Legal Counsel

Location: Brabourne

Job Description
Commercial Legal Counsel
Competitive salary, excellent benefits and career development opportunities.
Sysco is the world's largest food service distributor. In Great Britain and Ireland, our businesses serve thousands of customers across the hospitality, leisure, education, healthcare and public sectors. As part of a global organisation, the Legal Team plays an important role in supporting the growth of our businesses in Europe by negotiating commercial contracts, managing risk and generally acting as a business partner to our commercial and functional colleagues across the markets in which we operate.

The team operates as part of the global legal and public affairs team, reporting to the EVP and Chief Legal Officer.
The role
We are looking for a qualified solicitor with substantial experience gained in private practice, in-house, or a combination of both. You will have strong experience drafting and negotiating commercial contracts, coupled with excellent commercial judgement and a pragmatic approach to problem solving.
While candidates with experience broadly equivalent to 37 years' PQE are likely to possess the skills required for this role, applications will be considered from all candidates who can demonstrate the necessary experience and competencies.
The role is based in Ashford, Kent, operating under a hybrid working model, with occasional travel to other UK locations as required.

This role offers the opportunity to work on a wide variety of matters across the Sysco businesses in Great Britain and Ireland, while also supporting European and International projects. You will work directly with colleagues across commercial, operational, procurement, supply chain, technology, finance and HR functions, providing practical and commercially focused legal advice.
You will be trusted to manage your own matters whilst working as part of a collaborative legal team that values pragmatic advice, strong stakeholder relationships and continuous improvement. In addition to providing legal support on day-to-day commercial matters, you will play an active role in helping the team to evolve its processes, tools and ways of working to ensure we continue to deliver an efficient, high-quality and commercially focused service to the business.
You will also act as an important point of contact for more junior members of the team, helping to support their development, share knowledge and foster a collaborative team culture.
Key responsibilities
Draft, review and negotiate a broad range of commercial agreements, including customer contracts, supplier agreements, technology contracts, services agreements, confidentiality agreements and terms and conditions.
Advise stakeholders across the business on legal, commercial and regulatory matters affecting the organisation.
Support strategic projects and business initiatives across Great Britain and Ireland and, where required, across Europe and other International jurisdictions.
Work closely with commercial, operational, supply chain and technology teams to identify and manage legal risk whilst supporting business objectives.
Develop strong working relationships with stakeholders at all levels of the business.
Act as a key contact for more junior members of the Legal Team, providing guidance, sharing knowledge and supporting their professional development.
Support the development and delivery of legal training, compliance initiatives and legal know-how across the business.
Contribute to the ongoing development of legal processes, templates, contract management systems and legal technology solutions.
Identify opportunities to improve the delivery of legal services to the business and help drive continuous improvement within the Legal Team.
Manage disputes and potential disputes at an early stage, working closely with business stakeholders to achieve practical and commercially appropriate resolutions and escalating matters where appropriate.
Monitor legal and regulatory developments and help ensure the business remains informed of relevant changes.
Work collaboratively with members of the Legal Team and provide support across a broad range of legal matters as priorities evolve.
Have the opportunity to support corporate transactions and strategic projects, including acquisitions and business integration activities.
Have the opportunity to assist with data protection, privacy, property, treasury and tax-related matters, working alongside more senior members of the Legal Team and external advisers where appropriate.
About you
You will be a qualified solicitor with experience gained in private practice, in-house, or a combination of both. You will have strong experience drafting and negotiating commercial contracts, coupled with excellent commercial judgement and a pragmatic approach to problem solving.

You will have:

Strong experience drafting and negotiating commercial contracts.
Excellent commercial judgement and a practical approach to problem solving.
The ability to balance legal risk with…