Senior Counsel Shipping

Job Family Group:

Legal Group

Job Description:

Our purpose is to deliver energy to the world, today and tomorrow. For over 100 years, bp has focused on discovering, developing, and producing oil and gas in the nations where we operate. We are one of the few companies globally that can provide governments and customers with an integrated energy offering. Delivering our strategy sustainably is fundamental to achieving our ambition to be a net zero company by 2050 or sooner.

Supporting the bp group strategy, bp legal’s purpose is to deliver legal work which fuels bp’s ability to meet the world’s energy needs. The legal function supports bp in its ambition to become continuously safer, stronger and better by fostering legally compliant operations, mitigating risk, and incorporating legal analysis into the decision-making process and execution.

We are looking for a Senior Counsel Shipping in the Legal Team!

This role will primarily provide specialist legal support to the Shipping business, as well as other teams within Supply, Trading & Shipping and further across bp. The role will be based in bp’s office at 25 North Colonnade, London.

The successful candidate will be required to support these activities in the form of counselling, drafting, negotiating and advising, alongside all other forms of transactional and disputes-related legal assistance.

A significant proportion of the role involves advice on regulatory and compliance matters, including sanctions and other trade laws/regulations.

The role requires a senior lawyer acting as a trusted advisor and working with minimal supervision on multiple complex matters at a time. The successful candidate will be required to support Managing Counsel, Shipping, by both providing legal support and working closely with other members of the team and relevant business leaders and colleagues, as required.

Key accountabilities

As a trusted advisor and senior individual contributor, providing strategic legal advice to the Shipping business and other bp businesses engaged in marine activity, identifying legal risks and developing solutions to manage such risks.

Unsupervised handling of a wide range of matters covered by the Shipping Legal Team including:

• Support to Incident Management and Business Response teams
• Day-to-day vessel operational issues
• Charterparty clause drafting/reviews
• Vessel and crew management including crew employment issues
• Trade laws and regulations (including sanctions), anti-corruption and competition laws
• Other international and local shipping regulations including emissions legislation
• Support to CDD programmes and counterparty clearances
• Marine insurance issues, including P&I, War Risks, Hull and Machinery, and support to bp’s marine insurance programme
• Vessel sale, purchase, leasing and financing
• Dispute resolution

Keeping fully abreast of legal and regulatory developments affecting marine activity; contributing to the know-how of the Shipping Legal Team and provision of updates and learning to affected businesses and other legal teams

Provision of support and mentoring to other members of the team

Collaboration with Ethics and Compliance to support effective implementation of the compliance agendas applicable to Supply, Trading and Shipping and to the wider bp group

Supporting legal committees of marine industry bodies including BIMCO, OCIMF and UK Chamber of Shipping, where required

In this role, we have the following requirements

Education

Law degree or equivalent applicable post-graduate legal qualification.

Valid common law practising certificate or equivalent.

Knowledge, skills and experience:

• Qualified solicitor/barrister/attorney with substantial post qualification experience in a specialist shipping law practice or in house with an oil major or P&I Club.
• Excellent legal and business judgment, project management, communication and interpersonal skills; comfortable working alongside senior business leaders.
• Substantial experience across the range of matters regularly handled by the team as set out above with a deep understanding in particular of tanker/LNG carrier chartering law and practice.
• Readiness to respond to a vessel casualty is a core accountability of the team, and participation in bp Shipping’s Incident Management Team rota is a key part of the role. Accordingly experience of incident response, marine insurance and an understanding of vessel pollution liabilities is highly desirable.
• A background in marine dispute resolution would be an advantage for this role.
• Close familiarity with vessel emissions regulations and sanctions affecting shipping.

NOTE: Applications close at midnight the day before the listed closing date (e.g., if the posting end date is Tuesday, October 13 the posting will close end of day Monday, October 12)

Why join our team?

We support our people to learn and grow in a diverse and challenging environment. We believe that our team is strengthened by diversity. We are committed to crafting an inclusive environment in which everyone is respected and treated fairly.

There are many aspects of our employees’ lives that are meaningful, so we offer benefits to enable your work to fit with your life. These benefits can include flexible working options, collaboration spaces in a modern office environment, and many other benefits! We operate a hybrid model with 60% from the office and 40% from home with flexibility as agreed with line management.

Travel Requirement:

Up to 10% travel should be expected with this role

Relocation Assistance:

This role is not eligible for relocation

Remote Type:

This position is a hybrid of office/remote working

Skills

Business Acumen, Coaching, Collaboration, Commercial Acumen, Communication, Conflict Management, Creativity and Innovation, Decision Making, Digital Fluency, Influencing, Managing strategic partnerships, Mentoring, Organizational Knowledge, Resource and budget planning, Stakeholder Engagement, Stakeholder Management, Supplier Relationship Management

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Legal Disclaimer:

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, socioeconomic status, neurodiversity/neurocognitive functioning, veteran status or disability status. Individuals with an accessibility need may request an adjustment/accommodation related to bp’s recruiting process (e.g., accessing the job application, completing required assessments, participating in telephone screenings or interviews, etc.). If you would like to request an adjustment/accommodation related to the recruitment process, please contact us.

If you are selected for a position and depending upon your role, your employment may be contingent upon adherence to local policy. This may include pre-placement drug screening, medical review of physical fitness for the role, and background checks.