Principal Legal Adviser - General Counsel

Permanent
Full time
35 hours per week
c. £60,000 per annum depending on experience and location
Birmingham
The General Counsel Directorate of the SRA provides strong, visible leadership across the organisation providing legal advice, supporting policy development and legislative drafting. The Directorate plays a key role in driving forward strategic regulatory reform of the legal services market to meet the SRA’s objectives, providing sound advice on legislative interpretation and reform.

A new role has been created within the Directorate of Principal Legal Adviser. The successful candidate will manage and support a small team of specialist lawyers reporting to the Head of Legal Policy, providing oversight of the work produced. They will have excellent analytical and drafting skills and will take a pivotal role in advising on complex reform and governance/compliance projects, from project initiation stage to successful completion, identifying and managing legal risk. They will thrive in opportunities to provide strategic and innovative solutions to complex legal problems and will engage with a range of audiences, including key internal and external stakeholders.

The role holder may be based in London or Birmingham with regular travel between both locations, in particular to Birmingham where the Directorate is principally based. Interviews for successfully shortlisted candidates will take place on 16 July in Birmingham, and any candidates with preference for a London-based location will be reimbursed for reasonable travel costs to our Birmingham office.

Essential

The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate the following knowledge, skills and experience:

Practising solicitor or barrister

Experience of providing high quality, strategic and impartial legal advice/ support in or for a statutory body or similar carrying out regulatory or public functions

Strong understanding of the legislative and regulatory framework that governs the regulation of legal services in England and Wales

Experience of judicial review/public law litigation

Ability to communicate effectively, and with a high level of proficiency, at all levels across the organisation both orally and in writing

Ability to explain complex legal or technical issues clearly and concisely, tailoring the message to the audience

Experience of producing high quality legal and technical drafting of delegated legislation or equivalent

Practical experience of case analysis and legal drafting in a contentious or regulatory environment

Experience managing/mentoring and supervising the work of high performing professional teams or individuals

Strong organisational skills demonstrating an ability effectively manage self and others time

Desirable

Experience preparing and presenting training to legally qualified audiences

Experience presenting papers and advising boards and committees

The SRA is the independent regulator of solicitors and law firms in England and Wales, protecting consumers and supporting the rule of law and the administration of justice. We do this by overseeing all education and training requirements necessary to practise as a solicitor, licensing individuals and firms to practise, setting the standards of the profession and regulating and enforcing compliance against these standards.
We offer an inclusive, supportive and friendly working environment and the chance to develop your career within a professional organisation. We are committed to the health and wellbeing of staff, helping everyone to strike a good balance between personal and professional life.

Additionally, we provide a generous flexible benefits package, including gym membership with a tax only cost, an excellent defined contribution pension scheme and an additional 3% of annual basic salary upon successful completion of probation.
Vacancy closing date: 01/07/2015, 23:55

The Solicitors Regulation Authority is an Equal Opportunities Employer.

Diversity and inclusion is central to everything we do. We are actively committed to promoting and participating in good practice in the way that we attract, recruit and retain staff.

Everyone is encouraged to bring their whole self to work because we appreciate the value that a truly diverse workforce brings to an organisation. We celebrate difference, recognising the benefits this brings to our inclusive culture, including age, disability, gender identity and expression, religion, race, sex, sexual orientation and socio economic background.

 We are a Stonewall Top 100 Employer, a member of ENEI, a disability confident employer and we are happy to talk flexible working.

This opportunity is closed to applicants.