The University wishes to appoint a Commercial Lawyer to its Legal Services team.  

The University of Reading is a global institution with a world-class reputation for teaching and research. It is a diverse and inclusive community, with more than 23,000 students from around 160 countries studying in campuses across three continents. It works with businesses of all sizes, from multinationals to innovative SMEs, including through ventures such as Thames Valley Science Park. The University’s Whiteknights campus is set in 130 hectares of parkland, including woodland, a lake, a SportsPark, and plenty of places to eat. 

The Legal Services Department is a dynamic and collaborative group of nine lawyers, two paralegals and an administrative assistant. We provide high quality and pragmatic legal advice, at pace, across a broad range of the University’s activity, helping to deliver the University’s strategic priorities to enable teaching, research and innovation to flourish.  

You will have the opportunity to work with colleagues across the University on issues that span a wide range of topics, such as commercial, contract, consumer, employment, intellectual property, charity, public and information law, civil litigation, a variety of regulatory areas, and student complaints and discipline procedures. You are not expected to have experience in all these areas. Your work will initially be focussed on your areas of experience, and you will be supported to build up your knowledge and skills through training and collaborative working within our team. You will be curious and have a desire to learn and contribute to the team and the University and will have the opportunity to take ownership of matters. This post would be an excellent development opportunity if you wish to expand your experience and develop your in-house career or move from a specialist (e.g. employment or IP law) to a more generalist role. 

This role offers excellent work/life balance and can be undertaken on a part-time basis. You will be able to work up to 50% of your hours flexibly from home.  

The ideal candidate will: 

• Be a qualified solicitor, barrister or chartered legal executive with experience of practising UK law  
• Demonstrate experience of advising on commercial and/or contract law, and/or negotiating agreements
• Have experience of working within a commercial environment, whether in house or in private practice, and be able to demonstrate the ability to assess and manage risk 
• Have excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to build effective working relationships 
• Have excellent written and oral communication skills, with the ability to summarise legal issues for a lay audience 

Your supporting statement should set out how you meet the requirements of the person specification and your CV should cover details of the legal work you have undertaken.

Interviews will be held on 28 June 2023

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Applications from job seekers who require sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. By reference to the applicable SOC code for this role, sponsorship may be possible under the Skilled Worker Route.  Applicants should ensure that they are able to meet the points requirement under the PBS.  There is further information about this on the UK Visas and Immigration Website.

​​​​​​​The University is committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce, supports the gender equality Athena SWAN Charter and champions LGBT+ equality.  Applications for job-share, part-time (minimum 0.80 FTE) and flexible working arrangements are welcomed and will be considered in line with business needs.