Corporate Finance / Transactions Legal Contracts Manager - 12 Month FTC (Fixed Term Contract)

Job description

Alternatively, Grant Thornton At Grant Thornton we do things differently - looking to the future, driving ambitious growth and pioneering positive change in our industry. Providing audit, tax and advisory services, we empower clients through strategic insight, curiosity, and genuine partnership. And we empower our people with real opportunity, an inclusive culture and work life balance. A true alternative. With over 5,000 people in the UK, and a presence in 150 global markets, we're on an ambitious journey, from great to exceptional, and we need the best people to help us achieve our potential. And with that comes the opportunity to help redefine what our industry looks like, and what you want from your career. Job Description: Every day our teams help people in businesses and communities to do what is right and achieve their goals. The Transaction Legal Coordinator (Manager) sits within Strategic Advisory, leading the central legal process function across our Debt and Capital Advisory and Transaction Advisory Services teams. Reporting to the Operations Lead for Strategic Advisory, the role has overall accountability for the coordination, preparation and execution of NDAs, release letters, hold harmless letters and related transaction documentation across live engagements. The Manager oversees the work of the Assistant Manager in the team, acts as the senior escalation point on complex or non-standard documentation matters, and builds and maintains the firm’s relationships with clients, counterparty legal teams and internal risk and legal stakeholders. This is a senior coordination role requiring strong legal process knowledge, sound commercial judgment and the confidence to represent Grant Thornton in direct dialogue with sophisticated external counterparties on active transactions. We're happy to talk flexible working and consider reduced hours and job shares, we'll support you to balance your work and life. A look into the role As a Transaction Legal Coordinator (Manager) within our Strategic Advisory team, you will: Take ownership of the Strategic Advisory legal documentation function, managing the full lifecycle of NDAs, release letters, hold harmless letters and related documentation across Debt and Capital Advisory and Transaction Advisory Services, overseeing the work of the Assistant Manager, and acting as the senior point of contact for deal teams, clients, lenders and external legal advisers on all documentation matters. Act as the senior point of escalation for complex or non-standard documentation matters, applying judgment on whether mark-ups are acceptable, when to escalate to AQRM or legal, and how to manage counterparty positions that fall outside standard templates. Build and maintain the relationship with AQRM and internal legal teams, acting as the consistent liaison point for risk and legal approval workflows, reducing delays and inconsistency across engagements, and engaging directly with counterparty legal teams to negotiate and resolve documentation positions on live transactions. Drive process improvement and standardisation across the legal documentation function, developing and maintaining templates, trackers and standard operating procedures that create consistency and reduce turnaround time across the business. Identify and implement improvements to documentation processes and turnaround times, working with deal teams to identify friction points, refine templates and standard operating procedures, and build a more consistent and scalable documentation function across Strategic Advisory. Provide regular reporting to the Operations Lead on documentation volumes, turnaround times and service quality across active engagements, ensuring the function's commercial value is clearly tracked and evidenced for SLT.ensuring the function is delivering consistently and identifying areas for further improvement. Knowing you're right for us Joining us as a Transaction Legal Coordinator (Manager), the minimum criteria you'll need is: Demonstrated experience in a legal, paralegal or legal process management role, with the ability to handle complex and non-standard documentation matters. Experience in a financial services professional services environment Proven ability to manage multiple concurrent matters, prioritise effectively and maintain accuracy under time pressure. Experience advising or coordinating with internal risk, compliance or legal stakeholders on documentation or approval workflows. Strong judgment on when to escalate and when to resolve, with the confidence to engage directly with counterparty legal teams where required. Clear and confident communicator, able to brief senior stakeholders on documentation status and risks without unnecessary jargon. It would be great if you had some of the following skills, but don't worry if you don't tick every box, we'll help you develop along the way. Familiarity with NDA processes, release letters or duty of care letters in a transaction, financial advisory or professional services context. Experience working in or alongside deal teams on live M&A, debt advisory or restructuring engagements. Exposure to AQRM or equivalent internal risk and legal approval frameworks. Experience designing or improving legal process workflows, including templates, trackers and standard operating procedures. A track record of engaging directly with clients and external legal advisers in a transactions or professional services environment, with the confidence to manage those relationships independently. Knowing we're right for you Embracing uniqueness, the culture at Grant Thornton thrives on the contributions of all our people, we never settle for what is easy, we look beyond to deliver the right thing, for everyone. Building an inclusive culture, where we value difference and respect our colleagues helps our people to perform at the best of their ability and realise their potential. Our open and accessible culture means you'll interact with leaders who are interested in you and everything you bring to our firm. The things that set you apart, we value them. That's why we give you the freedom to bring your whole self to work and pursue your passions inside and outside of work. Beyond the job Life is more than work. The things you do, and the people you're with outside of work matter, that's why we're happy to look at flexible working options for all our roles, and we'll always do our best to keep your work and life in balance. The impact you can make here will go far beyond your day job. From secondments, to fundraising for local charities, or investing in entrepreneurs in the developing world, you'll be giving back to society. It's that drive to do the right thing that runs through our every move, grounded in our firm's values – purposefully driven, actively curious and candid but kind. We're looking for people who want to contribute, spark fresh ideas and go beyond expectations. People who want to be able to proudly do what's right, for the firm, our clients, our people and themselves. It's how it should be. #LI-MK1