Senior Counsel - Commercial & Legal Operations

Key areas of responsibility

• Lead the review, negotiation and execution of contracts with UK government and public sector customers, including frameworks, call-offs and direct awards (including QDCs).
• Partner with Revenue Operations and capture managers from opportunity qualification to signature, giving fast, risk-calibrated advice on bids, customer terms and go/no-go decisions.
• Handle post-award matters such as variations, extensions and conflicts of interest.

• Own the contracting framework for commercialising our hardware, software and enterprise offerings (e.g. subscription agreements, software licences, EULAs, software development agreements and standard conditions of sale).
• Negotiate bespoke agreements for large and strategic customers with clear positions on IP, liability, warranties, support, SLAs, data and security.
• Build and maintain templates, playbooks and fallback positions so sales teams can close standard deals without Legal and only genuine exceptions are escalated.
• Work with Product, Engineering and Finance to keep contract terms aligned with how products are built, priced, delivered and supported.

• Draft and negotiate teaming agreements, subcontracts and similar partner arrangements, ensuring customer obligations flow down.
• Own contracting with critical suppliers, ensuring terms support our upstream commitments.
• Manage regulatory compliance in supplier and customer relationships (e.g. screening and sanctions).

• Act as in-house expert on UK public procurement law, including the Procurement Act 2023 (PA23) and QDC regime, covering procedures, transparency, exclusion and contract modifications.
• Track regulatory change and translate it into practical guidance, templates and playbooks.

• Embed a newly introduced CLM system into the business.
• Build approval matrices and delegated authorities, and embed the playbooks and templates in the CLM.
• Make contracting faster and more scalable through automation and enterprise AI tools (e.g. Claude) for drafting, review and contract management.
• Report on key metrics such as turnaround times, bottlenecks and contract value.
• Train commercial teams on contracting best practice, such as defining clear deliverables, setting measurable acceptance criteria and managing changes to scope, price and timescales.

• Support our Legal Counsel, sharing knowledge and helping them develop.
• Escalate significant risks to the GC with a clear recommendation and manage external counsel cost-effectively.
• Support the GC on the commercial aspects of future M&A and other corporate transactions as required.
• Support non-UK contracting until local legal resource is in place, working with external counsel where appropriate.
• Cover other legal areas (e.g. export controls, security, data protection, NSIA, employment, corporate), working with specialists and external counsel.

Key skills, experience and behaviours

• Qualified solicitor in England & Wales (or equivalent), with 5-7 years' PQE.
• Significant practical experience of public sector contracting and regulated procurement, including the PA23's effect on bids, awards, frameworks, call-offs and contract changes.
• Experience negotiating complex commercial agreements (services, technology, supply, subcontracts, teaming) and running multiple matters in parallel.
• Strong understanding of IP in commercialisation, licensing and ownership.
• Experience of technology and product commercialisation contracting (e.g. SaaS, licensing, EULAs, software development, terms of sale), including building templates and playbooks for non-lawyers.
• Proven ability to get things done fast: pragmatic, commercial and decisive, working independently with sound judgement on when to escalate.
• Excellent communication and business partnering skills, with credibility among senior commercial colleagues.
• Proficient in, or genuinely enthusiastic about, using enterprise AI tools (e.g. Claude) to draft and manage contracts.
• Knowledge of legal operations tools (e.g. e-signature, workflow and matter management).
• Thrives in a fast-growth environment where priorities shift and processes are still being built.

• Experience in defence and/or CNI, including MOD contracting (DEFCONs, DEFFORMs, security conditions).
• Experience contracting for hardware and embedded products.
• Hands-on experience implementing a CLM system or other legal technology.
• Experience of security or NSIA considerations in contracting.
• Knowledge of export controls and international exports in commercial contracts (e.g. end-user undertakings, licence conditions and flow-down).
• Experience supporting multi-jurisdictional contracting, especially in the US.
• Experience working with and developing more junior lawyers.
• Experience in a scale-up or lean in-house legal team, with willingness to pick up adjacent areas of law.

Working at Rowden