After more than 60 years away from Formula One, Aston Martin returned to the grid in 2021. Based in Northamptonshire, Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One™ Team has more than 700 passionate people at its heart, making a team with both a rich heritage and a fresh perspective – bringing new energy to the sport with a determination to shake up the order and compete at the sharp end.

The Aston Martin era represents the beginning of a new journey for us, but the racer’s attitude and can-do approach remain central pillars in the team’s philosophy. The focus is always on improving performance and delivering results. With fresh investment and energy, the stage is set to build on Aston Martin’s rich history in motorsport and establish Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One™ Team as a competitive force in the years ahead.

To succeed on this mission, the team is looking for talented individuals who share our passion for racing and hunger for competition. It’s a stimulating and rewarding place to work, with pure racing at the core of everything we do. We are building for a strong future and every member of the team will play an important role in our success.

Purpose

The Team has more than 700 employees involved in everything from car design and manufacture through to Logistics, Finance, Marketing, HR, and Travel. The existing Legal department consists of four full time lawyers and the successful candidate would work as part of this small, close-knit team. The Legal department takes on a broad range of legal work including corporate, property, construction, commercial and sports regulatory. Day-to day activities include sponsorship, licensing, NDAs, procurement, data protection and general supplier management.

Primary Responsibilities

The purpose of the role is to free-up capacity within the existing Legal team so as to allow them to focus on core legal activities of the F1 team and broader group. In addition, the successful candidate will be expected to support each member of the existing Legal team, including the Group General Counsel with core legal activities as they arise. Consequently, the successful candidate will need to have a positive “can-do” attitude and be ready to try their hand at any tasks assigned to them; such tasks to comprise both legal and administrative elements.

Key responsibilities include:

Acting as the first responder to general legal queries from the business – engaging further legal support as required.
Supporting day-to-day business operations from a legal perspective – offering ad hoc advice and drafting support:
relating to supplier contracts and conditions
for the IT function
for the procurement team
for the commercial team
in respect of data protection
Ownership of the drafting, execution, issuing and execution of NDAs, cease & desist letters and HR recruitment terms.
Administration of document execution and issuance to counterparties.
Ownership of filing processes (hard and soft copies).
Ownership and maintenance of a contracts database.
Ownership and maintenance of a precedents database.
Instruction of outsourced due diligence providers (in anticipation of commercial transactions).
Supporting with administrative tasks, including (but not limited to):
Bundle/folder creation
Posting and/or couriering documents
Administration of Legal team and external meetings
Assisting with document development (such as PowerPoint presentations)
Taking minutes of meetings
Assisting the Group General Counsel, F1 Team Legal Director and other Legal department members with ad-hoc requests.
Building excellent relationships with internal stakeholders and suppliers to enhance the reputation of the Legal team and assist with its full integration into the wider business.

Skills & Knowledge Required

Previous legal office experience is essential, and the successful candidate must have experience of working with Microsoft Office (Outlook, Teams, Word, PowerPoint and Excel are mandatory). Candidates must also have completed an undergraduate degree (1st or 2:1) or equivalent in law (or undergraduate degree already converted to law) and completion of further legal studies (LPC or SQE) desired but not compulsory.

Key skills include:

Strong academics
Good written and oral communication skills
Excellent organizational skills
Outstanding communication and interpersonal abilities
Natural inclination to use problem solving and decision-making skills to act autonomously
Ability to work under pressure, prioritising own work and the work of the team in an organised and accurate manner within tight deadlines, keeping calm and focussed
Good legal research skills
Office administrative skills
Business acumen and understanding of the F1 Team and wider group’s needs

The role will be based at the Silverstone factory.

Paralegal