Legal Adviser

**Details**:
**Reference number**:

- 412945

**Salary**:

- £66,475 - £70,500
- Salary £66,475 (National), £69,835 (London), rising to £67,140 (National), £70,500 (London) per annum (pro rata) post probation.
Part-time minimum 4 days per week.
- A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

GBP

**Job grade**:

- Grade 7
- Band A (APT)

**Contract type**:

- Permanent

**Type of role**:

- Legal Services
Other

**Working pattern**:

- Flexible working, Full-time, Part-time

**Number of jobs available**:

- 1

**Contents**:

- Location
- About the job
- Benefits
- Things you need to know

**Location**:

- 23 Stephenson Street, Birmingham
10 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London

**About the job**:
**Job summary**:
**Join Ofsted’s Legal Services Team as a Legal Adviser**

As a Legal Adviser, you will:

- Deliver timely, accurate and high-quality legal advice on a wide range of public law issues, particularly those related to the inspection and regulation of children’s social care services.
- Support legal work across Ofsted’s remits, offering strategic insight and risk-based solutions.
- Provide input on proposed legislative changes and help implement them effectively within the organisation.
- Collaborate with policy and operational colleagues to ensure legal advice informs enforcement activity and vice versa.
- Liaise with Government departments and external stakeholders on matters affecting Ofsted’s legal responsibilities.

This is a fantastic opportunity to further your experience in Ofsted’s well-established team. The post holder will work with high-achieving professionals at all levels, surrounded by a friendly and supportive team. They will have access to amazing benefits, such as flexible working hours, the Civil Service Pension Scheme, and 32.5 days annual leave + 8 bank holidays. We offer a hybrid working model, so you may also choose to spend a proportion of time working from home.

**Job description**:

- Please refer to the job specification for further information.

**Person specification**:

- Please refer to the job specification for further information.

**Qualifications**:

- Qualified Solicitor or Barrister with three years post qualification experience.

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

- Seeing the Big Picture
- Communicating and Influencing
- Making Effective Decisions
- Managing a Quality Service

**Technical skills**:
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

- Experience and working knowledge of public law matters. (Essential)
- Experience of providing high calibre legal advice and guidance to senior management, junior colleagues and key stakeholders. (Essential)
- Ability to think strategically, to identify legal risks and underlying causes in their wider context and identify solutions including provision for value for money. (Essential)
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to convey the legal issue in a clear and simple method. (Essential)
- Experience and working knowledge of children’s social care law matters. (Desirable)
- Experience of advising on equalities and/or litigation experience. (Desirable)

**Benefits**:

- Alongside your salary of £66,475, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills contributes £19,257 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Full details of the benefits available can be found in our Ofsted Offer brochure.

**Things you need to know**:
**Selection process details**:

- This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

**Application and Shortlisting**:
**Assessment and Interview**

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

**Security**:

- 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)
- 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

**Working for the Civil Service**:

- The Civil Service Code 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.
- The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet