About the job

Job summary

The Role and Our Team  

Hays are delighted to be partnering with the Office for Product Safety Standards (OPSS) to recruit a key role within their highly regarded legal team – Data lawyer. This is a fantastic opportunity for an experienced lawyer who are looking to work for a national regulator and join a friendly, inclusive and diverse in-house legal team. They have offices in Birmingham, London and Teddington and the role can be based at any of these locations.

The opportunity:

The Legal team are from a mixture of public sector and private practice backgrounds and from the Criminal Bar. The team provides legal advice across all of OPSS’s functions. These are exciting opportunities for a highly motivated lawyers with strong interpersonal skills who is able to work well within a team. This post reports directly to the Head of Regulatory Legal Advice.

You will work closely with teams across the OPSS to provide pragmatic, solution focussed and high-quality legal advice. The scope of the role, reflecting the breadth of OPSS’s functions, is broad. We do not expect applicants to have existing expertise in all areas of OPSS’s work but you must be willing to advise on a wide range of matters including our data transformation programme, development of policy, enforcement across a range of civil and criminal legislation, and statutory decision-making. In doing so, you will liaise with both Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and other government departments’ legal advisors (GLD) as well as other regulators and commercial entities as appropriate.​ 

Job description

Key Responsibilities: 

​​You will have responsibility for a stimulating, wide-ranging portfolio of work which includes: 

• ​Advising on compliance with relevant laws in respect of data sharing, data handling and data security, advising on data protection and FOI issues.
• ​Providing timely and high-quality legal advice to colleagues on a wide range of issues, both in respect of discrete requests for legal assistance and on more significant matters.
• ​Managing, with appropriate supervision, your own caseload and working collaboratively with others on larger matters.
• ​Providing strategic legal advice when OPSS is considering, or has committed to, taking on new regulatory functions on behalf of other Government departments.
• ​Understanding policy perspectives and confidently presenting delivery solutions.
• ​Highlight to senior colleagues any significant legal risks, particularly in your practice areas, on a timely basis.
• ​Liaising with legal teams/advisers of stakeholders and other government departments/regulators as appropriate.
• ​Contributing to the learning and development of the OPSS Legal Advice and Practice team, as well as to the OPSS more broadly.​

Person specification

Skills & Experience 

We are interested in hearing from applicants who feel that they can demonstrate the following attributes: ​ 

• ​An ability to assimilate complex information and provide pragmatic, delivery-focused advice on the back of it, underpinned by well-reasoned analysis.
• ​An aptitude for problem solving in a way that takes account of the ‘bigger picture’, particularly where there are uncertainties at play.
• ​A trusted advisor and advocate, able to listen and understand needs through open, structured and productive conversations.
• ​Capable of exercising sound judgement, even when balancing conflicting pressures and interests.
• ​Excellent communication skills with the ability to express sophisticated concepts clearly and concisely and to influence colleagues.
• ​An ability to work at pace, recognising the need to prioritise or to adopt a flexible approach when appropriate.
• ​Ability to establish and maintain positive working relationships with a range of colleagues at all levels across a number of organisations.

Essential criteria: 

• ​Applicants must be qualified to practice as a Solicitor, Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive in England and Wales. You must have completed a training contract/pupillage/qualifying employment or have been exempted from this by the Law Society, the Bar Council or CILEX. 
• ​​A sound knowledge of public law principles.  
• Experience of advising on data protection and security, information law, FOI and / or data governance.

Desirable criteria:

• Experience of working within the Regulatory sector and advising on regulatory law.

​ What you'll get in return

Alongside your salary of £57,026 (London) £53,560 (National), you will also be entitled to the below benefits:

• Career development - Learning and development opportunities
• An environment with flexible working options
• 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with employer contributions of at least 20% of your salary

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £53,560, Department for Business and Trade contributes £14,461 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

Please us the following link to apply: 

https://www.applybe.com/haysapply/search/welcome/all/1/6007128/data%20lawyer.html?keywords=4506981&FeedID=941#Apply

Interviews for this vacancy will be conducted virtually and will include a written legal exercise. We will, consider in-person interviews by exception.

To apply for this post, you will be asked to complete the following as part of the online application:    

• A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Provide employment history that relates to the essential criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained. The CV should not exceed more than 2 x A4 pages. 
• A Personal Statement of up to 500 words, explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role in reference to the essential criteria.   

In the event of a large number of applicants, an initial short sift will be conducted based on CV only. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to assessment/interview.  

Sift and Interview Dates

Sift will take place week commencing 13th May 2024 

Interviews will take place week commencing 27th May 2024

Qualifications

Applicants must be qualified to practice as a Solicitor, Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive in England and Wales. You must have completed a training contract/pupillage/qualifying employment or have been exempted from this by the Law Society, the Bar Council or CILEX.

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace

Reasonable Adjustments

We are committed to supporting candidates so they can perform at their best throughout the recruitment process. This includes making reasonable adjustments to our process. In order to request an adjustment: 

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section on the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. 

Alternatively contact the Government Recruitment Service at DBTrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.  

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Candidate Support

You may want to join a virtual Candidate Support Session. These sessions include helpful tips and advice on the recruitment process, from application to interview.  

Please see attached Candidate Pack for further information on: Diversity and Inclusion; Benefits; Learning and Development; Working Patterns and what we deliver as a department.

Further Information:

• A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made. Reserve Lists will be for each location and appointments made in merit order based on location preferences.   
• Any move to the Department for Business and Trade from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments.
• The Department will not consider sponsoring a visa or issuing a Certificate of Sponsorship. We are unable to offer advice on any Visa and Immigration cases.  
• New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.  
• Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty. Any applicant who has details held on the IFD will be refused employment.   
• A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.  
• Terms and Conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.
• Please note – the successful candidate will be expected to remain in post for a minimum of 18 months before being released for another role.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Feedback

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.