Legal Counsel, Francis Crick
£70k
More information about location
Biomedical research institute
Posted today
Biomedical research institute
1001+ employees
Posted today
£70k
More information about location
1001+ employees
Company mission
To discover without boundaries.
Role
Who you are
- A solicitor or barrister admitted in England & Wales (or other common law jurisdiction) with a current practicing certificate, and with two or more years post qualification experience. *
- General commercial contracting experience, ideally in a science or technology sector, and a sound understanding of the legal and regulatory context in which the Crick operates as a charitable company and biomedical research institute.*
- Experience of using or developing ways of working and alternative legal service models, and using a matter management system
- You think strategically. You are a problem-solver or gatekeeper, as the situation demands, delivering legal services to a good standard. You are confident to challenge previous ways of doing things and to drive a matter through to a successful conclusion
- Excellent communication skills and an engaging delivery. Able to present complex information as clear and simple communications. A concise, compelling written style with strong written accuracy and excellent legal drafting skills
- Experience of designing, delivering or using alternative and/or digital legal service models, including a matter management system. Keen and confident user of technology and interest in exploring new technologies to foster team working, promote awareness, share knowledge and support compliance
- Strong interpersonal skills and influencing skills (eg tact, integrity, confidentiality and patience) with highly developed emotional and political intelligence. Able to build personal credibility quickly and develop and maintain effective relationships with people with differing perspectives and needs. Exhibit presence and confidence when interacting with people at all levels across the organisation
- A positive, self-starter and team player. Able to work effectively in a collegiate environment and consult with colleagues to share expertise and ideas to deliver new outcomes. Act authentically and consistently and develop self-awareness by seeking feedback from others. With experience of supporting more junior colleagues
- Highly organised with strong planning skills and the ability to prioritise competing demands and tight deadlines. A methodical approach and an excellent attention to detail. Flexible, self-motivated and resilient under pressure
- A commitment to the Crick’s vision and core values
What the job involves
- In this role, you will be helping the Crick deliver its scientific and commercial strategy in compliance with its legal and regulatory requirements and internal policies and procedures
- You will be part of the Crick’s Legal and Governance team (also known as L&G) – our team includes lawyers, company secretariat managers, contract managers, paralegals and a legal operations manager
- This is a busy role in a friendly team where collegiality, professionalism and attention to detail are key
- You will provide high quality commercial legal advice and transactional support for all parts of the Crick including to our scientific community and our operations teams
- The work is varied reflecting the range of activities at the Crick and the different types of relationships with commercial and academic organisations
- You will also help to deliver L&G’s strategic initiatives and legal operations initiatives
- Working closely with our legal operations manager and non-legal colleagues, you will help develop and streamline ways of working to help deliver our ambition to run best-in-class legal operations, contributing to improving legal operations and delivery of legal services
- You will also play a key role in supporting knowledge and learning within the team, especially mentoring junior team members
- If you are a qualified lawyer and have experience of providing high quality commercial advice as well as transactional support, this may be a perfect role for you
- As a Legal counsel at the Crick, you will:
- Stakeholder management: Develop and maintain excellent working relations with all levels of our organisation including senior and/or key internal and external stakeholders
- Advisory: Provide or procure appropriate advice on laws and regulation (including those pertaining to research, philanthropic and charitable activities), commercial/contract law matters, contract disputes, laws and regulations, taking into account internal policy, process and governance
- Transactional support: Support contracts and or other legal matters, as lead lawyer or working with another team member
- Legal services innovation: Develop new ways of working for L&G, improve legal operations and delivery of legal services. As part of the L&G team, you will help streamline the Crick’s contracting process, legal approval process and contract documentation database
- Knowledge and learning: Support, supervise, and mentor junior team members
Application process
- Closing Date: 18/Jun/2025 23.59 GMT
Salary benchmarks
Our take
The Francis Crick Institute was founded in 2015 through the merger of the MRC's National Institute for Medical Research and CRUK's London Research Institute. Its mission is to push the boundaries of our understanding of how life works, and it is the largest single-site biomedical research institute in Europe.
One of the Institute's strengths is its ability to collaborate extensively with external research groups, boasting partnerships in more than 90 countries. These collaborations, however, pose data protection challenges due to the need to transfer vast amounts of sensitive information across borders. The Institute has addressed this by developing its own Trusted Research Environment toolkit, which allows remote teams to share data securely and compliantly in the cloud.
The institute secured £1 billion in funding back in 2022, and is maximising its effectiveness through the BRIDGE network and investments in AI and machine learning. A notable example is Google’s subsidiary DeepMind establishing a research lab within the institute to enhance biology and genomics research.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
10% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (1 round)
Jul 2022
$1.4bn
GRANT
Total funding: $1.4bn
Company benefits
- 28 days of holiday each year, plus three additional days (usually taken over Christmas) and bank holidays
- Defined contribution pension scheme, with the Crick contributing between 3% - 16% of salary
- Life assurance
- Season ticket/car parking loan
- Annual leave purchase
- Childcare support allowance
- Back-up dependent care
- Discounted annual gym membership
- Bike to Work scheme
- Payroll giving
- Shopping discounts
Company HQ
Somers Town, London, UK
Leadership
Paul Nurse
(CEO)The first Director and Chief Executive of the Francis Crick Institute. Was previously President of Rockefeller University in New York. In 2001 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine as part of a team that discovered the role of protein molecules that control the duplication of cells.
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