to support reporting and supplier management, assisting with reporting to GLD framework manager and wider commercial community as required
* Develop legal sector specific requirements – social value, knowledge transfer, training etc to support future procurement of legal (and potentially other professional) suppliers.
* Work with the Heads of Learning and People to develop and promote legal training plans in conjunction with suppliers for colleagues, including specialist training adapted to expertise in Finance, Commercial and People directorates.
* Champion diversity and inclusion in all aspects of the role.
Qualifications
Essential Requirements:
* MCIPS qualified
* Legal qualification or substantial experience of professional services frameworks (especially legal suppliers)
* Extensive experience of managing demanding suppliers at a strategic level in a complex environment
* Ability to negotiate at the highest level with suppliers
* Customer focused and commercially astute
* Strong verbal and written communication skills
Additional Information
A full list of our benefits can be found here .
We welcome talented people from all backgrounds who want to help us achieve our mission. We encourage applications from under-represented groups, particularly from women in STEM, people from Black British Caribbean and African, Pakistani and Bangladeshi British, and other ethnic minority backgrounds, people with disabilities, and neurotypical individuals. Our Executive team, supported by our 'Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion' (EDI) and Wellbeing and our EDI Networks actively promote Inclusion and takes steps to increase diversity within our organisation. We reinforce best practices in recruitment and selection and evaluate approaches to remove barriers to success.
Please note that vacancies are generally advertised for 4 weeks but may close earlier if we receive a large number of applications.
For applicants applying from outside the United Kingdom or those who have spent time outside the UK in the last five years, please visit the following link for information on criminal records checks: If your country of residence or previous residence is not listed on the website or if the UK Government does not have information on obtaining a criminal records check from that state, we regret to inform you that we cannot process your application.