Senior Legal Adviser in England, Wales

Location: Blended between office and home (England and Wales). Time in office negotiable.

Our Legal team provides in-house legal support to national Citizens Advice staff, helping the organisation maintain its reputation as a trusted and effective charity partner. We work across the organisation to ensure services are legally compliant, efficient, and aligned with our responsibilities as a charitable company.

As a Senior Legal Adviser, you will:

• Provide expert legal advice across a wide range of areas, including funding arrangements, governance, brand protection, and business development.
• Support national teams to deliver services that are compliant, practical, and cost-effective.
• Help identify and manage legal risk, contributing to strong internal controls.
• Build legal awareness across the organisation by developing and delivering guidance and training.
• Line manage and support Legal Advisor(s), contributing to the growth and effectiveness of the Legal team.

This is a varied and influential role, ideal for someone who thrives on tackling diverse legal challenges and collaborating with colleagues across different functions.

About You

We’re looking for someone who:

• Has strong legal expertise and the ability to advise across multiple areas of law.
• Communicates complex legal concepts clearly and pragmatically to non-legal audiences.
• Is confident working collaboratively with stakeholders at all levels.
• Enjoys developing others and has experience (or interest) in line management.
• Is motivated by working in a purpose-driven organisation.

Please apply with your CV and cover letter outlining the essential criteria below:

• Qualified solicitor with post-qualification experience in legal practice.
• Understanding of corporate, commercial and charity law, governance, and relevant statutory frameworks.
• An ability to think strategically and creatively, understanding the wider context around legal issues and advising in accordance with this understanding, and your strong awareness of the values and objectives of Citizens Advice.

Citizens Advice offers confidential advice online, over the phone, and in person, for free. Through our national network of charities, we give people the knowledge and the confidence they need to find their way forward – whoever they are, and whatever their problem.

Do you want to work for an organisation that makes a difference, every single day, to people from all walks of life? The people that turn to Citizens Advice need help overcoming an obstacle in their lives – from debt to evictions to trouble at work – and you can be key to them getting the support they need in the quickest, easiest, and most effective way.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is of strategic importance within the organisation and recognised as integral to all we do as a service. Central to pursuing our EDI mission is building diverse and inclusive teams in which everyone has a sense of belonging. We believe inclusion is a social justice issue - a principle that underpins our all EDI work. To that end, we particularly welcome applications from people we would like to see better represented in our organisation and sector - people of colour, LGBTQ people and disabled people.

We follow the social model of disability. We will offer an interview to disabled candidates who indicate they wish their application to be considered under our Disability Confident Interview Commitment where they meet our selection criteria in their application. Some of our roles attract a high volume of applications and in some circumstances where it is not practicable or appropriate, we may limit the number of interviews offered to disabled and non-disabled candidates. We will provide reasonable adjustments as needed.

We’re a flexible employer, so this role may suit anyone who’d prefer a flexible arrangement to help their work/life balance; many of our colleagues spend most of their time working remotely. Whilst we prefer a blended approach between a local office, if one is near you, and home, we’re open to being flexible on location. Occasionally a role may require you to be based in a certain location; if that's the case it will be detailed in the advert or job description. This can be discussed in more detail during your interview.

The National Citizens Advice operates from offices in England and Wales, with 4 regional offices based in Cardiff, London, Birmingham and Leeds; therefore all successful applicants must be based within England or Wales. Please be aware that Citizens Advice is not a sponsoring organisation. Therefore the successful applicant must already possess the right to work in the UK or be able to secure the right to work in the UK independently.

We have been awarded the top charity in Third sectors' employer index, where it's recognised that Citizens Advice is an organization that not only prioritises the people we serve but also values the wellbeing of its employees. Citizens Advice seeks to redeploy internal staff who are at risk or under notice of redundancy and will prioritise them in the recruitment process where necessary. If you have been confirmed as at risk or under notice of redundancy please ensure you indicate this in the at-risk box in your application.

Please note, in the event of a high number of applications, we reserve the right to close the application early. This vacancy closes at 23.59 on the closing date.