General Counsel

Governance

Full-Time

Permanent

GBP72,995 per annum

Application Deadline: 12pm (midday) on Friday 5 January 2024

This is an exciting opportunity for a senior lawyer to lead the Legal Services team at The British Museum and act as a key adviser to senior management and Trustees.

The successful candidate will be responsible for delivering a professional, sector-leading legal and compliance service that fully supports the strategic and operational priorities of the Museum.

Candidates will have significant relevant experience gained in leading firms or comparable in-house roles. They will have in-depth technical knowledge across a range of key legal areas, including commercial, contract and charities law. Candidates will be adept at providing advice to senior stakeholders and taking a risk-based approach to identifying and resolving problems.

Key Areas of Responsibility:

To provide high quality in-house legal, and information governance advice; Manage the legal and information governance team; Oversee delivery of the Museum's legal and information governance strategies; To work with external legal advisers as required, ensuring value for money; and Represent the Museum and communicate on its behalf with third parties and relevant external and internal stakeholders. Person Specification:

Admitted as a practising solicitor or barrister in England and Wales. Relevant experience either in-house or in private practice. Detailed knowledge and experience of commercial, contract law and related areas Able to: identify across a wide range of disciplines and show an analytical and creative approach to their resolution; assess the degree of longer term risk and likely impact associated with proposed actions and make decisions that do not limit or compromise future options; understand the operational ramifications of advice and find practical solutions; apply knowledge/skills through handling complex problems within and outside area of expertise. Professional manner, objectivity, and commercial negotiation skills. Experience of managing others, supervising and implementing processes. Ability to communicate complex legal matters in a clear, straightforward way. About the British Museum:

Founded in 1753, the British Museum's remarkable collection spans over two million years of human history and culture. The Museum is one of the leading visitor attractions and its world-famous collection includes the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon sculptures, Egyptian mummies, the Admonitions Scroll, and the Amaravati sculptures.

The Museum offers a competitive benefits package including:

Generous annual leave allowance of 25 days (rising to 30 days after 10 years' service) plus 2.5 privilege days and plus bank holidays Membership of the civil service defined benefit pension scheme (find out here what benefits a civil service pension provides). Free entry to a wide range of museums and exhibitions Participation in private and public Museum activities, including talks by leading curators from around the world and behind-the-scenes opportunities to learn how museums care for and manage their extraordinary collections Interest-free travel, bicycle and rental deposit loans Professional and personal development opportunities Employee Assistance Programme Discounts on food and gift shop purchases Additional details:

For more information about this role, please see the job description.

If you have any additional needs that we should be aware of in order to support you with your application, please provide details

The British Museum is committed to promoting equality of opportunity for all staff and job applicants. We aim to create a working environment in which all individuals can make best use of their skills, free from unlawful discrimination or harassment. We value the benefits that a diverse workforce brings to a Museum which represents world culture. The Museum is committed to ensuring that no job applicant suffers unlawful discrimination because of any protected characteristics. Our recruitment procedures aim to ensure that individuals are treated because of their relevant knowledge, skills and experience.

We offer a flexible way of working scheme that allows our employees to work remotely in a way that suits them and the organisation. We welcome questions and conversations at interview stage about how flexible working could work for you.

The Museum adheres to the HMG Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) for pre-employment screening of Civil Servants.