ET Senior Counsel

About us

As one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the world, National Grid is at the centre of a clean, fair, and affordable energy future, where tackling climate change and reaching net zero is a key priority. National Grid is pioneering ways to decarbonise the energy system, from building interconnectors to allow the UK to share clean energy with our neighbours in Europe, to investing in renewable energy generation in the United States.

Job Purpose

Do you want to shape the legal and regulatory framework to support our objectives in the energy sector, particularly in the context of the changing face of energy infrastructure and the move towards a sustainable future?

Our latest business plan proposes a two and a half times increase in the level of investment from the last five years to an unprecedented level of up to £35bn from April 2026 to March 2031. It includes baseline investment of over £11bn and pipeline investments of around £24bn, to maintain and upgrade our existing networks. 

With this growth in mind, we are looking for an innovative, commercially minded lawyer to join our Electricity Transmission (ET) business as Senior Counsel – Regulation & Commercial. In this role, you will provide strategic legal advice to both our Electricity Transmission and Strategic Infrastructure businesses, addressing the growing demand for regulatory and commercial legal support as new energy infrastructure expands. You will work with internal and external stakeholders at senior levels, including with NESO, Ofgem, and DESNZ.

Reporting to the General Counsel of the ET business, you will lead a small team and will be the trusted advisor for the ET Executive team on a wide range of legal matters.

The role will be based out of our Warwick office; we operate a hybrid working policy, and a typical working pattern would be two days per week in Warwick, with the rest of the week from home or at another of our offices. We’re happy to discuss additional flexibility in working patterns or requirements that you feel could help to make this job work for you.

Key Accountabilities

• A key port of call for the ET Executive team for strategic regulatory and/or commercial advice 
• Advising on regulatory investigations, regulatory appeals and a wide variety of regulatory developments, interpretation, and reform of the NGET licence, the ASTI licence, business separation and competition law risks  
• Working alongside the ET General Counsel in delivering the NGET Legal team objectives, and a key member and contributor in the ET/SI Legal Senior Leadership team 
• Responsible for delivering first-class legal advice and steering, developing, and delivering appropriate legal strategy for a wide variety of NGET contractual and commercial arrangements including projects, strategic commercial contracts, and customer connections 
• Identifying and working with NGET and the UK Legal team in the implementation of continuous improvement to deliver on-going improvements in business performance, including proactively identifying, managing, and mitigating regulatory, commercial, and contractual law risks 
• Using your skills and knowledge to develop and implement our GC of the Future digital and technology plans 
• Supporting on influencing policy developments associated with the legal and regulatory framework specific to electricity transmission 
• A key contributor to NGET business critical matters such as Network Planning, connections reform, and demand growth considerations, and providing related legal and regulatory advice 
• Engaging with key external stakeholders such as NESO, Ofgem and relevant Government Departments (e.g. DESNZ) and building those relationships to enhance trust and collaboration 
• Leading your team and direct reports effectively (likely to be three direct reports initially); using your experience to develop and supervise other members of UK Legal team on commercial and regulatory matters 

About you

• Qualified solicitor with significant experience in regulatory and commercial law
• Experience in energy, or another regulated environment
• Track record of innovation in legal technology, or doing things differently
• Ability to operate at senior levels as a trusted strategic advisor
• Passionate about contributing to the UK’s energy transition and sustainable future

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of colour are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At National Grid, we are committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace for everyone. So, if you’re excited about this role but your experience or qualifications don’t match the job description exactly, we encourage you to apply anyway. You might just be the right person for our growing business in this role or another one.

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