Legal Counsel - Commercial
et the bar for greatness
The FA is looking for a commercially knowledgeable Legal Counsel to provide proactive legal support to The FA Group across a full range of commercial legal support issues.
What will you be doing?
- Delivering practical legal advice across a full range of The FA's commercial legal requirements.
- Drafting and negotiating key commercial contracts for The FA's business, including broadcasting and sponsorship.
- Drafting and negotiating a range of other commercial contracts in all areas of The FA's business, including product licensing, funding agreements, event staging and venue hire, IT contracts, competition terms and conditions and supply/services agreements.
- General commercial legal work including providing advice on intellectual property issues and brand protection
- Providing support to the Head of Legal- Commercial on commercial matters
- Providing proactive legal support to the rest of the Legal & Governance Division.
- Providing focused instructions to external law firms when authorised to do so.
- Executing additional tasks as required in order to meet FA Group changing priorities.
- Complying with all company policies and procedures to ensure the highest standards of health, safety and wellbeing can be maintained.
- As part of The FA's commitment to ensuring a safe environment for everyone in football, every employee will be required to complete a DBS check. The level of the check required will be based on the activity of the specific job role and in line with legislation and government guidance.
What are we looking for?
Essential for the role:
- Solid academic background and robust legal training.
- At least 2 years' PQE working as a qualified solicitor however candidates with relevant skills sets and qualifications will be considered regardless of PQE.
- Must be able to demonstrate a breadth of commercial legal knowledge gathered in a major law firm and/or corporate organisation.
- Ability to demonstrate clear, concise and practical written and oral legal advice, which includes drafting, negotiating and interpreting a range of contracts and ancillary documents (e.g. tenders).
- Able to cope with pressurised situations and tight timeframes whilst maintaining a professional approach.
Beneficial to have:
- Previous in-house experience (for example, a secondment).
- Previous experience of sports law.
- Experience of drafting and negotiating sponsorship agreements.
- Experience of intellectual property law
What's in it for you?
We are committed to ensuring everyone can flourish in their roles, to achieve this we have unique office spaces under the arch of the iconic Wembley National Stadium, which is the home of English Football. We are also delighted to offer a world-class, Elite Performance Centre, St. George's Park in Staffordshire which is an exceptional setting to develop and inspire high-performing England teams and leaders.
We pride ourselves in offering a competitive salary as well as great opportunities to develop and grow in your role. But that is not all; we also have a range of exciting benefits, some of which can be found below:
- Access to event day tickets at Wembley Stadium, alongside a host of regular internal events throughout the season encouraging you to connect and learn with your colleagues and look after your mental health and wellbeing.
- Free, nutritious lunches, at Wembley Stadium and St. George's Park.
- Free private medical cover.
- A contributory pension scheme.
- An additional Thank You day's leave, volunteering days as well as 25 days annual leave.
- A hybrid working model offering greater flexibility.
For more information on what it is like to work at The FA, please visit our FA Careers page, https://www.thefa.com/about-football-association/careers
Our Organisation
The Football Association [The FA] is the not-for-profit governing body of football in England. It is responsible for promoting and developing every level of the game, from grassroots through to the professional game, and generates significant revenue to support investment into English football each year.
The FA oversees England international teams across men's, women's, youth and disability football, as well as running the National League System and FA Competitions including the Emirates FA Cup, Barclays FA Women's Super League, FA Women's Championship, and Women's Adobe FA Cup, and the world-class facilities of Wembley Stadium and St. George's Park, all with a purpose to Unite the Game and Inspire the Nation.
We currently work within a hybrid working model whereby the expectation is to work from your contractual location for part of the week, and as and when required by the team. The remaining days can be worked remotely. We will continue to monitor this model and it may be adjusted in future if deemed necessary.
Your contract with The FA will specify a fixed location of either Wembley Stadium, St. George's Park or our Processing Centre, unless the role is advertised as a homebased contract. The contractual location of this role can be found at the top of this advert on our FA vacancy page.
The FA, For All, For You
Our equality, diversity and inclusion strategy forms an integral part of our long-term commitment to using our influence across English football to create a game free from discrimination.
https://www.thefa.com/-/media/thefacom-new/files/about-the-fa/2021/fa_a-game-for-all-strategy.ashx
A Game For All outlines three key strategic commitments – Lead the Change, Be the Change, and Inspire the Change – which will ensure tackling discrimination remains a core priority for English football for years to come.
We are a diverse workplace, aspiring to represent football across the country. The Football Association actively promotes inclusion and diversity, encouraging you to be the best version of yourself at work.
We welcome applications from everyone and are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. If you have any particular requirements in respect of the recruitment or interview process, please mention this during your application.
As part of The FA's commitment to ensuring a safe environment for everyone in football, every employee will be required to complete a DBS check. The level of the check required will be based on the activity of the specific job role and in line with legislation and government guidance.
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