Location
London

Hours
Full Time

Salary
Competitive, commensurate with experience

About the Role
Balfour Beatty has an exciting opportunity for a Senior Legal Counsel to join our growing team in London. You will be a senior member of the Transportation and Major Projects legal team, a group of around five lawyers pivotal to the success of Balfour Beatty by delivering a proactive legal service to support the Major Projects and Transportation Strategic Business Units (SBUs), their individual Business Units (BUs), and Enabling Functions. Reporting directly to the Managing Counsel, you will work autonomously where appropriate and collaborate closely with senior commercial and other teams, particularly within Transportation.

This role requires a commercially focused legal adviser capable of leading negotiations on complex, high-value bids and live projects, balancing risk and reward to support winning work while protecting long-term value. You will exercise judgement to distinguish between material and non-material risks, enabling the business to take informed positions that support competitive tendering and enduring client relationships.

Key responsibilities include providing professional guidance, pragmatic advice, and practical support on legal, safety, and compliance issues, supporting live projects, managing complex contracts and negotiations, dispute resolution, and contributing to continuous improvement and training initiatives within the legal function.

Experience
- Qualified solicitor or barrister with typically at least 8 years PQE gained in-house or in private practice (consideration may be given to less experienced candidates with requisite skills and experience).
- Knowledge of the construction and infrastructure industry, with experience in sectors such as Energy, major projects, highways, rail, and general infrastructure.
- Extensive experience with NEC3 and NEC4 contracts.
- Understanding of relevant legal and regulatory requirements related to government contracting, including procurement regulations (Defence Procurement Act, Single Source Contract Regulations) and contract terms.
- Experience with various contracting types for UK and other government agencies, including fixed price and cost reimbursable contracts, and familiarity with industry-standard templates such as NEC and FIDIC.
- Strong understanding of business drivers and client needs.

About you
- High energy and impact with strong organisational skills; a self-starter confident in leading legal service provision, prioritising work, and delivering independently to deadlines.
- Good commercial acumen and a valued contributor to strategic discussions.
- Demonstrates commercial judgement by balancing legal risk with commercial opportunity, distinguishing critical from non-critical issues, and supporting informed, proportionate risk-taking to achieve strategic objectives.
- Solutions-oriented, pragmatic, and proactive approach to risk management and mitigation.
- Builds strong relationships within SBUs, executive teams, and wider enabling functions.
- Strong verbal and written communication skills; able to lead client meetings and communicate effectively at all levels.
- Experience in developing and delivering legal training.
- Skilled negotiator with a robust but flexible approach.
- Forward-looking with an interest in innovation and improving ways of working, including experience or interest in working with AI in the legal function.

Qualifications
- Qualified solicitor or barrister as required for the role.
- Continuous professional development to stay up to date with legislation and legal best practices.