Senior Legal Counsel (Property) - fixed term / secondment up to 12 months

Together we are Trusted to Serve Scotland. Senior Legal Counsel (Property) Fixed Term / Secondment for Maternity Cover – up to 12 Months. It’s not every job where you make a difference for the people of Scotland. But it’s what’s behind every job here. The work we do keeps Scotland’s water flowing, from reservoir to tap – and from sewer to treatment plant. Our operations span the length and breadth of Scotland, which generates a wealth of commercial, compliance, property and regulatory work that keeps our Legal team busy.

In this role as Senior Legal Counsel, Property (Fixed Term), you’ll be a key player in a team that provides specialist knowledge and expertise that helps us deliver Scotland’s most important natural resource: water.

What you’ll do

• You’ll play a significant role in delivering a comprehensive legal service to Scottish Water, spanning legislative and regulatory compliance and the provision of advice across a broad range of practice areas.
• The goal is that Scottish Water remains legally compliant and effectively manages risk across the business.
• You will have a focus on delivering property legal services.
• You will be a specialist in property law and will have experience of having advised on land acquisitions and disposals, and commercial leases.
• Ideally, you’ll have a working knowledge and understanding of rural and agricultural law and planning and environmental law and have gained some experience providing advice in the water industry, or another regulated industry.
• You’ll have experience supervising people, with a track record of developing and training personnel and/or teams and the commitment to prioritising safety, health and wellbeing to sustain a resilient and high-performing team.
• The role will also involve a focus on continual improvement in terms of customer service, cost-efficiency, quality, and collaboration, both across Scottish Water and with our external legal providers and stakeholders.
• You will play a significant role in embedding preventative lawyering as a central pillar of how we operate.

What you’ll bring

• You’ll be a Scottish-qualified solicitor with a current practising certificate.
• You’ll have in-depth knowledge of a wide range of legal and regulatory matters with a practical and collaborative approach.
• You will have experience of having advised on complex title queries and registrations, land acquisitions and disposals and commercial leases.
• Ideally, you’ll have experience with the property aspects of renewable energy projects and have gained some experience providing advice in the water industry, or another regulated industry.
• A skilled communicator, you’ll have a knack for Knowing-Your-Audience.
• You know how to effectively get your message across, and you don’t get bogged down in “legalese” when speaking to a non-legal audience.
• You’ll embody the Scottish Water Character – by being Bold, Responsible, Inspiring and Caring, both as a colleague and as a Leader.

Looking out for you

• This role will occasionally require you to work outside of normal working hours.
• You’ll get plenty of time to recharge with 38 days of holiday every year (including public holidays) – you can even buy five more if you need a little extra time.
• A truly flexible approach to work/life balance.
• You can also take time off to volunteer in your community.
• Family-friendly policies around adoption, maternity, and parental leave.
• Embrace flexible working.
• Defined benefit pension and generous life assurance.
• Annual company bonus.
• Access to SW Splash – handy rewards that can save you money on holidays, bills, and shopping.

The post is fixed term for 12 months, full time based on 35 hours per week with flexible working hours. Applications from those wishing to apply for any working patterns, or flexible working arrangements are welcome.

The not-so-small print

• This role will be a Grade 8.
• If you’re new to Scottish Water, you’ll join us on a starting salary of £52,671. Performance-driven pay progression would then allow you to move through the range to a maximum of £72,281.
• If you’re interested in this role – or know someone else who might be - we’ll be accepting applications until the amended date of midnight on Tuesday March 25th 2026.
• We operate Balanced Hybrid working at Scottish Water and we encourage people to work half their time in a Scottish Water location.
• Job offers at Scottish Water are conditional, and will be confirmed on completion of our pre-employment screening.
• Research shows that some people avoid applying for jobs unless they can meet every single criteria. If you’re interested in this job, but don’t tick all the boxes, apply anyway!
• Let us know if there are any changes we can make to our recruitment process to help you perform at your best.
• As part of our commitment to developing a flourishing Scotland, it’s important that all our employees are Scottish taxpayers.
• If you join us, your home address will need to be in Scotland.
• Please note, Scottish Water takes the safety, health and wellbeing of our employees, colleagues and customers very seriously and as such you may be subject to Drug & Alcohol testing in line with our policy.