Legal Counsel (717324)

FTE: 1.0 (35 hours per week)
Term: Open

The University is looking to appoint an innovative Legal Counsel into its busy Legal Services team, reporting to the Head of Legal Services, to provide expert legal and compliance advice and assistance across all areas of the University, with a particular focus on commercial matters. This is an exciting in-house position with a varied and challenging workload where no two days are the same. You will be able to use and develop your skills in a wide variety of legal disciplines in a friendly, supportive environment and, together with the Head of Legal Services and Senior Legal Counsel, help make a real difference in a ground-breaking institution.

Our new strategic plan, Strathclyde 2030, builds on the University’s collective achievements over recent years in realising our vision of Strathclyde as a leading international technological university, inspired by its founder’s vision of a ‘place of useful learning’ that makes a positive difference to the world. The University has ambitious plans to generate transformative innovation and impact, forge new collaborative relationships and partnerships, and engage across sectors on a global scale. In parallel, all universities are having to respond to an ever-increasing suite of new legislation, laws and external policy developments, at a time when the student and staff community (as with society at large) is becoming increasingly litigious. Safeguarding our Strathclyde Staff and Student Community is at front and centre of all our decision making. Legal Services plays a fundamental enabling role across all the strategic goals and KPIs in Strathclyde 2030 – as a collaborative, values-led business partner, providing tailored, accessible, solutions-based legal advice in support of the University’s objectives.

The Legal Services team handles a broad array of frequently complex legal and compliance issues that impact the University, its staff and its students. We aim to work collaboratively to deliver robust, pragmatic advice that is centred on a sound assessment of legal risk. We offer a proactive, customer-focussed service, providing full and effective legal support to senior management and colleagues on a wide range of legal matters across a full range of the University’s activities.

We also work with external advisors as necessary to provide appropriate support to the University’s objectives, always helping to secure the best value for money and manage the University’s risk exposure appropriately.

Legal Services at the University of Strathclyde sits within the Office of the University Compliance Officer along with Safeguarding, Internal Audit Service, Information Governance Unit and the Directorate of Safety, Wellbeing & Resilience.

While there will be a significant focus on commercial matters such as contracts, intellectual property, transnational education agreements, procurement, corporate investments, information governance, information security, and international activities (including overseas campus activity), the broad nature of the role will also involve handling regulatory/compliance, charity law, safeguarding, equality, dispute resolution, civil litigation, property, and student-related matters.

We handle cases which have considerable financial and reputational impact on the University. The applicant should have experience of dealing with complex matters through to completion, appreciating the relevant external environment, and have the ability to take on a variety of work with varying degrees of complexity and management oversight.

Interviews are scheduled to take place on 1 July 2025.

For informal enquiries, please contact Gavin Grant, Head of Legal Services at gavin.grant@strath.ac.uk.

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