About the job

Job summary

We’re looking for an exceptional Senior Paralegal- Contracts & IP to help us make a difference to our planet.

As our Senior Paralegal - Contracts & IP you will be based at Exeter HQ. This job may be suitable for hybrid working, which is where an employee works part of the week in the office and part of the week from home. This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement and the location advertised will be your contractual place of work.

Who we are:

We provide critical weather services and world-leading climate science to deliver extraordinary impact and benefit across the globe. Our work helps people make better decisions to stay safe and thrive.

Together:

• We’re a force for good - focusing on our environmental and social impact
• We’re experts by nature - always learning and developing to do things better
• We live and breathe it - putting our purpose at the heart of decision-making
• We’re better together - understanding partnerships and inclusivity make us greater
• We keep evolving - pushing boundaries to make tomorrow better for our customers

Find out more about our values - https://bit.ly/3fokaRD

Our opportunity is full time, 37 hours per week, but we would also consider applicants wishing to work a minimum of 4 days per week and we will also try our best to consider those intending to work a job share.  Our people are at the heart of what we do and we'll do our best to agree a working pattern that works for everyone.

Job description

As our Senior Paralegal - Contracts & IP, your key responsibilities are:

• Advise Met Office business areas on contractual and intellectual property matters, with effective client engagement, occasionally at senior manager/director level.
• Assist in the management of registrable intellectual property rights including patents, trademarks and designs, including instruction of external attorneys.
• Identify, review, negotiate, and draft contracts, licences, and other agreements to meet business needs, ensuring they are compliant with Met Office and Government policy, and relevant law.
• Create and maintain contractual and licencing templates for the most common forms of business transaction.
• Contribute to the Legal Team’s performance by providing legal services in a timely, effective, and professional manner.
• Assist with the design and delivery of training to the business areas on legal contract and IP matters.
• Act as a first point of escalation for the Paralegals in the wider Legal team and mentoring as appropriate

It is recognised that applicants may have built up this range of experience over their career and may not currently be covering all of these areas, but would have the ability to get up to speed rapidly once in role.

Person specification

Essential Qualifications, Skills & Abilities:

1. Proven ability to work independently; identifying, drafting and negotiating both standard and bespoke agreements (experts by nature).
2. Can demonstrate previous experience in matters relating to Patents, Trade marks or wider Intellectual Property (experts by nature).
3. Experience of working collaboratively to better understand business objectives, negotiating to achieve the optimum outcome for clients (better together).
4. Demonstrate strong organisational skills to identify priorities and manage competing demands (live & breathe it).
5. Excellent interpersonal skills with proven ability to communicate clearly with stakeholders of varying levels of seniority on a variety of business transactions (experts by nature).

Desirable Qualifications, Skills & Abilities:

We encourage you to apply if you believe you meet our essential criteria, but we’re also keen to discover if you have:

1. A formal legal qualification (e.g. CITMA paralegal, qualified solicitor, barrister or legal executive) or equivalent legal skills and experience.
2. Experience of working in the public sector.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £38,838, Met Office contributes £10,486 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

How to apply:

If you share our values, we’d love to hear from you. Apply below using your CV and a Cover Letter/Supporting Statement which evidences how you meet each of the essential criteria - we recommend candidates use the CARL (Context, Action, Result and Learning) method for presenting evidence of skills.

Closing date 20/03/2024 at 23:59 with interviews commencing from 15/04/2024. You will hear from us once the closing date has passed.

If successful, please note we are unable to offer expenses for travel to your normal place of work. This post is contractually aligned to Exeter HQ, please ask at interview if you would like extra clarity on how often this requirement is likely to be.

How we can help:

If you are considering applying and need support to do so, please contact us via careers@metoffice.gov.uk . You can request adjustments either within your application or by contacting us. Should you be offered an interview, please be aware there may be a selection exercise which could include a presentation, written test or a scenario-based activity. You can select in your application to be considered under the Disability Confident Scheme. To be invited to interview/assessment under this scheme, your application must meet the essential criteria for the role.

We understand that great minds don’t always think alike and as an equal opportunities employer we welcome applications from those with all protected characteristics. We recruit on merit, fairness, and open competition in line with the Civil Service Code.

We can only accept applications from those eligible to live and work in the UK - please refer to GOV.UK for information. We require Security clearance, for which you need to have resided in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years to be eligible. You will need to achieve full security clearance within your first 6 months with us.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.