Legal Counsel

Application Deadline: 24 July 2026

Department: Legal

Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time

Location: London

Compensation: £85,000 / year

Description

What you’ll do

• Draft, review, and negotiate a broad range of legal documents, including NDAs, supplier contracts, contractor agreements, grant and research funding agreements, collaboration agreements and amendments.
• Manage a portfolio of lower and medium-risk matters, knowing when to take ownership, when to escalate, and when to involve the General Counsel, Senior Legal Counsel, or outside support.
• Provide clear, practical legal advice to colleagues across ARIA's operations and programmes, helping them understand legal issues, options and trade-offs.
• Act as the Legal team’s steward for compliance and regulatory matters, such as responding to requests under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, helping with export control queries, and mapping adherence to public sector legal requirements.
• Support the General Counsel and CFO on corporate governance issues.
• Help build and maintain legal templates, playbooks, guidance, approvals processes, contract records and matter tracking so the team can operate efficiently and consistently.
• Support the General Counsel and Senior Legal Counsel on more complex, higher-risk or novel matters.
• Build trusted relationships across the organisation so that the legal team is seen as a useful thought partner, not a blocker.

Who you are

• You have sound legal knowledge and you are able to use it to tackle new problems with first principles thinking.
• You are a clear writer and communicator who can explain legal issues in simple, practical terms to non-lawyers.
• You have excellent attention to detail and organisational skills, and can maintain accuracy while working at pace. 
• You enjoy the challenge of dealing with new or unfamiliar matters or legal topics and you are able to quickly get up to speed, know when to take ownership, when to escalate, and when to bring in specialist outside support.  
• You are deeply interested in how law, science, and technology intersect.
• You have good judgement and you are comfortable taking a risk-based approach, knowing how to help colleagues move forward while protecting the organisation and the public interest.
• You have strong experience in one or more of the following legal practice areas (and a willingness to learn more about those in which you don’t): commercial contracts; grants and research funding; intellectual property; technology; data protection.
• You have a good humoured, low-ego, and hands-on approach to work, willing to tackle the big and the small in service of ARIA’s mission. 
• You are a qualified solicitor in England and Wales (or equivalent).
• You have high quality work experience but may still be relatively early on in your career and you are keen to develop a range of experience rather than pursuing a narrow legal specialism (a minimum of 1-3 PQE expected but not mandated).

• You have some experience in one or more of the following areas (and a willingness to learn more about those in which you don’t): employment law; subsidy control; public law; procurement; corporate structures and joint ventures.
• You have some experience of an in-house environment, through a previous role or a client secondment.

Benefits

• 27 days annual leave provision, with the option to buy/sell additional days
• Hybrid working arrangements; 60% in office / 40% at home
• Discretionary bonus
• Supportive environment for learning and development opportunities
• Enhanced family leave arrangements
• A free and confidential 24/7 employee assistance programme
• Life Assurance
• 2 days of paid volunteer days
• 5% defined contribution pension scheme with Smart Pension
• Cycle to Work scheme
• An excellent office location in Kings X, London