Legal Adviser

Contract Type: Permanent

Working Pattern: Full time - flexible working may be considered

Working Hours: 35 hours per week

Salary: £53,395.59 per annum for Birmingham and Cardiff and £58,735.15 per annum for London

Location Options: Birmingham with part of the week working from home, Cardiff with part of the week working from home, London with part of the week working from home

The SRA is the independent regulator of solicitors and law firms in England and Wales. We regulate in the public interest to ensure solicitors and law firms adhere to high professional standards, to take action against those who fail to comply with their regulatory obligations and to protect the public against risk.

The in-house Legal & Enforcement team at the SRA deals with contentious regulatory proceedings before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal and other related litigation. It also provides legal advice and case direction to our investigation teams and other internal teams at the SRA.

We are currently looking to recruit Legal Advisers on a permanent and fixed term basis in our Legal & Enforcement team.

The role

As a Legal Adviser, you will deal with contentious matters before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal and Courts. Alongside this, you will also provide high quality, risk based, legal and regulatory advice and case direction across our operational areas. You will have opportunities to contribute fresh ideas to our team, looking for opportunities to build on our culture of continuous improvement.

You will be required to make and draft formal decisions based on evidential and public interest tests. Where you become involved in conducting disciplinary or other proceedings, you will need to act in the public interest and ensure cases proceed in a proportionate and timely way.

You will need to demonstrate understanding of a regulatory environment as you will be involved in providing high quality legal advice and conducting cases either in-house or with the support of external solicitors.

Our Legal Advisers join the SRA from a variety of areas of practice. We encourage you to apply if you have experience of conducting contentious litigation in any area. We will give you the opportunity and support to develop expertise as a regulatory lawyer.

What’s in it for me

• Opportunity to use your litigation skills in the public interest;
• Help to drive forward investigations by providing practical legal advice to Investigation Officers;
• Opportunities to be an advocate of the SRA in public events;
• To expand and develop your legal, regulatory experience;
• Join a supportive and friendly team with a renowned regulator.
• An additional 3% of annual basic salary to spend on benefits that suit your lifestyle;
• A generous pension scheme - We will contribute 1½ - 2 times your contribution, up to 12.25%. So, if you contribute 7%, you will enjoy the maximum combined contribution of 19.25%;
• 25 days annual leave, plus bank holidays and buy/sell/save holiday trading scheme;
• Access to employee discount vouchers for savings on High Street brands, travel and supermarkets;
• Life Assurance cover of 4 times basic salary;
• Income Protection;
• An extensive range of Heka Health and Wellbeing experiences to choose from with monthly company funding allowance.

What we are looking for

• A solicitor, barrister (with litigation rights) or Chartered Legal Executive qualified to practice in England and Wales;
• Experience of conducting litigation, or providing legal advice preferably in a regulatory environment;
• Significant experience of case analysis, legal drafting and decision making in a contentious or regulatory environment;
• Ability to acquire and apply extensive knowledge of law and regulation of legal services.

The role is offered on a hybrid basis. It is predominantly home-based with attendance in the office 1 to 2 days a week. We would consider a request to be based at either of our other offices (London or Cardiff), though travel to our main office in Birmingham will be required at least once per month. If you are offered a London based role an additional 10% weighting would apply on the advertised salary; London weighted salary is £58,735.15.

This is a full-time role working 35 hours per week. We are supportive of helping you achieve a balance between your personal and professional life and are happy to discuss flexible working arrangements at interview, including providing examples of potential working patterns.

If you have any questions that are not in this advert or on our website, please contact us via.

To apply

Please click 'apply' to complete the online application form and upload a CV and cover letter, addressing how you meet the essential criteria listed under the 'What we are looking for' section above. Your Cover Letter should be no longer than two pages.

To find out more about the recruitment and selection process and how to make the most of your application, please visit our jobs pages.

Closing date for applications is 26 January at 5pm.

For candidates who are shortlisted, there will be a technical assessment. Those candidates who are successful at the technical assessment will be invited to attend an in-person interview at our Birmingham office.

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, an excellent defined contribution pension scheme and an additional 3% of annual basic salary upon successful completion of probation.

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.