Legal Adviser / In-House Commercial Lawyer (3 months FTC)

Advance HE is looking for an agile and proactive team player to join us in our strive to make higher education the best it can be. Your focus will be on providing professional technical legal expertise and advice across the organisation – so whether you’re working on supporting tenders and commercial contracts or providing advice on our trademark portfolio, you’ll be sure to make your mark at Advance HE.

Responsibilities

What you'll be doing:
As our Legal Adviser, you will minimise the organisation’s exposure to legal risks through proactively advising on legal compliance within both UK and international laws, regulations and standards. You will identify contractual risks within our commercial contracts and tenders, providing practical and solution-focused advice.

Alongside this, you will manage the protection of the organisation’s Intellectual Property Rights portfolio and oversee copyright requests from third parties, including drafting copyright licences. Other responsibilities will include the review, development and implementation of legal policies and processes, collaborating with the Data Protection Officer (providing cover where required).

You can view the full job description here.

Requirements

Who we’re looking for
You will be an excellent communicator with the ability to translate complex legal matters into clear non-legal jargon to non-legal stakeholders, who has strong analytical skills in assessing legal implications and can provide well-reasoned legal advice.

You will have a high attention to detail, with a legal qualification relevant to the level of post, with 1-3 years of PQE.

What you need:

• Legal Qualification relevant to the level of post (e.g. – Chartered Legal Executives or Qualified Solicitor) or equivalent
• Strong knowledge of UK and International Commercial Law and Intellectual Property
• 1-3 years of PQE or relevant, equivalent experience, which includes experience in both UK and international commercial law
• Ability to assess the legal/financial risk and apply strategic legal advice to support business operations and to minimise complexity
• Broad understanding of Data Protection (desirable)

The deadline for applications are 9am on 7th October 2026. For those shortlisted, a competency-based task will be sent prior to interview, for completion by within 48 hours. Interviews are scheduled to take place online across 13th and 14th October via MS Teams. This is a hybrid role with a nominal office of either York or London.

PLEASE NOTE: This role is to start from 7th December 2026 until 31st March 2027.

Benefits

In return for your work, you’ll receive a superb range of benefits including:

• A generous pension plan with USS
• Enhanced family leave benefits
• 31 days’ annual leave, plus bank holidays
• Flexible working hours
• Hybrid work (nominal office in York)

… to name a few.

The full-time salary for this role is £44,642 gross per annum. This role is full-time (35 hours).

Advance HE is a member-led, sector-owned charity that works with institutions and higher education across the world to improve higher education for staff, students and society.

Our strategic goals to enhance confidence and trust in higher education, address systemic inequalities and advance education to meet the evolving needs of students and society, supports the work of our members and the sector.

We are experts in higher education with a particular focus on enhancing teaching and learning, effective governance, leadership development and tackling inequalities through our equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) work.

We deliver our support through professional development programmes and events, Fellowships, awards, student surveys, providing strategic change and consultancy services and through membership (including accreditation of teaching and learning, equality charters, research, knowledge and resources).

Using our expertise and sharing best practice, we work with our network of global associates and partners, and with people, providers and systems around the world to understand contexts and challenges and deliver solutions.

It is our people and the people we help that really make us who we are.