Government Legal Department

Contents

• Location
• About the job
• Benefits
• Things you need to know
• Apply and further information

Bristol, Leeds, London, Manchester

About the job

Job summary

About Government Legal Department

From healthcare to artificial intelligence, energy to national security, we provide legal advice to government departments on nation-changing subjects.

At Government Legal Department we have a vital, single-minded purpose: an outstanding legal organisation, committed to the highest standards of service and professionalism and a brilliant place to work where we can all thrive and fulfil our potential. Our work touches almost every aspect of public life.

We are the largest provider of legal services across government, working on high profile matters.

Our respected professionals are involved in everything from regulation and litigation to advice on drafting legislation. They provide expertise to the full range of government departments. We are at the heart of delivering the government’s priorities and our success depends on our people.

GLD is a non-ministerial government department headed by the Treasury Solicitor, our Permanent Secretary, and employs nearly 3000 people, including over 2700 legal professionals. We have offices nationwide, in Bristol, Leeds, inner and outer London and Manchester. Our lawyers can also be located within other departments and overseas.

GLD also depends on a range of cross-government professionals to provide our corporate services. These play an essential part in helping GLD to achieve its purpose of helping the government to govern well, within the rule of law.

This is an exciting time to join GLD, with cutting edge legal work on global issues and a transformation agenda which is ensuring the Department exemplifies the Modern Civil Service.

To find out more about what we do you can view our introductory film here and visit the Government Legal Department’s webpage. You can also read more about the future vision for GLD in our GLD Strategy 2024 – 2027.

Job description

About the Role

As Director of EU Relations Legal Advisers, you will be responsible for providing legal leadership to the directorate and contributing to the corporate leadership, strategic direction, and management of GLD, ensuring delivery of core priorities and reinforcing the organisation’s values. You will need to work closely and collaboratively with other lawyers (both within and outside the Government Legal Department), and with policy colleagues.

The primary responsibilities of the post holder are:

• to take a strategic approach to the structure and culture of the directorate as it establishes itself in GLD and in relation to its clients
• to provide outstanding personal leadership to the people under their direction, recruiting, coaching and developing them
• to ensure that legal advice of the highest quality is provided to Cabinet Office EU Relations Secretariat, to both its Ministers and officials, including providing such advice personally where required
• to create an environment in which legal analysis is properly integrated into the decision making and organisational culture of Cabinet Office EU Relations Secretariat
• to contribute to the wider leadership of GLD in delivering consistently excellent legal services to government

Person specification

To be eligible for appointment you must be qualified to practice* as a Solicitor, Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive in England and Wales (*which includes overseas lawyers with necessary exemptions). See candidate pack for more information on qualification requirements.

It is important through your CV and Statement of Suitability that you provide evidence and examples which demonstrate capability and potential against these selection criteria:

• The leadership skills to:
• Recruit and train professional staff;
• Build and oversee a skilled, cohesive team with a clear vision supporting talent development, building a strong culture of continuous learning, flexibility and knowledge sharing, including as a centre of excellence in the law relating to the UK’s relationship with the EU;
• Inspire and empower professional staff in a team working in a complex policy landscape
• A commitment to diversity, to creating a truly inclusive working environment and to the core Civil Service values of integrity, honesty, objectivity, and impartiality 
• Experience of providing and overseeing the provision of authoritative, risk based legal advice demonstrating excellent judgement and facilitating practical solutions with:
• A strong background in European and/or international law;
• A significant expertise in public law
• Exceptional communication skills and the ability to command credibility with senior politicians and officials, and build deep collaborative partnerships with government departments, public bodies and other organisations.
• The ability to manage workloads and resources across a legal function, using external resource appropriately, with a commitment to improving service delivery and value for money.

Qualifications

Academic and Professional

Applicants should have a minimum of a 2:1 honours degree in their first degree (in any subject). Where an applicant holds an overseas degree qualification this should be equivalent to a 2.1 degree. GLD will consider applicants who do not have a 2.1 degree but only where satisfactory evidence of equivalent high level academic and/or professional achievement can be provided (e.g. via relevant experience and results achieved for the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL)/CPE, Legal Practice Course (LPC), Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC)).

Applicants must be qualified to practise as a Solicitor, Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive in England and Wales however, we also accept applications from overseas qualified candidates. You must have completed a training contract/pupillage/qualifying employment or have been exempted from this by the Law Society, the Bar Council or CILEx.

Please note that candidates cannot apply more than 3 months before their qualification date.

Professional entry criteria for Chartered Legal Executives (i.e. Fellows): Chartered Legal Executives are eligible to apply where (i) a Qualifying Law Degree (QLD) is held; or (ii) the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL)/CPE has been completed; or (iii) where exams have been passed (i.e. a score of 50% or above achieved), at CILEx Level 6*, in all of the following seven foundation subjects in law:

1. Contract Law

2. Criminal Law

3. Equity and Trusts Law

4. European Union Law

5. Land Law

6. Public Law

7. Law of Tort

• Note: There are specific requirements relating to academic achievement in the CILEx Level 6 exams where these are being used to demonstrate 2.1 degree equivalence as set out below.

Chartered Legal Executives should note that GLD will be willing to accept an overall, average score of 65% or above across exams passed in the seven foundation subjects in law, (where studied at CILEx Level 6) as demonstrating 2.1 degree equivalence (where a 2.1 degree is not held).

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £98,000, Government Legal Department contributes £28,390 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

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Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : SCS Recruitment Team
• Email : scsrecruitment@governmentlegal.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : scsrecruitment@governmentlegal.gov.uk

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