Commercial Contracts Paralegal

CMS are looking to recruit a Paralegal to join our Legal Services Unit.  The Legal Services Unit is the centralised paralegal team at CMS.  The successful candidate will be focused on supporting the provision of our market leading Technology & Media and Energy & Climate Change teams in providing future facing legal services directly to a high profile client.  If you have the skills and drive to help us develop our successful team, we want to hear from you.

About us

CMS is a Future Facing firm with more than 80 offices in over 45 countries and 5,800+ lawyers worldwide. We combine deep local market understanding with a global perspective. We are passionate about building strong relationships with our clients, our people, and the communities we work in.

We take a bold, dynamic, and agile approach to ensure our clients are able to face the future with confidence. We are driven by emerging technologies such as generative AI and readily embrace the possibilities it opens up for developing new and better ways of working.  Our aim is to inspire, impact and support our clients and our people, helping them to maximize their potential and thrive.

About the role

We support leading global companies in managing all aspects of their business operations, including customer engagement, infrastructure and supply chains.  We support our clients on their digital transformation journeys, helping upskill business colleagues, improve processes and reduce the pressure on their in-house legal teams.

This is an excellent opportunity to work with the T&M and E&C teams within CMS.  Information on the practice groups can be found by accessing the links below.

TMT - Technology, Media & Telecommunications from CMS UK

Energy & Climate Change - Experienced energy lawyers | CMS UK

Key Responsibilities: 

The successful candidate’s key responsibilities will include: 

•    Reviewing Contracts: Reviewing various commercial agreements, such as non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), exclusivity agreements, work orders and others. 
•    Negotiating Contracts:  Negotiating contract terms in line with client guides to ensure compliance.
•    Co-ordinating:  Triaging contracts via client’s internal systems to assess the need for legal review and routing to appropriate individual.
•    Compliance:  Complying with client SLAs while delivering work efficiently and within agreed timeframes.  Appropriately escalating points to the LSU Supervisors and Associates within the firm.
•    Monitoring:  Monitoring client mailbox including (but not limited to) responding to queries, sending on notices, assisting with counterparty screening reviews as well as routing documents for signature.
•    Maintaining:  Maintaining client guides and client trackers to ensure up to date accurate information is readily available.
•    Communication:  Serving as a first point of contact for the in-house legal team, responding to enquiries and legal review requests from business colleagues. This includes conducting counterparty screening reviews, signposting colleagues to relevant guidance through internal legal systems, triaging matters to in-house or external legal counsel, and reviewing NDA issue lists to assess validity and determine appropriate next steps. 

About you

This dynamic and varied role is a fantastic opportunity for a diligent and ambitious paralegal possessing the below attributes and skills to join a thriving paralegal team:  

•    Attention to Detail: Meticulous attention to detail is essential for reviewing contracts and ensuring accuracy.
•    Organisational and Time Management Skills: Ability to manage multiple tasks and deadlines simultaneously and to prioritise conflicting deadlines.
•    Communication Skills: Excellent written and verbal communication skills are necessary for interacting with lawyers, clients, and other stakeholders.
•    Team Player: Ability to work well in a team whilst using your own initiative.
•    Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite: Familiarity with Word, Excel, and other relevant software.
•    Experience with Contract Management Systems: A keen focus on leveraging digital tools to manage the full contract lifecycle—from drafting and negotiation to execution. The successful candidate will be expected to actively engage with contract management systems and AI-enabled features/tools used by CMS to support our commitment to innovation and digital excellence.
•    Legal Tech:  A hunger to learn new skills, including how to use new AI automation and other legal tech tools to support our evolving service delivery model.

A degree in law or equivalent qualification is preferred, but not essential. Alternatively, you may be working towards CILEX qualification or have time served Commercial Contracts experience.

Career Progression

For the right candidate, this role could lead to long-term progression opportunities within the team. It offers the chance to deepen your expertise in a specific area of commercial law, and with continued exceptional performance, you may be entrusted with more complex and high-value work, such as:  

•    Drafting Contracts: Creating and amending various commercial agreements, such as non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), service agreements, statements of work and procurement contracts.
•    Contract Management: Implementing and managing contract management systems, ensuring that contracts are stored, tracked, and easily accessible.
•    Legal Research: Conducting legal research to support contract drafting and negotiation.
•    Training and Support: Providing training and guidance to other teams on contract-related matters, including the use of templates.

As this is an evolving role, full training will be provided, including on the use of AI and other legal tech tools to support client service delivery. These tools will continue to develop as new technologies emerge, so the successful candidate will need to be adaptable and open to learning as systems and processes evolve.

Further areas of training will be centred around developing both your legal knowledge and soft skills, such as: 

•    Strong Legal Knowledge: A solid understanding of commercial law principles and practices.
•    Excellent Drafting and Negotiation Skills: Ability to draft clear and concise legal documents and negotiate effectively.
•    Problem-Solving Skills: Ability to identify and resolve legal issues related to commercial contracts.
•    Leadership: An increased self-awareness of how to lead your own performance and the performance of others and for building effective relationships across the firm and with clients.
•    Client Service Delivery: An appreciation of the strengths and commercial awareness required to build successful professional relationships and to excel in client service delivery.
•    Innovation and Digital Transformation: A strong understanding of how emerging technologies - particularly AI - are transforming legal service delivery.  The role supports CMS’s ongoing digital journey, where practical and accessible innovation is key to addressing legal, regulatory, and business challenges. The successful candidate will be expected to engage with evolving digital tools and contribute to embedding innovation into everyday practice. 

What’s in it for you?

We want to reward you today and help you plan for tomorrow. We appreciate that everyone is different, therefore we have designed a benefits system that offers choice and flexibility based on individual needs and lifestyles. To name a few, these include:

•    Competitive basic salary (reviewed annually)
•    Flexible, hybrid working policy
•    Generous bonus scheme
•    Up to 25 days holiday (rising to 28 days with service)
•    Holiday exchange scheme
•    Private medical insurance
•    Enhanced parental leave

If you would like to read more information regarding our range of benefits, please visit our Rewards & Benefits page on our website.

Equal opportunities

At CMS, we place diversity and inclusion at the centre of our culture and the heart of our organisation. As a firm we recognise, celebrate, and embrace the diverse talent our society has to offer because we know that to solve big problems, we need the best and brightest minds available to us.  In support of this goal, we commit to actively breaking down barriers which stand in the way of those from diverse backgrounds and play our part in levelling the playing field. 
 
As a Future Facing Firm, we strongly believe that a career in law should be open to people from all walks of life, because not only does diversity of thought and experience make our firm a stronger and more sustainable business, but it also makes it a more rewarding place to work.
 
When recruiting, we prioritise attracting talented people and we actively promote a flexible working environment which enables all our team members to thrive. If you see a role you are interested in, but don’t feel you meet 100% of the criteria we encourage you to still consider making an application. We also welcome applications from those who may be looking to return to the workforce after a career break. 
 
We are proud to say our leadership in creating an inclusive working culture has been celebrated and recognised externally, including being listed for a number of years in the Times Top 50 Employers for Women and the Social Mobility Index.
 
We are a Level 2 Disability Confident Employer, and we actively encourage applications from people with disabilities, whether visible or invisible. We are committed to promoting equality of opportunity throughout our recruitment process and in every element of the employee life cycle. If you require assistance, or if you would like to discuss any accessibility requirements or adjustments as part of the recruitment process, please contact a member of the Talent Acquisition team at TalentAcquisition@cms-cmno.com who will be happy to support you.

Ready to apply? Here are the next steps.

We look forward to receiving your application online via the CMS careers site. Please contact our Talent Acquisition team if you have any questions. 

Please note that we have a preferred agency panel in place. Only applications submitted via the portal at the point of instruction will be accepted.

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