About the job

Job summary

If you are a well-qualified graduate looking to begin a career in law, we have an exciting opportunity for you! Join us as an Intern and gain valuable legal experience within the UK's principal competition and consumer protection authority.

About the CMA

We drive market outcomes that benefit people, businesses, and the UK economy by promoting competitive markets and tackling unfair behaviour. Our work benefits millions of individual people, is high profile, continually evolving and intellectually stimulating with a regular presence in national media and of interest around the world. 

The role

Our Legal team plays a pivotal role in achieving the CMA's mission and objectives, providing high-quality legal advice and robust analysis that informs strong decision-making. As a Legal Intern, you will play a key part in this process, assisting lawyers and working with members of the Legal Service, Policy and International and know-how teams.

You will help provide legal support on a range of CMA cases and projects that may include regulatory appeals, merger control, market studies and investigations, as well as competition and consumer law enforcement. Your support will help ensure that the decisions taken by the CMA are legally robust and that case teams are aware of legal/policy risk. 

What you will need

You will either need a law degree (2:2 or above, or equivalent) or have a non-law degree (2:2 or above, or equivalent) AND have completed the Graduate Diploma in Law; CILEx Diploma; or a similar legal qualification.

What we can offer you

The CMA is a hugely diverse, rewarding and stimulating place to work – an opportunity to work for the public good and to stretch and develop yourself in doing so while also having considerable flexibility when it comes to how and when you work. We offer generous benefits, including an excellent pension scheme with an average employer contribution of 27%, at least 25 days leave (increasing to 30 over five years), and generous maternity/paternity leave provision. You can also take advantage of interest-free season ticket loans, a cycle to work scheme.

To find out more about this opportunity and about working for the CMA, please click on the APPLY button.

CMA – Working for the CMA , Civil Service Careers (civil-service-careers.gov.uk)

Or our LinkedIn page:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/competition-and-markets-authority/

Closing date for applications: 11:55pm on Monday 12th February 2024 

Job description

The successful candidates will provide support to CMA lawyers and policy advisers by: 

• Identifying and analysing evidence gathered during merger inquiries, market investigations, regulatory inquiries and appeals or competition or consumer enforcement cases.
• Surveying international (including EU) precedents for decisions of competition and other regulatory authorities relevant to a sector.
• Researching the law regulating economic activities in particular sectors or the way in which companies engage with consumers.
• Assisting in the preparation of legal advice and guidance on consumer, competition, markets, subsidy control, internal markets and regulatory policy issues arising in relation to case and project work and legislative proposals. 
• Supporting the capture and development of knowledge, expertise and learning from cases.
• Participating, as required, in any contentious work, including liaison with colleagues within the case teams and the CMA’s Litigation Unit and external legal advisers.

Person specification

It is essential that you can provide evidence and examples of each of the following essential experience in your application:

• Degree educated in law (2:2 or above, or equivalent); or have a non-law degree (2:2 or above, or equivalent) and have completed the Graduate Diploma in Law; CILEx Diploma; or similar legal qualification (lead criteria).
• Exposure to one or more of the following areas and awareness of how it fits with the work of the CMA (lead criteria):

  - Competition law

  - Public and administrative law

  - Regulation of utilities

  - Judicial review

  - Consumer law

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Experience of working in a team environment, acting collaboratively, and sharing information to help build professional relationships with other team members. 
• Effective prioritisation skills and being able to work to deadlines

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £23,199, Competition & Markets Authority contributes £6,263 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

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

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV, personal statement and an online application form. Further details about application requirements are listed on the application form.

The selection process will comprise of the sift (CV & application review) and an interview. Arrangements for the interview will be enclosed in the invitation.  Interviews will be conducted virtually. 

An initial sift based on the lead criteria may be held if a large number of applications are received. If your application progresses to a full sift, all elements of the essential criteria listed under Person Specification (above, below and in the attached role profile) will then be considered.

• Degree educated in law (2:2 or above, or equivalent); or have a non-law degree (2:2 or above, or equivalent) and have completed the Graduate Diploma in Law; CILEx Diploma; or similar legal qualification (lead criteria).
• Exposure to one or more of the following areas and awareness of how it fits with the work of the CMA (lead criteria):

  - Competition law

  - Public and administrative law

  - Regulation of utilities

  - Judicial review

  - Consumer law

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Experience of working in a team environment, acting collaboratively, and sharing information to help build professional relationships with other team members. 
• Effective prioritisation skills and being able to work to deadlines

We are holding a virtual drop-in session on the 8 February 2024 at 17.30, to register click here CMA Legal Intern Recruitment Open House Tickets, Thu, Feb 8, 2024 at 5:30 PM , Eventbrite

The sift will take place week commencing w/c 12 February 2024 

If your application is successful you will be invited to attend an interview. You will be notified via email to log-in to your Civil Service Account and book your interview slot. You will be sent an email with full details of your arrangements for interview.

Interviews will be held on  w/c 26 February 2024 

Your interview will be a 45 minute -1 hour panel interview where you will be asked questions based on the Behaviours, Experience and Technical as outlined in the role profile, as well as a scenario based exercise, more information will be forwarded to you with the interview invite.

Reasonable adjustments

We want to make sure no one is at a disadvantage during our recruitment process because of a disability, condition or impairment. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need during the recruitment process.

For example, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you are deaf, a Language Service Professional. You might also require additional time to complete a timed assessment or a sign language interpreter to support with the relaying of information.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. 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.