Job Description

Company Description

Taylor & Francis is one of the world's largest publishers of high-quality, peer reviewed scholarly journals, books, e-books and reference works. For more than 200 years we've been working to harness and promote the transformative power of knowledge. We partner with world-class scientists, researchers, scholars and other professionals to challenge and substantiate their ideas and connect them with those who need them. We curate the books, journals and digital content that lead to modern advances in Humanities, Science, Technology and Medicine.

Taylor & Francis is undergoing an exciting and pivotal transformation from a portfolio of separate products to a series of knowledge platforms and services that are designed to meet the needs of 21st Century Researchers, Authors, Librarians, Funders and other stakeholders in academia and beyond.

Taylor & Francis is a division of Informa PLC, a leading international events and scholarly research group operating in the knowledge and information economy. Through hundreds of powerful brands, Informa works with businesses and professionals in specialist markets, providing the connections, intelligence and opportunities that help customers grow, do business, make breakthroughs and take better informed decisions.

Informa is listed on London Stock Exchange and a member of FTSE 100, with over 11,000 colleagues working in more than 30 countries.



We are currently recruiting for a Senior Legal Counsel to join the Taylor & Francis legal team on a fixed term contract basis for 12 months, to be based in Singapore.

In this 12-month fixed term role, reporting to the Head of Legal for Taylor & Francis, you will be responsible for supporting Taylor & Francis on all legal matters in the APAC region. This includes advising on commercial contracts, intellectual property issues and resolution of disputes, and generally supporting key stakeholders in the region on any legal questions or issues that may arise.

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Taylor & Francis legal team, a highly respected and valued business partner to the Taylor & Francis business, with lawyers based in the UK and US. The Taylor & Francis legal team combines technical legal expertise with commercial insight and an appreciation for the business' objectives to provide constructive, balanced and effective advice. You will also sit within the wider Informa Group legal team. In 2017, the Informa Group legal team's successes were externally recognised, winning the UK Legal Week's "In-house TMT Team of the Year" award, and in 2019 it was short-listed for The Lawyer UK's "In-house TMT Team of the Year" award.

As Senior Legal Counsel, you will have a broad commercial remit, supporting Taylor & Francis' local teams across the APAC region. At present this includes teams in Singapore, China (including Hong Kong SAR and Taiwan), Japan, South Korea and Malaysia.

Responsibilities are expected to include:

• Drafting, negotiating and advising on a variety of commercial contracts including customer contracts, publishing agreements, author/editor contracts, distribution and agency agreements, supplier agreements and IT/technology contracts
• Assisting and advising on copyright and trade mark issues related to Taylor & Francis content and products
• Supporting the business on resolving disputes with third parties
• Advising on the company's data protection policies in the context of its contracting arrangements and processing of personal data
• Instructing and managing external counsel where necessary, especially where specialist local law advice is required
• Supporting on setting up suitable business structures in different regions to enable the business to reach its commercial objectives
• Working with others in the Taylor & Francis legal team to maintain, audit and update standard contract templates and other 'self-serve' documents
• Building effective working relationships with the Taylor & Francis executive and senior leadership teams, and wider business functions, to build engagement and promote the legal function
• Assisting with developing and delivering training on legal topics to business colleagues where relevant
• Representing Taylor & Francis at external industry meetings and events as appropriate

Qualifications

What we're looking for

Knowledge and experience required

• A qualified lawyer ideally with around 7 years post-qualification experience or equivalent (PQE is given as a guide only. This will not be a determining factor of suitability and applicants of other levels of PQE may apply.)
• University graduate with a professional law degree or equivalent
• Demonstrable experience of advising clients on commercial/contract law issues, IP/copyright issues and disputes
• Experience of advising on tech/IT contracts is desirable but not essential
• Prior inhouse experience and/or experience of the publishing industry are also not essential; more important is a genuine interest in working in the publishing sector

Skills and behaviours required

• An English and business-level Mandarin speaker will be essential as the role requires the candidate to communicate with both English- and Mandarin-speaking stakeholders
• A professional, organised, enthusiastic and proactive approach to work
• Ability to exercise commercial judgment and balance business needs with legal risk in a commercial, constructive and business-sympathetic way
• Practical, commercial thinker able to find pragmatic and creative solutions to commercial problems
• An approachable personal style and ability to communicate at all levels in the organisation and build strong internal and external relationships
• Ability to explain complex legal issues in a clear and simple manner to a non-legally trained audience
• Good team player who has a growth mindset and a desire to assist with a variety of tasks

Additional Information

Why work at Informa

Employee experience is very important to us at Informa. On top of joining a supportive, diverse and ambitious team that welcomes all types of candidates, we are also flexible with different working patterns and prioritize promotions internally. Our benefits include:

• Learning and development plan to assist with your career development
• 20 days annual leave and a day off for your birthday!
• Competitive Benefits
• Work with high quality specialist products
• Bright and friendly staff who are all "expert's experts" and additional training and development for helping you achieve your career aspiration
• Regular social events and networking opportunities

We know that sometimes the 'perfect candidate' doesn't exist, and that people can be put off applying for a job if they don't fit all the requirements. If you're excited about working for us and have most of the skills or experience we're looking for, please go ahead and apply. You could be just what we need! We believe strongly in the value of diversity and creating supportive, inclusive environments where our colleagues can succeed. As such, Informa is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, or religious creed, mental or physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, military or veteran status, citizenship, or other protected characteristics.