Head of Legal, Shadow Football Regulator

We are looking for a Head of Legal to join the Independent Football Regulator in its shadow form to help advise and shape the organisation in parallel with Parliamentary passage of the associated legal framework.

At present, the shadow regulator comprises over twenty members of staff, led by an interim Chief Operating Officer, undertaking a range of activities in preparation for passage of the Football Governance Bill. The successful candidate will play a crucial role in developing the legal function within the new organisation, determining the right balance between in-house and outsourced provision, and work collaboratively with others in considering
how best to operationalise the provisions of the Bill. They will also support the Chair (designate) when they are appointed and advise on on a wide range of legal matters such as contracts, regulatory compliance, litigation, employment law, intellectual property and corporate governance.

The Head of Legal will also be expected to work collaboratively with the sponsor department, DCMS, as well as with a variety of other bodies, including within the football industry.

We are running an information session where prospective applicants can find out more about the role. This will be hosted by Martyn Henderson and Simon Regis , and will take place on:

Tuesday 27th August - 14:30-15:30

The session will be an opportunity to hear more about the role, the team and wider directorate and the department.

It will also be an opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have about the application, and the interview and assessment process.

Please register your interest by filling out this form and you will be sent an invitation.

This will take place virtually, via Google Meets.

Person specification

Essential Requirements

Making Effective Decisions: Creative thinking and excellent judgement to deliver authoritative and credible legal advice, at pace, to facilitate practical solutions, including at senior levels.

Changing & Improving: With this being the first legal role within the Shadow Football Regulator, we need someone with the knowledge and experience to shape the legal offering. This role requires an in depth understanding of regulation and enforcement who can add value to the team through sharing their expertise.

Communicating & Influencing: Experience of proactively creating, maintaining and promoting a strong network of contacts across an industry.

Leadership: Effectively managing legal risk, providing sound legal direction, leadership and oversight to ensure quality outcomes and delivery of legal excellence.

Delivering at Pace: Have a track record of picking up new and complex areas of legal work quickly and providing context-appropriate advice in high-profile and fast-moving situations.

Desirable Skills

Understanding of the football industry, including financial regulation and familiarity with the English football pyramid.

Good knowledge of public law.

Experience of establishing a legal function.

Qualifications
Applicants should have a minimum of a 2:1 honours degree in their first degree, in any subject.

Where an applicant holds an overseas degree qualification this should be equivalent to a 2:1 degree. We will consider applicants who do not have a 2:1 degree but only where satisfactory evidence of equivalent high level academic and/or professional achievement can be provided (e.g. via relevant experience and results achieved for the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL)/CPE, Legal Practice Course (LPC), Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC)).

Applicants must be qualified to practise as a Solicitor, Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive in England and Wales however, we also accept applications from overseas qualified candidates. You must have completed a training contract/pupillage/qualifying employment or have been exempted from this by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Bar Standards Board or CILEx. Please note that candidates cannot apply more than 3 months before their qualification date.

Professional entry criteria for Chartered Legal Executives (i.e. Fellows): Chartered Legal Executives are eligible to apply where (i) a Qualifying Law Degree (QLD) is held; or (ii) the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL)/CPE has been completed; or (iii) where exams have been passed (i.e. a score of 50% or above achieved), at CILEx Level 6*, in all of the following seven foundation subjects in law: Contract Law; Criminal Law; Equity and Trusts Law; European Union Law; Land Law; Public Law; Law of Tort

*Note: There are specific requirements relating to academic achievement in the CILEx Level 6 exams where these are being used to demonstrate 2:1 degree equivalence. Chartered Legal Executives should note that we will be willing to accept an overall average score of 65% or above across exams passed in the seven foundation subjects in law (where studied at CILEx Level 6) as demonstrating 2.1 degree equivalence, where a 2.1 degree is not held.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Changing and Improving
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Leadership
• Making Effective Decisions

Benefits

Alongside your salary of 75,000, Department for Culture, Media and Sport contributes 20,250 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

DCMS values its staff and offers a wide range of benefits to everyone who works here. Were committed to developing talent, and supporting colleagues to have great careers in our department. To support with that, some of the benefits we offer include:

• Flexible working arrangements and hybrid working - DCMS staff work on a flexible basis with time spent in offices, and time spent working from home.
  
• 26.5 days annual leave on entry, increasing to 31.5 days after 5 years service.
  
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%.
  
• Access to the Edenred employee benefits system which offers discounts to popular retailers and access to various useful resources such as financial and savings advice.
  
• 3 days of paid volunteering leave.
  
• Up to 9 months maternity leave on full pay + generous paternity and adoption leave
  
• Staff reward and recognition bonuses that operate throughout the year
  
• Occupational sick pay.
  
• Access to the Employee Assistance Programme which offers staff 24/7 confidential support and resources such as counselling, debt guidance and management advice.
  
• Active and engaged staff networks to join including the LGBT+, Ethnic Diversity, Mental Health and Wellbeing and Gender Equality Networks.
  
• Exceptional learning and development opportunities that you can explore alongside your day to day work.
  
• Season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme and much more
  

Terms and conditions at SCS grades will vary. Those applying for SCS roles should refer to the candidate information pack for more information on terms and conditions.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window) , and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

To apply for this post, please send us the following documents no later than 23:55 on Sunday 8th September via the CS Jobs portal.

A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you provide employment history that relates to the essential and desirable criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained. The CV should not exceed more than 3 x A4 pages and you should insert your CV into the "Job History" section on Civil Service Jobs on the Civil Service Jobs application form.

A Statement of Suitability (max 1250 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role in reference to the essential requirements highlighted. You may also choose to reference the desirable skills listed however these will not be considered in the assessment of your application except in circumstances where there are a high number and calibre of candidates.

For the shortlist, we will assess your experience and select applicants demonstrating the best fit for the role by considering the evidence provided in your application.

In the event of a large number of applicants, an initial sift will be conducted on the statement of suitability. Those who are successful in the initial sift will then be scored on all elements of the application.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

This role has a minimum assignment duration of 1 year. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window) .

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window) .

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window) .

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window) .

To help VERCIDA find roles that are best suited to you at DCMS, we ask you to confidentially share information about yourself with us. Any data VERCIDA receive is securely stored and never shared with third parties.

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