Opportunities with GLD in Leeds and London

Location: Leeds, London

Salary:
Legal Officer: £51,541
Grade 7: £59,200 National, £61,200 London

External candidates should expect their salary upon appointment to be £51,541 (Legal Officer) £59,200 (Grade 7: National) OR £61,200 (Grade 7: London) per annum, pay award pending.

Grade:
Legal Officer* (less than 3 years PQE) / Grade 7 (3+ years PQE)
*If you join us with less than three years of post-qualification experience (PQE), your starting salary will be £51,541 per annum. This will increase to £59,200 (National) or £61,200 (London) per annum once you have successfully completed your probation period and either reach three years of PQE or complete one year of service, whichever comes first.

Working Pattern: Full Time, Part Time, Job Share, Flexible Working

Contract Type: Permanent

Existing Civil Servants will be appointed in line with the Civil Service pay rules in place on the date of their appointment. Staff applying on promotion will be appointed to the salary band minimum or with an increase of 10% of their existing salary, whichever is greater. Individuals appointed on level transfer will retain their existing salary. Any other allowances will not be retained on promotion or transfer.

Modernised terms and conditions will apply.

We operate London and National pay scales. If you voluntarily move locations your salary will be revised to reflect pay for the location. Any move to Government Legal Department from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.

The Roles

Commercial lawyers are in the frontline of CLG’s legal service delivery. They provide a wide range of commercial legal advice, including on:

• Commercial contracts

• Public procurement

• Public law aspects of commercial work/commercial decision making

• Information technology

• Intellectual property

• Information law (including GDPR) where it arises in a contractual/commercial context

• Construction

• Grants and Subsidies Control

They draft and advise on every part of the commercial process, from the commercial law implications of a policy, through to designing the appropriate commercial contract, ensuring that projects appropriately manage legal risk, and that any disputes are resolved as effectively as possible.

As a result, our commercial lawyers are called upon to advise on handling performance issues and disputes before they reach a formal dispute resolution procedure. Risk management of all types is a very large element of the role of our lawyers. If a dispute resolution procedure is commenced, then commercial lawyers often work alongside litigation lawyers and counsel.

Our commercial lawyers also play a key role in instructing, working alongside and managing external law firms and counsel where additional and/or specialist advice is required. They also often work closely with their advisory law colleagues in the GLD. The advisory teams advise on the development and implementation of government policy and the commercial team are often consulted to advise on the commercial legal issues raised. The CLG acts as the inhouse legal resource to our many Departmental clients and, ultimately, as trusted advisors in relation to their commercial legal needs.

Don’t just take our word for it, one of our commercial lawyers had this to say about CLG: “Since joining CLG, I have been involved in lots of high profile and important work for various government departments. It is a role that really does deliver on the variety of commercial work and ‘coal face’ exposure to projects at the forefront of government policy. Along with our business management and KM colleagues, I feel that I am part of a really supportive network of professionals. Outside of legal work, there are loads of initiatives and groups to get involved with where you can develop managerial, leadership and other skills, gain wider experience and contribute to GLD’s corporate and cultural objectives.”

Key requirements of the role:

• Good commercial and contract law experience (including contract drafting) is essential

• Excellent powers of analysis of legal commercial problems together with a sound commercial legal judgement

• An ability to negotiate effectively

• The ability to think strategically and creatively, see legal issues in their wider context and advise accordingly

• Sound analysis, using secure legal research to produce timely and fit for purpose advice

• A constructive approach to solving problems along with reliable legal judgement and the ability to provide legally sound, risk-based advice

• A good working knowledge of and experience of public procurement issues is desirable

• An understanding of public law is desirable

Security Clearance Level

All GLD employees must hold BPSS security clearance. If successful for this post, for some roles, you may be required to hold, or be willing and able to obtain, SC level security clearance. More information can be found about the vetting process here.

Induction and development

One of the privileges of being a commercial lawyer in Government is the unique interplay between commercial law, public law and the wider Government context. For lawyers new to Government work this involves a rapid learning curve, but one which you will be fully supported on throughout. We offer a comprehensive Legal Induction which ensures every GLD lawyer has the foundational legal skills and knowledge. This is in addition to our comprehensive Learning and Development offering, which supports ongoing development throughout your career. We also have access to a wide variety of external legal resources (e.g. Practical Law), as well as our own centrally maintained Knowledge Management resources relevant to lawyers in Government.