Legal / Contracts Officer
Contract: Full Time/Fixed Term
Tyndall National Institute (‘Tyndall’) is a critical national research resource and key national research infrastructure at University College Cork (UCC), and was established in 2004 as a strategic partnership between Government and UCC.

The Institute is a powerhouse of research activity and a leading European research centre providing a national focal point for excellence in deep-tech research, development and graduate training at the convergence of micro & nano-electronics, photonics, materials and software. It is recognised as an international research leader in semiconductors, particularly as applied to the fields of Agritech & Food Security, Health & Life Sciences, Information & Communications, and Energy and Climate Mitigation. The Institute’s key objective is to have a significant impact on economic development and societal challenges in Ireland.

Central to Tyndall’s mission is delivering economic impact through research excellence. It works with industry and academia to transform research into products in its core application areas of electronics, communications, energy, health, agri-food and the environment. With an annual turnover of €50m, the Institute has a community of over 600 researchers, engineers, support staff, postgraduate students, interns and industry researchers-in-residence.

Tyndall seeks to recruit a Legal / Contracts Officer to the Tyndall legal team within the Operations Unit of Tyndall.

This is an exciting and challenging opportunity for highly organised, self-motivated professional with relevant contracts management experience, to support Tyndall in achieving its ambitious research objectives. The successful candidate will be able to work independently, and as part of a professional legal team, reviewing and negotiating complex contracts that frequently involve a wide range of stakeholders and which include research contracts, collaboration agreements, commercial contracts, confidentiality agreements and grant agreements.

The role will also involve administering a case management system, managing a log of all contracts and preparing draft reports for management, demonstrating the activity levels of the legal team.

The ability to achieve results within a pressurised timeframe, taking full ownership of contracts and their review so that they are closed in a timely fashion, and an ability to manage IT and data systems for reporting purposes, are the essential skills for this role.

The post-holder will support Tyndall’s in-house solicitors in co-ordinating the delivery of efficient and high-quality legal services within Tyndall.

Key Responsibilities
As part of the Operations Unit in Tyndall, the Legal / Contracts Officer will work closely with Tyndall’s legal team, which reports to the Chief Operations Officer. The key duties and responsibilities of the role will include the following:

• Managing the research contract review process including reviewing research agreements, non-disclosure/confidentiality agreements, material transfer agreements, consortium (including EU/Horizon Europe) agreements, and intellectual property commercialisation agreements. This will include identifying and resolving deviations from UCC/Tyndall standard contractual terms/norms and escalating these and other matters requiring additional legal advice to Tyndall’s solicitor team.
• Managing standard Tyndall contracts to completion, including negotiating with third parties and liaising with relevant internal parties.
• Interfacing with the Tyndall legal team on contractual and other matters requiring legal advice.
• Liaising with Tyndall’s research Principal Investigators and with UCC Innovation’s case managers in relation to intellectual property matters, funding bodies’ terms & conditions, and contract related matters.
• Implementation of standardised processes for legal document management.
• Managing Tyndall’s legal case management system and contracts register.
• Working to tight deadlines in terms of contract review, response and completion.
• Liaising with internal stakeholders, including senior researchers, administrative and commercial staff, and management as required.
• Supporting the continuous improvement of the legal contract administration process in compliance with Tyndall’s quality management system.
• Generation of monthly / quarterly / annual management reports on contract status.
• Carry out any additional duties as may reasonably be required within the general scope and level of the post.

Essential Criteria

• An honours law or business degree.
• At least 5 years’ experience in a similarly demanding role.
• A strong understanding of the legal requirements of contract management and related administration.
• Strong experience of contract management, including contractual review, effective negotiation and on-time closure.
• Proven sound decision making, administrative ability, and excellent attention to detail.
• Proven high level of initiative.
• Proven ability to work independently, as part of a team, and to interact with internal and external stakeholders at all levels and from a range of disciplines.
• Proven ability to coordinate multi-partner inputs and drive consensus as required on contract negotiations.
• Proven experience of delivering high level support in a pressurised, deadline-driven environment.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Proven strong IT and organisational skills, including experience with Microsoft Excel.

Desirable Criteria

• An additional relevant postgraduate qualification.
• Demonstrable achievements in delivering results on a research project or in a research area.
• Excellent report writing and presentation skills.
• Knowledge of the public research funding environment and EU programmes in particular.
• An understanding of the Higher Education Sector.

Appointment will be made on the Admin V scale B: € 49,299 -€ 60,476 per annum. Salary placement on appointment will be in accordance with public sector pay policy.

Informal enquiries can be made in confidence to Tara Woulfe at tara.woulfe@tyndall.ie.

Closing date of application is 4th October, 2024.

Application Instructions

Please make sure to attach an up to date CV/Resume AND a brief motivation letter outlining how you meet the ‘Essential Criteria’ for this role.

A full candidate information pack is available to download by clicking here.

Please note that Garda vetting and/or an international police clearance check may form part of the selection process.

Please note that an appointment to posts advertised will be dependent on University approval, together with the terms of the employment control framework for the higher education sector.

At this time, Tyndall National Institute does not require the assistance of recruitment agencies.

Tyndall National Institute at University College, Cork is an Equal Opportunities Employer.

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