Energy & Infrastructure Associate - Manchester, United Kingdom - Shoosmiths

Description

The firm

Shoosmiths is the law firm clients choose for excellent service, incisive thinking and above all for our ability to focus on what matters. From offices across the UK and Brussels, we support some of the world's most exciting and ambitious businesses; amazing clients making an impact. We empower our people to be their authentic selves and deliver together in supportive teams committed to excellence and innovation. The first top 50 law firm to achieve 'Platinum Standard' Investors in People, our values and culture are not just words on our website but are the heartbeat of the firm.

We are looking for an Associate (1-3yr PQE) to join our Energy & Infrastructure (E&I) team.

A focus sector at Shoosmiths, our E&I team is a UK-wide, multi-disciplinary team led by James Wood-Robertson and Chris Pritchett. This role is for a dedicated commercial and/or projects lawyer with a demonstrable interest and track-record in this area and a commitment to building a career in E&I.

In this role you will focus on the commercial aspects of a wide range of clean energy and new generation infrastructure projects with particular strategic focus on:

(1) clean energy development – the design, build and maintenance of clean energy assets;

(2) energy procurement, including Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), acting for clean energy developers and corporate buyers; and

(3) sustainable next generation infrastructure, including EV charging and digital infrastructure.

You will advise on operational agreements relating to the development of variety of clean energy projects, including onshore wind, solar, battery storage, energy from waste, heat networks and green hydrogen, working closely with and learning from senior team members. With our strong reputation of advising on PPAs, energy services agreements and on-site generation solutions for large corporates, you will also advise and gain leading experience in this booming area. You will also work closely with our Corporate team in supporting investments into clean energy and next generation infrastructure projects and businesses, supporting senior members of the E&I and Corporate teams and gaining invaluable exposure to a wide variety of E&I investments.

We are seeking to appoint to one of our regional hubs and ideally you will be based in Leeds, Birmingham or Manchester although, as part of the wider Commercial team, we work on an entirely national basis as one UK team. We operate a hybrid model of working and you can expect a mix of home and office attendance to suit the difference aspects of your workload. This is a close-knit team and you will benefit from a dynamic, collegiate environment and support from colleagues. With multiple senior team members, you will benefit from their support and guidance to develop your skills and knowledge in the delivery of complex projects as well as client and business development.

The team and wider firm

Our Energy & Infrastructure team has extensive experience of advising developers, landowners, investors and funders on the development, acquisition, disposal and financing of renewable energy projects including solar PV, onshore wind, battery storage, heat networks and energy from waste. Our lead lawyers advise on all aspects of these transactions from planning and site acquisition, drafting and negotiation of the construction and operational documents (including power purchase agreements) and securing and finalising the financing for the transaction – whether debt or equity. We also provide full regulatory and other day to day support for operational projects. Our E&I team also has a strong reputation for advising generators and corporate buyers on a range of corporate PPAs and energy supply arrangements. Our focus on sustainable, next generation infrastructure brings together our energy, tech and mobility sector knowledge and our investment expertise so that we can support businesses, investors and funders in digital infrastructure, EV charging infrastructure and connected tech.

Our national Commercial Group is a 25 Partner-strong practice consisting of over 90 lawyers. In addition to our Financial Services team, the expertise spans IT and Technology, IP, Privacy & Data, Complex contracts and outsourcing in addition to Energy & Infrastructure.

We are a top 40 law firm with over 200 partners and around 1,500 staff in total.

We place a lot of belief in culture and community, and genuinely think we have something different to offer you at Shoosmiths. This is reflected in everything we say and do from our use of technology to enable effective cross-office working, to our team spirit and culture. We strive to create an inclusive and supportive workplace where employees can be themselves at work. We are proud of our active employee networks, the establishment of our Shadow Board and initiatives such as reciprocal mentoring and inclusive leadership training to bring diverse perspectives and recommendations to the firm as a whole.

We are also proud of the strides we have made towards our ambitious environmental goals, with the announcement that the firm's near and long-term science-based emissions reduction targets have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) – a global body enabling businesses to set ambitious emissions reduction targets in line with the latest climate science. The SBTi validated targets are in addition to a target which Shoosmiths announced in 2020 namely to achieve net zero for its operations (i.e., scope 1 and 2 emissions) by 2025. We are in the process of preparing our 2022/2023 carbon reduction plan in accordance with PPN06/21, with our latest published report being for 2021/2022 which can be viewed here:

We have an outstanding benefits package to complement our competitive remuneration system. In addition to the competitive salaries, great working environment and high-quality work, we believe that all staff should be rewarded for their commitment to the continued success of the firm through a comprehensive and flexible range of benefits.

To discover more about our benefits, please visit: Benefits Package

We are a values-driven business – our values are at the core of the firm and we evaluate how we behave in accordance with these values through a competency framework. This role is considered to be at Level 2 in our internal framework, depending on experience.

Please note that the PQE level indicated in this advert is a guide only and does not preclude those with more or less experience applying for the role.

If you have any queries about this prospect or life at Shoosmiths before deciding whether to apply, we are always happy to have a discussion with you in confidence so please get in touch with Rachel Charlton in our recruitment team ).

Please note that we are sourcing this role directly at the moment and do not currently require support from any of our Agency partners. We will let you know if this changes.