About the job

Job summary

This is a unique and exciting opportunity to lead the growing litigation function of one of the world’s top competition authorities.

The CMA has a wide and growing range of powers, which it uses to undertake a wide variety of cutting edge, high profile and complex work, spanning merger and market inquiries, competition and consumer law enforcement, subsidy advice and internal market advice. If you motivated by a dynamic and challenging environment where you will be a highly influential senior leader shaping the CMA’s essential work in the public interest, playing a pivotal role in the leadership and management of CMA’s highly talented litigators comprising approximately 45 lawyers, then this could be the ideal role for you.

As Senior Litigation Director, you would become a member of the Senior Leadership Team within the CMA’s Legal Service, reporting directly to the Deputy General Counsel. Your role will encompass a diverse array of challenging and pivotal activities, including defending the CMA’s decisions on appeal, obtaining warrants to support our investigations and obtaining director disqualification orders. The volume and profile of the litigation we undertake has increased substantially in recent years and is expected to grow further in light of the expansion of our case work following EU Exit and the addition of new CMA functions.   

You will be an accomplished senior litigator with outstanding experience in litigation casework, including recent experience of competition law, public law and/or consumer protection law, and a proven track record for strategic thinking. You should possess a deep comprehension of the policy dynamics and prospects confronting the CMA, along with extensive experience in cultivating, empowering, and inspiring professional teams to achieve exceptional outcomes. Your personal integrity and capacity to integrate substantial subject matter expertise with strategic acumen and operational excellence will not only be critical to excelling in this role but also to advancing our mission.

You can find more information about working for the CMA here.

To find out more about this opportunity 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: 11:55pm on Monday 15 April 2024 

Job description

Reporting to the Deputy General Counsel, the post holder will share senior responsibility for the leadership and management of the CMA’s litigation function, including senior oversight of all civil litigation proceedings through the management of four litigation directors and the provision of strategic litigation advice to senior decision makers. 

The role will involve extensive senior engagement throughout the CMA and externally, working closely with, amongst others, the General Counsel, Deputy General Counsel, Senior Legal Directors and other Executive and Senior Directors.

The Senior Litigation Director has direct line management responsibility for four Litigation Directors and overall management responsibility for the CMA’s litigation function comprising some 40 litigators. 

The litigation function is part of the CMA’s wider Legal Service and collectively the General Counsel, the Deputy General Counsel, the Senior Litigation Director and Senior Legal Directors have senior leadership responsibility for the management of the CMA Legal Service comprising some 150 lawyers.

Key responsibilities

• To be accountable at senior level collaboratively for the conduct of the CMA’s civil litigation and the quality and robustness of the litigation advice and analysis underpinning the development of CMA investigations, provisional and final decisions, ensuring that CMA litigators have the capability to deliver high quality and robust litigation outcomes.
• To ensure delivery of timely, strategic and authoritative litigation advice in relation to the most analytically complex and important issues arising in relation to the CMA’s work, including advising the senior stakeholders and individual case decision makers and project teams.
• Working with the Litigation Directors to ensure the effective allocation of litigation work and resources enabling effective delivery and appropriate career development opportunities as well as managing the litigation function’s budget and financial reporting.
• To be a key member of the Legal Service Senior Leadership Team with shared responsibility for managing and developing the CMA’s legal function and for the professional development of CMA lawyers, including leading the development of best practice and shared learning.
• To work closely with the Senior Legal Directors in the development and delivery of coordinated legal support across the CMA’s functions, including the promotion of working and learning across all areas of the CMA’s work.
• To form a highly effective working relationship with, amongst others, the Senior Legal Directors and Executive and Senior Directors with shared responsibility for successful case outcomes, operating collectively to ensure that the CMA delivers robust and successful outcomes to defined timescales.
• To lead, motivate and manage a team of Litigation Directors with collective responsibility for ensuring the quality and robustness of all legal aspects of case work and other projects, at all times demonstrating and delivering professional excellence.
• To develop the talents of the CMA’s lawyers and to contribute to developing an environment which inspires staff and enables innovative thinking and integrated working across the organisation.
• To lead and maintain open, professional and proactive engagement with key external partners for the CMA’s litigation work, including competition practitioners, business, domestic and international competition agencies and other Government departments as well as to represent the CMA externally for example at conferences and seminars.
• To promote an integrated approach to legal and litigation analysis across cases and more generally across the CMA’s work, including leading engagement with key external stakeholders and international counterparts.

We are also advertising for two Senior Legal Director positions for which a separate application must be made if candidates are interested. Please note that this position is London based due to the level of access required to attend court.

Person specification

The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate evidence against the following essential criteria:

• Fully qualified lawyer entitled to practise as a solicitor (Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive (CILEx Fellow) in England and Wales.
• Outstanding experience in litigation casework, including some experience of competition law, public law and/or consumer protection law, and a proven capacity for strategic thinking and experience of leading, managing and delivering complex litigation within defined resources and tight timescales.
• Strong appreciation of the legal and litigation expertise required to ensure the successful delivery of public enforcement outcomes by the CMA including ability to grasp new and complex concepts and areas of law quickly and accurately, including relevant competition and consumer law and procedure and developments in policy, and to identify links and synergies between discrete issues internally or externally.
• Demonstrable ability to provide an authoritative view on complex litigation and public law questions working effectively with senior counterparts from other disciplines.
• Demonstrable ability to influence colleagues at all levels, as well as external stakeholders, including those at the Bar, Courts and Tribunals and colleagues across Whitehall and with international counterparts.
• Excellent leadership, people management and coaching skills, including the ability to develop, motivate, inspire and empower staff, to enhance staff performance and to promote a culture of respect, equality, diversity and inclusion.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £128,966, Competition & Markets Authority contributes £34,820 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

The CMA has retained Gatenby Sanderson to advise on this appointment. The closing date for applications is 23:55 on 15 April 2024. For further information about the position and additional details on qualifications, requirements, terms and conditions of service and how to apply and recruitment timeline, please review the attached candidate pack.

To apply for this post, you will need to complete the online application process no later than the Advert Closing Date, which is 23:55 on 15 April 2024.  This can be accessed by www.gatenbysanderson.com/job/GSe109430 and will involve uploading the documents outlined below:

1. A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years.
2. A Statement of Suitability (no longer than two pages), giving examples of how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the criteria in the person specification.
3. A completed Diversity Questionnaire. We’re committed to implementing and monitoring our equality and diversity policies with the aim of recruiting, retaining and promoting staff regardless of their age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex and sexual orientation.

All applications will be acknowledged. Please submit your full application via www.gatenbysanderson.com/job/GSe109430

Failure to submit both documents will mean the panel have only limited information on which to assess your application against the criteria in the person specification. Please ensure that both documents contain your full name.

As part of the online application process, you will be asked a number of diversity-related questions. If you do not wish to provide a declaration on any of the particular characteristics, you will have the option to select 'prefer not to say', but this information is very important to the Civil Service as we seek to build organisations and develop policies that reflect our society. Any information you provide is confidential and will not be used during the selection process or to inform decision making.

Should you encounter any issues with your online application, or do not receive confirmation of its receipt by email within 24 hours, please get in touch with emma.clark@gatenbysanderson.com.

At the longlist meeting, applications will be sifted to select those candidates demonstrating the best fit with the posts.  Longlisted candidates will be invited to a preliminary interview with Gatenby Sanderson to discuss the role and their suitability in more detail. Following the preliminary interview, a panel shortlist meeting will take place where the results of the preliminary interviews will be discussed. Those candidates who demonstrate strongest suitability will be invited to final interview.

The timeline later in the attached pack indicates the date by which decisions are expected to be made, and all longlisted and shortlisted candidates will be advised of the outcome as soon as possible thereafter.

If you are shortlisted, you will be asked to take part in a series of assessments which could include psychometric tests and a staff engagement exercise. These assessments will not result in a pass or fail decision. Rather, they are designed to support the panel’s decision making and highlight areas for the panel to explore further at interview.  You will also have the opportunity to speak to either Chris Prevett or Jessica Radke prior to the final interview to learn more about
the role and the organisation. Please note this is not part of the formal assessment process. We may take up references for shortlisted candidates prior to interview.

You will be asked to attend a panel interview in order to have a more in-depth discussion of your previous experience and professional competence in relation to the criteria set out in the Person Specification. Interviews will consist of questions where candidates will be expected to build on the information provided in their personal statement and CV. Candidates may be asked to prepare a short presentation on a topic to be advised if/when invited to the interview stage. Full details of the assessment process will be made available to shortlisted candidates.

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. 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.