Bevan Brittan is a leading
commercial law firm. Alongside our recognised expertise in housing,
local government, and health and social care, we are specialists in
the construction, energy and resource management, higher education
and financial services sectors.
Supported by our valued business
services professionals, our award-winning and growing legal teams
provide almost 2,000 organisations with commercial, corporate,
property, finance, regulatory, employment and litigation (commercial
and clinical negligence) legal and advisory services.
As a responsible business, we
embrace four values: Relationships, Reputation, Responsible and
Results. These give us a sense of purpose. They influence the
decisions we make and how we work with each other. Importantly, they
motivate us to deliver meaningful outcomes for our clients and the
communities that we're part of.
Consistently recognised as one of
The Times Best Law Firms and highly ranked across the legal
directories, we are proud of our hard-earned reputation. Our 2023/24
financial results confirmed both revenue and profit growth for an
eleventh consecutive year, ensuring our ability to continue
investing in our people.
Looking to the future, we're
targeting ambitious growth and success. And we're looking for the
best people to be part of it.
Join a team of experts and
progressive thinkers
Our Knowledge Strategy is
ambitious as we look to grow as a team of experts and progressive
thinkers. Knowledge at your fingertips continues to be a key focus
to ensure our lawyers have easy access to the tools and resources
needed to delight our clients. Our Innovation Strategy recognises
that knowledge fuels innovation and this role plays a key part in
providing expert practitioner input into transforming how lawyers work.
This role combines excellent legal
technical knowledge, commercial nous and gravitas with the ability
to re-imagine how legal services are delivered to clients based on
best practice, shared expertise and use of new technologies. Bevan
Brittan continues to invest considerably in online resources and
legal technologies and this role plays a vital part in ensuring that
return on investment in these resources is fully utilised.
Fundamental to this role is the
ability to build strong working relationships with key stakeholders.
Working closely with the Knowledge
Director, this is an exciting opportunity to be a key driver in the
next phase of the firm's knowledge and innovation strategy. You will
specifically be supporting our Commercial & Infrastructure
department on the development of knowledge-based products and use of
knowledge-sharing technologies, as well as increasing efficiencies
through the continual review and improvement of legal processes.
Our Commercial &
Infrastructure department covers a broad range of areas, including
Energy, Technology, Construction as well as Corporate and Banking
with teams regularly working collaboratively to deliver complex and
challenging projects for a wide spectrum of clients, notably in the
Public Sector.
The Role
We are looking for a Knowledge
& Innovation Lawyer to partner with our Commercial &
Infrastructure team in a brand new role, to support our ambitious
growth plans. Working as part of a national team, you will
contribute to and help the Knowledge Director and Knowledge &
Innovation Partner to formulate and deliver the department's
knowledge plan, with a focus on four key areas:
Innovation - working collaboratively with the
Senior Knowledge Business Partner and Transformation colleagues to
lead and deliver innovation initiatives and projects within the
Commercial & Infrastructure department, providing a senior
resource attuned to practitioners and able to deliver digital change.
Client engagement - working closely with the Knowledge
Director and Knowledge Business Partner to run and deliver client
engagements delivering new products and portals;
New technologies - working closely with the Knowledge
Director to continue our focus on providing the right digital tools
for our lawyers (such as HighQ, Definely, StructureFlow, DocuSign
and other extractive/Generative AI products);
Horizon scanning - working with the Research Manager
and Analyst to identify key horizon scanning areas that matter to
clients and working closely with Business Development &
Marketing team to deliver paid-for knowledge-based products as part
of our growing suite of digital products, supported by our Knowledge Paralegals.
You will also work with the
Knowledge Director and broader K&I team on:
Training - having oversight and design of our
Be Bright legal training programme, departmental
induction and general training resources, as well as working with
the Knowledge Systems Analyst on the functionality and content of
our LMS and client platforms as needed;
Risk - supporting the Department Risk
Partner to provide knowledge resources to address key risk areas.
There is the option for this to be
a full or part-time role (0.6 or 0.8 FTE) and can be based in any of
our Birmingham, Bristol or Leeds offices with considerable scope for
flexible / remote working. There may be occasional requirements to
travel to any of our office locations when needed.
Key responsibilities include to:
Pro-actively engage with your
departmental Knowledge & Innovation Partner and champions and
the broader Knowledge & Information team to ensure that the
department has access to high value, relevant knowledge resources
and systems (including ensuring that we obtain best value from our
increasing investment in online and digital resources);
Work collaboratively within a
multi-disciplinary team and alongside colleagues from
Transformation, Business Development & Marketing and Finance to
deliver commercial knowledge products to our clients and improve
internal efficiencies;
Be product owner for key knowledge
systems in the department including knowledge team sites and
client-related portals and legal technology applications relevant to
the department (including assisting Transformation with product
evaluations). Examples include team and client portals on HighQ,
Definely, StructureFlow, Practical Law AI/similar, and Lexis+;
Work closely with our Knowledge
Director and Senior Knowledge Business Partner to identify and
deliver new and better approaches to legal service delivery using
technology, people and processes together with knowledge resources
to embed new working practices;
Help nurture our supportive and
innovative knowledge-sharing culture to equip our talented people
and promote an openness to positive change;
Work with BD&M and Finance to price and promote new client
offerings and/or recover knowledge and technology costs where possible;
Represent the firm at networking events and gathering useful market intelligence;
Ensure subscription resources
(such as Practical Law and Lexis+ precedents, checklists and
guidance) are utilised where possible and other knowhow is
maintained and kept up-to-date on team sites and our Knowledge Bank
and to work with the Online Resources Manager to promote usage via
training and communications.
What we are looking for from you
The ideal candidate will have the following skills and experiences:
Significant experience working as a lawyer (6+PQE) on commercial
transactions (within any of the areas that make up our Commercial
& Infrastructure team) in private practice or in-house
Ability to build strong working
relationships with key stakeholders and across all levels
of the business, establish personal credibility and have the
confidence to have challenging conversations where necessary;
Can draw from a range of strategies
to persuade people in a way that results in agreement or behavioural change;
Commercially oriented with good
business acumen;
Positive, results-focused and have a
flexible approach; taking ownership of issues; and pro-active in
terms of making improvements to processes;
A collaborative team player who
works with others effectively and in accordance with our values;
A good understanding and proficiency in technical concepts and
legal process improvement
Experience in promoting knowledge sharing activities, bringing
together people, processes and technology to deliver sustained
improvements in ways of working
Good appreciation of project and change management techniques and
best practice, with a demonstrable ability to deliver change
A real interest in legal technology and ability to identify the
art of the possible with passion and persistence to effect change
Skills in process mapping and appreciation of legal design techniques
Ability to interpret and visualise data
An interest in business development
Excellent practical knowledge and experience of market-leading
legal online resources such as Practical Law and LexisPSL
An ability to work confidently and effectively with others,
clients and colleagues alike
Ability to operate with a high level of self-sufficiency combined
with an awareness of own abilities
Willingness and flexibility to work as part of the broader
multi-disciplinary Knowledge & Information team
Work with approachable people
When we ask colleagues what makes Bevan Brittan a great place to
work, the most popular thing they say is "the people". The
overwhelming consensus is that we make time for each other. We welcome
questions and support each other. Naturally, we look for new
colleagues who align with our values.
Supported to be your best
Hybrid working
We operate a hybrid working model based on the needs of our clients,
teams and people. Our core business hours are 9am - 5:15pm Monday to
Friday, but we're open to our people working more flexibly around
those times and welcome a conversation with you if you have any
questions about this. We try to offer you the flexibility to work your
week in a way that suits you.
Learning, Development & Progression
We're committed to supporting your professional and personal
development needs. This means that we offer a range of tailored
training courses and you will have lots of opportunity to learn from
those around you. We actively encourage progression and this is
reflected in our annual review and promotion processes. You will be
supported by your line manager to achieve your full potential.
Wellbeing
As a Bevan Brittan employee, you'll have access to a variety of
services that support your wellbeing. We've pledged our commitment to
The Mindful Business Charter and lots of our people contribute to our
Wellbeing Responsible Business strand, which organises an annual
calendar of wellbeing events and initiatives.
Benefits
A minimum of 25 days holiday (plus the option to buy up to an
additional 5 days)
Discretionary bonus scheme
Generous pension scheme
Private medical insurance through Vitality
Biennial private health assessment through Nuffield Health
Life assurance
Access to Employee Assistance Programme
Cycle to work scheme
Embracing our differences and
valuing inclusion
Our shared aim is that everyone is welcome and can feel comfortable
being themselves at Bevan Brittan. To support this, we actively value
and promote equality, diversity and inclusion in everything that we
do. You'll be empowered and supported through our employee led
networks, diverse colleagues, and a broad range of firm-wide initiatives.
Recognising the unique contributions that a diverse workforce can
bring to our business, we encourage applications from people of all
backgrounds. We take great pride in being a Disability Confident
Employer. If you need any adjustments throughout the recruitment
process or have any questions, please get in touch with our
recruitment team by emailing recruitment@bevanbrittan.com
Acting responsibly, now and for
the future
To us, being a responsible business is second nature; a core part of
Bevan Brittan's identity. Our colleagues are heavily involved in
shaping and delivering activity across the four pillars of our
Responsible Business strategy: Community Engagement; Environmental
Sustainability; Equality, Diversity & Inclusion; and Wellbeing.
Our people deliver pro bono legal work for charities and
not-for-profit organisations. We play an active role in our local
communities and donated £100,000 across our four regional office
charities last year. We are also proudly carbon neutral. We've
achieved the UN's Climate Neutral Now accreditation and our
environmental sustainability plan focuses on achieving our net zero
carbon target by 2040.
Collectively, the four pillars ensure we look after our colleagues'
wellbeing; offer an environment in which everyone can progress on
merit, give something back to the communities in which we work; and
protect the environment.
