Principal Associate - Non-Contentious Construction - 12 month FTC

We have an exciting opportunity for a Principal Associate to join our Non-Contentious Construction team in Birmingham, to advise property companies, real estate investors, public sector clients, corporate occupiers and contractors, on high value, high profile construction, engineering and infrastructure projects.

About the team 

Our construction & engineering team comprises 50 lawyers, including 13 partners, and is one of the largest (and most experienced and respected) construction & engineering teams in the UK. We offer in-depth legal and technical expertise in every area of construction & engineering law and we pride ourselves on providing proactive and realistic advice to assist in the successful negotiation and management of contracts.

Our advice is based on detailed knowledge of the industry – its practices, procedures and processes, both on-site and off-site – and members of the team include a former quantity surveyor with practical experience of major projects.

Clients include many of the UK’s leading development, funding, residential, retail and industrial companies, major corporates, a significant number of public sector bodies and major contractors.

The non-contentious construction & engineering team is in a unique position within the market, in that it acts for the holy trinity of developers, contractors and institutional purchasers/investors.  As such, the team plays a leading role in numerous large scale, complex and important projects in such varied sectors as: real estate development, institutional investors, logistics and e-fulfilment, housing, infrastructure, energy/nuclear, regeneration, health care, pharma and life sciences, central and local government, hotel, retail & leisure, building safety and alternative asset classes.

The team is well known for having a real 'team spirit' and consists of a large number of people who trained with the firm and chose to qualify into the team. One of those (now 12 years PQE) commented:

"I genuinely enjoy my job, and one of the biggest reasons is the people- at all levels the team is welcoming, friendly and supportive. We work hard, but maintain good humour, and make time for one another to share advice, knowledge and experience - or just a cup of tea (and cake!)"

Examples of recent projects:

Official Legal Advisers to the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, including HQ fit-out, overlay agreements and utilities infrastructure agreements;

• Advising the developer on the forward funding and development of a 2.94 million sq ft global parts logistics centre – (then) the UK’s largest-ever single occupier logistics build-to-suit transaction.
• The development of a new 500,000 sq. ft. office campus for a major international bank, hailed upon deal completion as the largest value building contract let in the UK since the COVID-19 outbreak;
• Highways England's £1.7billion A303 road scheme at Stonehenge;
• The decommissioning of an off-shore lighthouse;
• Advising a Premier League football club on the development of a new training facility and two County Cricket Clubs on extensive redevelopments to their stadiums.
• Global pharma manufacturing facilities in the UK, Europe and North Africa; and
• Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration scheme, one of the largest regeneration schemes in the country, including a new rail freight facility, a new railway station, and a new waste transfer station. 

About you

You will be a qualified Solicitor with a minimum of 6 years' PQE. 

You will have:

• Experience in areas advising on all major forms of construction contract, including JCT, NEC, MF/1 and FIDIC, 
• Experience in advising on development and funding agreements and agreements for lease.
• Experience of working on major projects and regeneration schemes.
• A proven ability to give pragmatic, commercial advice
• Ability to run major matters with little partner supervision.
• Experience of supervising junior fee earners
• Excellent time management and organisation skills
• A commitment to team goals and be willing to get involved in new areas of work
• Strong negotiating skills
• Sound drafting and problem solving skills
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Excellent client handling skills.

What we can offer you 

The opportunity to work for a firm which has been recognised as one of the best places to work in the UK and has been ranked by Great Place to Work® for 26 consecutive years.

• A hybrid approach to office and remote working.
• Lawyer bonus
• Generous annual leave, with the option to buy up to a week's extra annual leave
• Private medical insurance, and the option to add family members
• A generous pension allowance
• Life assurance covering four times your annual salary
• The chance of a three-month sabbatical every five years
• Maternity, paternity and adoption leave schemes
• A range of health and wellbeing programmes
• State of the art offices
• Opportunities to flourish in your role through training and personal development

Many of our people work flexibly in some way. If you would like to explore your own flexible working arrangements with us, we are happy to discuss this during the recruitment process.

Equal Opportunities

Gowling WLG is committed both to promoting equality and diversity in the firm and to Equal Opportunities in employment.  The firm believes in equality of opportunity regardless of race or racial group (including colour, nationality, ethnicity, national origins), religion or belief, age, disability, sexual orientation, sex, gender re-assignment and gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy, maternity and paternity.  This also includes any incidents of perceptive or associative discrimination and harassment.

At Gowling WLG we seek to attract and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures, to create an exciting and rewarding place to work.  Our aim is to fulfil everyone's potential and together to achieve personal and business goals.

Any offers we make will be conditional subject to clearance by the SRA, evidence of eligibility to work in the UK and DBS clearance.

If you have any queries in relation to this position, please contact Arun Kainth - Arun.Kainth@gowlingwlg.com 

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