Legal Director

Please Note: We are recruiting for ONE senior leadership role within our organisation. We are open to appointing either a Joint Head of Legal Services or Legal Director, depending on the skills and experience of the successful candidate.

About Us

Release was founded in 1967 as the world’s first 24-hour legal helpline for people arrested for drug-related offences. What began as a grassroots response to injustice has grown into the UK’s leading independent drugs charity, dedicated to advancing social justice and harm reduction. For nearly six decades, we have provided free, expert legal advice and representation to thousands of people, while campaigning for evidence-based drug policy and systemic reform. Our work goes beyond individual cases. We challenge discriminatory laws, advocate for human rights, and dismantle barriers to justice for those most affected by poverty, criminalisation, and marginalisation.

Over the years, we have pioneered initiatives such as bust cards, needle exchange advocacy, safer nightlife campaigns, and rights-based resources for sex workers and other marginalised communities. Today, our services include legal support in housing, community care, immigration, and social security through our community legal services. We also provide advice on drugs law and drugs related matters through our national helpline. The drugs team provide advocacy for people in treatment systems ensuring their health needs are met and operate our harm reduction hub. Both teams are also responsible for policy research and advocacy that influences national and international debates. Release holds consultative status at the United Nations and continues to have a significant voice on drug policy reform in the UK and globally. Our mission remains clear: to uphold, advance and advocate for the social, economic, and human rights of those adversely impacted by drug laws and policies, particularly people and communities which are marginalised because of their race, or social and economic status.

About the Role

The Legal Director is a newly created senior leadership role and will lead and shape Release’s legal services, setting the strategic direction and ensuring the delivery of high-quality, client-centred representation. The role will expand access to justice through strong legal aid provision, embed harm reduction principles across all legal work, and uphold rigorous regulatory and ethical standards. It will also play a key role in sustaining Release’s commitment to training and developing the next generation of social justice lawyers. This pivotal post combines oversight of a multidisciplinary legal team with movement-driven advocacy and strategic litigation.

As Legal Director, you will:

• Define and implement strategies to expand legal aid provision, improve access to justice, and embed harm reduction principles across all legal work.
• Oversee a multidisciplinary team of solicitors, legal advisers, and volunteers, fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, and innovation.
• Maintain rigorous regulatory standards whilst driving forward progressive, client-centred approaches to legal practice.
• Identify and pursue high-impact cases to influence legislation, challenge unlawful policies, and dismantle barriers to justice for people who use drugs and other marginalised communities.
• Build powerful coalitions by engaging with affected communities, policymakers, stakeholders, and advocacy networks to drive legal and social reform.
• Develop new models of legal support that respond to emerging needs, leverage technology, and amplify the voices of those most affected by drug policy and laws by working in partnership with them.

This role is ideal for a visionary and inspiring leader who combines legal expertise with a commitment to social justice, harm reduction, and systemic transformation.

Person Specification

• Minimum 9 years + post qualified solicitor with a current practising certificate.
• Minimum 7 years + significant experience in legal aid supervision and regulatory compliance.
• Minimum 3 years + proven leadership and team management skills.
• Minimum 3 years + strategic litigation or test cases.
• Strong commitment to social justice, harm reduction, and trauma-informed practice.
• Experience working in a charity or non-profit organisation.
• Experience supporting, contributing to, or developing test case work, policy-linked casework, or other legal work aimed at achieving wider systemic or community impact, including through indirect, collaborative, or emerging roles.
• Understanding of the impact of drug policy and criminalisation on marginalised communities.
• Experience in developing new services, partnerships, or funding-linked delivery models.

We are committed to building a legal services team that reflects the communities we work alongside and to embedding equity, inclusion, and accessibility at every level of our organisation. We recognise that leadership capability and professional excellence are developed through opportunity as much as experience, and we actively support people to grow into senior roles with confidence. If you bring significant legal aid experience in public law, housing law, and/or community care law, including strategic or impact litigation, and are motivated by community impact, collaboration, and strengthening access to justice through legal aid, we encourage you to apply if you meet the core competencies for this role, even if your experience does not align with every element listed. We particularly welcome applications from people with lived experience of marginalisation and from communities currently under-represented in senior legal leadership. If this reflects your background and you meet the minimum criteria for the Legal Director role, we strongly encourage you to apply.

Important notice: For this job, Release will only consider applications from those who already have the right to live and work in the UK.

To apply please send us your CV and up to 3 pages on why you want to apply for the position, work at Release and are suitable for the role addressing the person specification and job description. Once completed please email your documents to: leadership@release.org.uk using the reference: LD 0226 in the subject line.