Risk & Compliance Associate

We are excited to be recruiting a new Risk & Compliance Lawyer, at Associate level, who will work alongside our Data Protection Officer remit and procurement lead and join our motivated and ambitious risk and compliance team. This is an excellent opportunity to work with Matt Sturgeon, our General Risk Counsel, and the team (known as Business Excellence), on a full spectrum of data protection and contracting matters, whilst also advising on and assisting with internal risk management, professional compliance and ethical issues. This role is a unique opportunity for a commercial lawyer to work in a non fee-earning role in the firm's data protection and supply chain management, whilst enhancing its approach to client contracting.  

We're flexible as to which office you may be based from, though our Bristol or Southampton offices may be especially well suited to working with the team. We actively endorse and support hybrid working on the basis of what is best for the team, the key stakeholders and the individual.

The Business Excellence team is on a mission to be a recognised as a leader in its field. We are keen to receive applications from individuals who share this vision and whose mindset will bring spirit, drive and an innovative spark to the role.

What you'll do

We are looking for a commercial lawyer with an interest in data protection and cyber security in a commercial environment, where you will be using your skills to help us continue to shape and deliver the firm's data strategy. This will encompass focussing on data governance, risk assessment, tender responses and breach/incident management. You will be working closely with a wide number of stakeholders including senior members of the firm and our Digital Data & Technology team, especially with regards to information and cyber security. With the exceptional pace of technological change, you will be driven to stay ahead of data protection developments and their impact on developing legal services technologies.

You will assist the DPO with the day to day for the firm's approach to procurement, assisting on a rolling supply chain resilience project to understand and manage the firm's supply chain risk with a specific focus on contracts and data. You will seek to ensure that the firm's suppliers provide services consistent with our (and our clients') requirements as regards commercial risk, business continuity, cyber and information security, modern slavery, and more generally to achieve the firm's supplier goals for ESG and National Equality Standards accreditation. You will also use your skills as a general commercial lawyer to provide contract and professional compliance advice for client tenders (including on data protection, FOI, intellectual property and indemnities), retainer letters, terms of business and supply contracts. As such you will be an enthusiastic collaborator with a positive approach to working with our Client Development and legal teams.  

Working as a key member of a busy and supportive team, you will also advise stakeholders on the SRA Code of Conduct, and data and commercial risk management issues. You will benefit from administrative support and a close-knit and friendly team to support you, with a focus on work being done at the right level. We’re keen to enable you to focus on delivering the firm's data strategy and procurement objectives, and over time – if you need it – help you build your risk and compliance expertise.

What we're looking for

You will have gained commercial law expertise with exposure to data protection law, with a background in non-contentious commercial/contracting/procurement work. You may have worked in private practice or an inhouse legal team and are now looking for a new challenge. We're equipped to provide comprehensive training and support to enable you to transition into a legal risk and compliance environment, if you don't happen to have this experience already.

You will be motivated and passionate about being at the forefront of understanding emerging technology and market trends, with the gravitas to influence senior stakeholders and excellent strategic project management, planning and advisory skills. Commercially aware and conscious of the environment you will be joining, you will be committed to the commercial imperatives of managing a supply chain in the face of client and wider stakeholder expectation.

It is crucial to us that you possess the drive to continue developing your legal and advisory skillset and are able to think strategically and ethically in a business context. We place a high value on our collaborative and refreshingly human culture, and as such, recognise the importance of building long-lasting and rewarding relationships with stakeholders. Working with empathy and appreciation as part of a team is essential, along with the skills to share and delegate work effectively. 

We are proud of our proven track record of developing and progressing our people, in an environment where recognition and appreciation is shared with colleagues. Our people understand that progression is open to them as and when they are ready, without the need for concern about 'glass ceilings'.

Our offer to you

In return for your efforts, you can expect considerable scope for personal, as well as professional, development. We encourage people to engage with our popular and well supported coaching and mentoring programmes, which connect you to people right across the firm and at every level. We create space for mental and physical wellbeing with our weekly Lifestyle Hour, along with 28 days’ annual leave (plus a day in your birthday month), private medical insurance (eligibility applies) and a sabbatical you can take every 5 years. You can also buy holiday, managing your benefits flexibly using our sophisticated portal to configure your total reward offer according to what you value most. As part of this, you can make ongoing or one-off donations to our charitable foundation and access our CSR programme where you can engage with community-based initiatives (as a team, or individually) twice a year, to give something back where you feel it matters.

For further details of our benefits packages, please visit the link attached – Our benefits | Foot Anstey

Successful applicants will be required to complete a pre-employment screening process which includes a financial integrity check and a DBS check. If you wish to discuss any issues or questions in connection with this, or anything else, please do speak in confidence with a member of the Talent Acquisition Team: [email protected]

Why Foot Anstey?

As one of the UK’s fastest growing law firms, Foot Anstey believes in helping our clients and people achieve their ambitions, unlocking new and exciting opportunities. Our team of business and legal advisors are motivated by understanding clients’ goals and collaborating with them and other advisers to deliver solutions.  By becoming our clients’ most trusted advisor, we are enabling them to achieve their ambitions. How we do it is just as important as what we do. Our values define the way we act with our clients and one another every day, and because of this we think our culture and environment sets us apart.

Over our history we’ve grown from a high-street firm to a significant regional and national player working with leading brands and individuals predominantly across seven key sectors: Private Equity, Retail & Consumer, Energy & Infrastructure, Islamic Finance, Developers, Private Wealth and Charities. Our strategy of gaining market share through meeting clients’ needs, investing in and developing high quality talent and using technology and innovation to enhance our services has led to significant growth. We now operate from nine locations: Bristol, Southampton, Exeter, Plymouth, Truro, Taunton and London, as well as a ‘hub’ bases in Manchester, Guildford and Oxford.

Our people are central to our success, in every part of the business. We actively support our employees to achieve their aspirations through offering meaningful careers with balanced rewards, which have been carefully designed to focus on personal wellbeing. We offer continual opportunities for support and professional development through our Business Skills Academy and Digital Skills Academy and believe in empowering each other to achieve and strive to create a progressive and inclusive working environment. Being forward-thinking, we are open to discussing flexible working patterns for all of our vacancies, with over 40% of our existing employees having a permanent flexible working pattern. In addition, our impressive suite of flexible benefits will enable you to prioritise what matters most to you.

Creating a diverse and inclusive workplace is integral to delivering our strategy, and we were delighted to be awarded the National Equality Standard for a second time. We consider this to be right at the heart of our priorities and goes way beyond our policies – it’s something we consider across everything we do, from the make-up of our client teams, encouraging staff to reach their potential, through to our leadership. We aim to support our clients and our people to achieve their goals, regardless of background, gender, race, beliefs, sexuality or other non-work related factors. We champion aspiration and encourage it in everyone that works with us. As such we actively encourage applications from all suitably qualified people, regardless of any characteristics protected by law. If you apply for this role, you may be encouraged to answer our diversity and social mobility monitoring questions, so please be reassured that any answers you provide will remain entirely anonymous and confidential and will in no way impact your application.

Foot Anstey. Seriously Ambitious.