Legal Counsel

Legal Counsel – BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group

Join to apply for the Legal Counsel role at BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group

BIG is a group of 750+ architects, engineers, urbanists, inventors, researchers and business minds from all over the world who are based in our Copenhagen, New York, London, Barcelona and Los Angeles offices. While we are led by a group of expert partners, directors, and associates, a flat hierarchy and collaborative spirit are essential to our BIG ecosystem. We are infectiously ambitious and unified by the shared mission to craft the world we want to live in, to give form to our future one project at a time.

We are on the lookout for a highly experienced, talented, and motivated Senior Legal Counsel who will take responsibility for providing effective and proactive legal support to the Managing Director and Director of Business Development in the dynamic London studio. You will be working within BIG’s Legal Department which currently has 8 members globally, supporting our offices in Copenhagen, New York, London, Barcelona, Los Angeles and Shanghai.

You will work closely with your colleagues, sharing knowledge, experience, ideas and developing and aligning company standards and procedures.

• Contract review
  : at the core of the role is the review and negotiation of contracts (including architectural design agreements of all stages with clients, sub‑consultants, vendors etc.). The business operates at a fast pace, so the need to be able to assimilate and advise on the terms of an agreement quickly and with a commercial awareness of the terms is essential. Also, because of the international nature of the business, it is essential that you are alive to the cultural differences that arise when working in different locations.
• Insurance
  :
  Supporting the management of UK professional indemnity and related insurances, including liaising with brokers, advising on contractual alignment with cover, and contributing to renewal processes in collaboration with Global Legal and Finance.
• Contract negotiation
  : lead contract negotiations from instruction to signature, including liaising with internal stakeholders, interface with clients and other consultants, to understand the project at hand and drive communication with clients, external counsel, insurance brokers etc. The role operates with a high degree of autonomy on day‑to‑day contract negotiation and legal support, with escalation pathways to the Managing Director and Global Legal team for strategic, high‑risk or non‑standard matters.
• Legal support
  : acting as the day‑to‑day legal contact for live projects from bid stage through execution, providing rapid, pragmatic advice on active appointments, LOAs, variations and side letters. Managing contractual risk in real time, including liability caps, indemnities, fitness for purpose language, novation, collateral warranties, reliance and scope changes. Supporting project teams and business development on fast‑track and phased appointments, scope and fee protection, non‑payment and delivery issues, and advising when matters require escalation due to material legal, insurance or commercial risk.
• Department growth
  : contributing to the development and optimisation of legal processes, templates and training materials that support the growing London and global business and advising on legal compliance opportunities within the business at local level and global.
• Risk
  : critically review corporate risks and advise the business on solutions in areas such as data protection, compliance, confidentiality, anti‑bribery, etc.
• Education
  : create initiatives to educate stakeholders on key legal risks.
• Client relations
  : take proactive role supporting the Business Development and Project Controlling teams in building legal contacts within key client organisations and across the LEAP teams to help facilitate contract negotiations.
• Corporate governance
  : identify, develop and maintain standards and procedures to mitigate risks and ensure effective processes locally as well as at global group‑level and ensuring corporate compliance (e.g. management of insurance policies, corporate duties, brand protection…