Senior Legal Counsel - Commercial

Sydney Airport

23h

About The Position

The Government Relations, Sustainability and Legal (GSL) business unit supports Sydney Airport across a broad range of corporate and operational matters. The Legal Team, which sits within GSL, provides end-to-end legal support to the business, including contracting, dispute resolution and compliance advice. We are seeking an experienced Senior Legal Counsel (Commercial) to join our high-performing in-house legal team at Sydney Airport. In this role, you will provide commercially focused legal services across a diverse range of commercial matters, supporting primarily the Aviation Growth & Group Strategy team which is responsible for managing commercial relationships with SYD’s airline customers and identifying and driving strategic growth opportunities. You may also assist the Commercial and Operations teams. You will deliver timely and cost-effective legal advice either directly to the business or through the management of external legal advisors to support strong commercial outcomes. This is a broad and varied role offering exposure to high value and complex commercial contracts including with SYD’s airline partners, strategic transactions, marketing activities, technology and data-sharing arrangements and commercial initiatives that help shape the future of Sydney Airport. Reporting to the Head of Legal Services, you will work with a high degree of autonomy while collaborating closely with Legal Counsel and stakeholders across the business. You will build strong relationships with senior leaders and business partners, while also engaging with external advisors, airlines, customers, contractors, consultants and government agencies as required.

Requirements

Hold a law degree and current practising certificate
Bring significant post-admission legal experience, ideally 7+ years, advising on a broad range of commercial legal matters
Demonstrate strong commercial contract drafting, negotiation and advisory experience
Have experience supporting senior stakeholders and providing practical legal advice within a commercial environment
Apply strong commercial judgement and balance business objectives with legal and regulatory risk
Demonstrate highly developed interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to deliver clear, practical legal advice through a commercial lens
Manage a large number of competing matters and stakeholder priorities in a fast-paced environment
Communicate clearly and effectively and build trusted relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders
Adapt to changing business needs and work collaboratively within a small, high-performing legal team
Bring initiative, energy and a genuine desire to partner with the business to achieve commercial outcomes

Nice To Haves

Experience in an in-house legal team or as a secondee to a commercial organisation will be highly regarded

Responsibilities

Provide timely, proactive and commercially focused legal advice across a broad range of commercial matters, including drafting and negotiating contracts, advising on high value transactions and strategic initiatives, preparing correspondence and supporting dispute resolution processes
Partner with stakeholders primarily in the Aviation Growth & Group Strategy team, and also the Commercial, Operations and other business functions to support commercial outcomes
Negotiate directly with counterparties and their legal representatives to achieve practical and commercially balanced outcomes
Identify, assess and manage legal risk across Sydney Airport's operations and strategic initiatives
Gain exposure to technology, data-sharing, consumer law, and marketing activities across the business as required
Monitor legislative and regulatory developments impacting Sydney Airport and provide practical guidance to stakeholders
Deliver training, workshops and presentations to build legal awareness and capability across the organisation
Review and update legal precedents and templates to ensure they remain current, practical and written in plain English
Manage external legal advisors, monitor legal spend and ensure external matters are appropriately scoped and cost effective
Contribute to continuous improvement initiatives within the Legal function and broader business processes