In-House Legal Counsel - Construction Contracts | Botany | FT or PT

Our client is a long-established, specialist construction subcontractor delivering projects across Australia. Until now, their contract work has been handled part time. They are now creating a dedicated in-house Legal Counsel role for someone who can take ownership of it from day one.

This is a hands‑on position with direct access to senior management and real influence over how contractual risk is managed. It suits a construction or commercial lawyer with anywhere from 3 to 10+ years’ PQE who wants responsibility, autonomy and a stable, practical role rather than a large corporate legal team.

The role

- Review and negotiate D&C; subcontracts with main contractors
- Prepare departures tables, draft special conditions and negotiate contractual amendments
- Identify, assess and mitigate contractual risks
- Review warranties, deeds and other associated documents
- Manage negotiations through to final agreement and execution
- Develop and implement internal commercial risk assessment and approval procedures
- Run internal project contractual risk review meetings
- Report to management on negotiation progress, outstanding issues, material risks and matters requiring approval or escalation
- Brief and manage external legal advisers on complex or specialist matters, including their advice and costs

About you





- Admitted lawyer with 3 to 10+ years’ PQE and a current practising certificate permitting unsupervised in‑house practice
- Sound knowledge of construction contract conditions, typical subcontract departures and risk allocation
- Strong drafting, negotiation and communication skills
- Practical commercial judgement and a level‑headed approach to resolving contractual issues
- Able to work independently and set up practical internal processes
- Experience acting for construction subcontractors is advantageous. Façade industry experience is not required

What’s on offer

- Salary to suit your experience, plus superannuation
- Permanent full‑time, or permanent part‑time at 3–5 days per week
- Based at the Botany head office, working on‑site initially
- Genuine autonomy to build and run the legal function in a practical way
- Direct access to, and influence with, senior management
- A stable, hands‑on position in a respected, established business

If you’re a construction or commercial lawyer, in private practice or already in‑house, who wants a practical, influential role where your experience is valued, we’d love to hear from you.

Additional information

- Own front‑end construction contracting, with real autonomy and senior access
- Permanent full‑time, or part‑time at 3-5 days a week
- Open to lawyers with 3 to 10+ years' PQE, with salary to suit experience

📌 In-House Legal Counsel - Construction Contracts | Botany | FT or PT (Sydney)
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📍 Sydney