Senior Contracts Associate - Strand, London, WC2R 2LS

Senior Contracts Associate - Strand, London, WC2R 2LS

About us:

We are looking for an experienced contracts professional who will be an integral member of the Contracts Team, which provides a professional, effective and efficient service for Kings researchers by drafting, reviewing, negotiating and advising on contracts from private and public sector organisations for Kings research, services and consultancy activity.

The Senior Research Contracts Associate will input into the Contracts Teams contractual and costing processes. The candidate should have experience of negotiating legal, research and services-related agreements, preferably in a university environment or with research facilities, and be confident and persuasive negotiator with a track record of successful negotiation with different stakeholders. Experience of costing and pricing project budgets is desirable but not essential.

Applicants also require excellent organisational and communication and literacy skills, proven decision-making ability and be able to work well under pressure, both individually and as part of a team.

This is a 20 month fixed term post funded by BBSRC.

The Senior Research Contracts Associate will be responsible for specific departments within the Contracts Team remit.

About the role:

The Senior Research Contracts Associate will secure optimum terms in services, consultancy, research or research related agreements (including publication and intellectual property rights, institutional risk and liability exposure, strategic value general provisions, apportionment of risk and reward, reputational management), referring to the Contract Team Leads and Director of Pre-Award, Research & Consultancy Agreements where appropriate. This will involve collaboration with partner organisations as well as service providers. To ensure the contracts they negotiate comply with Kings regulations and policies and, where relevant, those of external funding organisations and NHS collaborators.

The post holder will draft legal agreements for projects and provide a level of expertise in contractual negotiation. To recommend the acceptability of contracts in their area for signature in conjunction with the Contract Team Leads and the Director of Pre-Award, Research & Consultancy Agreements.

The post holder will have the delegated authority and responsibility within certain limitations to negotiate contractual conditions, draft agreements and submit official costs.

To foster a strong working relationship with the academic community, the Senior Research Contracts Associate will disseminate information on Kings policy and procedures and explain them as appropriate to academic and research support staff, including participating in seminars as necessary and hold meetings with academic and departmental staff, senior managers and/or external organisations as necessary to develop relationships and negotiate terms for activity. To give academic staff accurate, clear advice on legal / contractual and policy matters - working in conjunction with the Contract Team Leads, Director of Pre-Award, Research & Consultancy Agreements and senior managers and deliver training where required.

The Senior Research Contracts Associate will be personally responsible for their own work and ensure that proper records of their activity are maintained and contribute to the preparation of Divisional and Directorate reports and analyses of activity. They will prepare detailed information and instructions as may be necessary for the financial administration of contracts they negotiate so they can be administered and managed properly and efficiently by the Award Management Team

These are a full time (35 Hours per week) roles on fixed term contracts to cover maternity leave within the team.

About you:

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1. Degree or equivalent professional qualification
2. Proven track record of negotiation of research related contracts and agreements, including negotiation of intellectual property, liability/indemnity and price and knowledge of material transfer and data protection legislation
3. Proven negotiation/influencing skills in relation to external funders and partners and ability to analyse and problem solve complex contractual issues
4. Understanding of service provision and performance standards
5. Ability to manage a large and diverse turnover of bids and contracts and excellent organisation skills (managing team workload and remit, multiple competing priorities) and proven track record of engaging with internal and external partners and promotion of activity or policy within an organisation
6. Excellent oral and written communication skills, with the ability to explain complex ideas with clarity and liaise effectively with a wide range of stakeholders of varying seniority
7. Sound numeracy/IT skills and experience of word processing, spreadsheets and databases with demonstrably high levels of accuracy and attention to detail
8. Self-starting, a completer/finisher and able to work largely unsupervised

Desirable criteria

1. Knowledge of full economic costing methodology
2. Knowledge of regulations for AI and Clinical Research
3. Knowledge of research facilities
4. Leadership skills and team management experience, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and ownership of driving staff development.
5. Working knowledge of the university research funding environment, including experience and familiarity with key funders terms and conditions and broad research funding administration in the university sector, or other relevant institutions (e.g. the public sector)

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the page. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

At Kings, we believe that the diversity of our community and a culture that is welcoming, open, inclusive and collaborative, are great strengths of the university.

The Equality Act of 2010 protects the rights of our students and staff and provides a framework to fulfil our duties to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and in addition, to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. At times, this will include balancing rights and beliefs that can feel in tension.

We are committed to free speech and to academic freedom, believing that our foundational purpose as a university, is to create spaces where a wide range of ideas, including ideas that are controversial, can be discussed and debated, and where members of our community can express lawful views without fear of intimidation, harassment or discrimination.

When engaging in the robust exchange of ideas, we ask that our community is mindful of our Dignity at Kings guidance.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the person specification section of the job description. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is evolving rapidly, and we recognise its growing role in professional work. Applicants may use AI tools to support preparation of their application, for example to research the role or structure written responses. However, applications must reflect the applicants own work and experience. AI tools should not be used during interviews or assessment activities unless this has been agreed in advance as a reasonable adjustment. Further guidance on the use of AI in recruitment can be found here.

We reserve the right to close adverts early due to the volume of applications we receive. While the closing date may change, all adverts will close at 23:59 to allow sufficient time for applications to be submitted on that day.

We encourage you to apply at the earliest opportunity to avoid disappointment as once we have closed a vacancy you will be unable to submit your application.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our How we Recruit pages.