Principal Lawyers in Brighton

Role title: Principal Lawyers x 2

TPR grade & pay group: Advisory – Grade 6

Team: Legal Services

Salary: £89,459 Per Annum

Contract type: Permanent

Location: Brighton/hybrid, 6 days per month in the office

The role and responsibilities

TPR is the public body that protects workplace pensions in the UK, ensuring schemes and employers comply with their duties, enhancing the system and supporting innovation in members’ interests.

Lawyers at TPR advise and support to help TPR achieve its objectives - working closely with colleagues across TPR’s core activities of pensions reform (strategy and policy), market oversight, and enterprise and corporate.

As a lawyer at TPR, you will play a meaningful role in protecting savers and supporting the stability of the pensions system. You’ll have the opportunity to be involved in a wide range of regulatory, commercial and pensions matters, giving clear, practical and timely legal advice, and working closely with colleagues across the organisation. Your work will contribute directly to TPR’s policy development, regulatory decision‑making and high‑profile casework, helping us deliver good outcomes for the public.

In this role, you will advise and guide senior leaders, including Executive Directors and members of the Board, helping them understand legal risks and opportunities. You will have the agency to take ownership of your workload and to work in multi-disciplinary teams, collaborating with other lawyers, policy specialists, regulatory teams and external experts. You will develop your skills across complex, high‑impact issues, from major investigations to the implementation of new pensions policy.

This is an opportunity to use your legal expertise in a supportive environment that values learning, professional growth and working together to achieve our objectives. Your insight will help shape the pensions landscape and make a positive difference for millions of savers.

This role is ideal for someone who:

• Likes solving complex problems and offering practical, well‑judged advice.

• Is motivated by work that has a clear purpose and positive social impact.

• Enjoys working with a wide range of colleagues and supporting informed, balanced decision-making.

• Feels comfortable managing their own workload and adapting to changing priorities.

• Values opportunities to learn, develop and deepen their expertise in both pensions and regulatory work.

Role Criteria:

• Qualified Solicitor, Barrister or CILEX professional with, or eligible for, a current practising certificate in England and Wales.

• Experience in providing clear, consistent and risk based legal advice to a range of audiences.

• Comprehensive post-qualification experience in an area with relevant transferrable skills. This could include pensions (legal or technical knowledge), regulatory (general or financial services) or commercial. Previous experience could be gained in government, at a regulator, in house, or in private practice advising employers, investors, lenders or trustees.

• Ability to work autonomously where appropriate, use sound legal judgement and identify risks, issues and opportunities.

• Experience in managing complex or high‑profile matters and supporting effective project delivery.

• Ability to work effectively in a multi-disciplinary team.

• Strong organisational skills with the ability to prioritise a varied portfolio of work.

• Confident communicator, able to engage with internal and external experts and present information clearly.

• Experience in mentoring or supporting the development of junior lawyers, paralegals or trainees.

The Team

The Legal Team plays a vital role in supporting the organisation to achieve its goals by using their legal expertise and strategic insight. We champion an inclusive and collaborative working environment.

We empower clients with clear, practical guidance so they can make well‑informed decisions with confidence.

Our lawyers and paralegals work on a diverse range of matters, including:

• Regulatory law

• Pensions and trust law

• Litigation and dispute resolution

• Public law and human rights

• Information law

• Insolvency and restructuring

• Procurement and commercial law

Our work is varied, impactful, and central to helping the organisation operate effectively, responsibly, and in the best interests of the public we serve.

TPR offers:

• Genuine opportunities for learning and development.

• A values-led, inclusive environment.

• Hybrid working and flexible shift patterns.

• A vibrant workplace with employee networks (Disability, Family, LGBT+, Minority Ethnic, Mental Health, Women’s).

Reward and benefits

We offer 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays, a hybrid working model, 35 hour working week (full-time), flexible working patterns and flexitime. We also provide competitive parental leave, as well as a Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%. Our dedicated benefits portal (Edenred) offers retail, gym, tech and restaurant discounts, and a cycle to work scheme.

Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Our culture

TPR strives to be a high-performing organisation, and we prioritise our people's growth and well-being. We offer various learning, secondment and development opportunities, support flexible working, and foster a diverse and inclusive environment.

Equality, diversity and inclusion is very important to us and we strive to make sure everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed. Our modern Brighton offices are in Telecom House overlooking Preston Park, they are over two floors of a shared building facility and when designed in 2023 we followed the government’s workplace design guide to ensure accessibility by design was achieved for our section.

We're proud to have a range of networks and opportunities to bring people together with supportive and safe spaces to connect with one another.

About The Pensions Regulator

With a career at TPR, you’ll be joining an organisation with real purpose and who are proud of their diverse range of skills and experience that positively impact on millions of people. Everyone at TPR plays an important role in helping to keep more than £2trn of savings safe.

Our Corporate Strategyoutlines a bold and challenging vision of how pensions regulation should continue to evolve to keep pace with a change in the scale and nature of the pensions landscape. We believe diversity and inclusion are vital to good decision-making for positive saver outcomes. We’re committed to creating a supportive, inclusive, and dynamic work environment where everyone can thrive; understanding the link between the work we do and its positive impact on society.

Find out more about us.

Applications

To avoid disappointment, we would invite you to submit your application as soon as possible, as we reserve the right to close the vacancy early if a high volume of applications are received. This is to ensure that we can continue to provide a positive candidate experience, with each application being reviewed and considered. Unfortunately, once a vacancy has closed, we are unable to consider further applications.

Current TPR employees who want to apply for this vacancy should first contact their line manager to discuss their application.

We welcome applications on a part time and job share basis.

Selection and interview

If you are shortlisted for interview, we’ll be in contact with you shortly after the closing date. We aim to respond to every application however due to the large volume of applications this is not always possible. If you have not heard from us within 21 days of submitting your application, please assume you have been unsuccessful on this occasion.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we’re committed to the recruitment, employment, retention, and development of people with disabilities, and to improving their employment opportunities. Candidates who declare that they have a disability and who meet the essential criteria will be an offered an interview. Please note that if we receive a high volume of Disability Confident applicants, we reserve the right to offer an interview to those who best meet the essential criteria.

Diversity and inclusion

TPR is committed to promoting diversity, inclusion and equality in the workplace, creating an environment where everyone is encouraged to be themselves, enabling our people to feel supported, represented and do their best work.

We encourage applicants from all backgrounds and with different identities and experiences to apply for roles with TPR.

Further information

Please visit our website to find out what it is like to work at TPR, our culture, interview process and our commitment to our employees.

If you have any queries about this role, or if you have a disability and wish to request a reasonable adjustment at any stage of the recruitment process, please email recruitmentteam@tpr.gov.uk.