About the job

Job summary

From energy to security, health to human rights, we help the Government deliver life changing law for citizens.

The Government Legal Department is the largest provider of legal services across government, working on high profile matters that are frequently scrutinised in Parliament and the media. Our work includes:

• Developing and drafting legislation
• Providing legal advice on policies
• Securing our economic and trade relationships
• Ensuring value from commercial contracts worth billions of pounds
• Providing the Civil Service’s employment law advice

We are at the heart of delivering the Government’s priorities and our success depends on our people.

GLD is a non-ministerial government department, sponsored by the Attorney General. We are headed by the Treasury Solicitor, our Permanent Secretary and employ nearly 3000 people, including over 2000 legal professionals. Our offices include London, Leeds, Bristol, Croydon and Manchester as well as overseas. We provide specialist legal services including Litigation, Employment and Commercial Law as well as advising most Government Departments on the policies and services they deliver.

GLD also depends on a range of vital corporate services. These are essential to the smooth and efficient running of the Department and provide the foundation to enable GLD to deliver outstanding legal services. Our corporate functions include Strategy, HR, Finance, Digital, Data and Technology, Communications, Security, Commercial and Project delivery. 

Our vision is to be an outstanding legal organisation and a brilliant place to work where everyone can thrive and fulfil their potential. This is an exciting time for GLD, with cutting edge legal work on global issues and a transformation agenda which is ensuring the Department exemplifies the Modern Civil Service.  

To find out more about what we do visit the Government Legal Department’s webpage or have a look at this short film which showcases the breadth of work government lawyers and legal trainees are involved in.

Job description

About the Group

The work of the Knowledge & Innovation (K&I) Group is core to all our legal work in GLD.

Zane Denton, our Director of Knowledge, leads this group of lawyers, specialists, and administrators whose role is to advance GLD’s Knowledge, Capability and Innovation Strategy (KCI Strategy), which supports all GLD’s broader strategic outcomes and is particularly aligned with the ‘capability’ and ‘professionalise’ outcomes.

The K&I Group’s key areas of responsibility are:

• legal practice innovation and GLD’s broader grass-roots innovation activities.
• legal excellence:
• knowledge development and sharing in all its forms, including via our knowledge systems, both within and across GLD Divisions, with the wider Government Legal Profession (GLP), and with clients.
• legal learning (in partnership with our People Development Team (PDT) based in HR); and
• legal information and library services (including the subscription services (Lexis, etc) we manage on behalf of GLD and the GLP. 

These areas of focus require K&I Group colleagues to be very collaborative and outward looking facilitating and advising communities of practice and on local legal Division activity, as well as driving central initiatives; actively engaging with GLP colleagues; and pro-actively collaborating with the broader legal sector, government, and academia.

The Role

The Legal Learning Team (LLT), within the K&I Group, combines legal, training delivery and development and project delivery experience and expertise to support delivery of GLD’s Knowledge, Capability and Innovation Strategy. 

The LLT’s key areas of responsibility are:

• Legal learning projects and initiatives, enhancing how GLD create and deliver share legal learning to drive improvements in the quality and productivity of our legal work (Legal Excellence).
• Facilitating and supporting GLD’s divisional and cross-departmental legal training sub-committees and other communities to deliver Legal Excellence through the Government Legal Training Programme (GLTP) and Introductory Course for Lawyers (ICFL).

These areas of focus require colleagues to be very collaborative and outward looking: facilitating and advising communities of practice and those involved in legal learning activity and colleagues in the People Development Team, as well as driving central initiatives; actively engaging with GLP colleagues; and pro-actively collaborating with the broader legal sector, government and academia. 

The Legal Training Coordinator reports to the Legal Training Advisor and is responsible for the successful day to day delivery of GLTP training sessions, the ICFL and legal conferences. 

The main activities are likely to include:

• Supporting the ICFL Chairs with the delivery of the ICFL.
• Managing bookings and managing information for GLTP and other legal learning events on the Learning Management system.
• Preparation and circulation of Legal Training communications advising GLD lawyers and other Government Legal Professionals of legal learning events.
• Attending meetings of the Legal Training Sub-Committees to support them in planning for delivery of the GLTP. 
• On-going liaison with Legal Training Sub-Committees and with speakers on the practicalities of delivering the courses, including scheduling sessions, advising on training course format and presentation of content, as required.
• Ensuring feedback on courses is collected, analysed and presented back to members of the Legal Training Sub-Committees and speakers.
• Supporting legal divisions with the practicalities of the delivery of Legal Training conferences.
• Facilitation of in person and online training events.

Person specification

Behaviours

Below are details of the Success Profiles that make up this role.

You will be expected to provide evidence to show how you meet the criteria at interview and/or selection stage.

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

Behaviour: Working Together (lead behaviour / application and interview)

• Developing a range of contacts across GLD and the GLP and identifying opportunities to share knowledge, information and learning with these networks.
• Showing genuine interest and enthusiasm when listening to and interacting with others.
• Offering support and help to colleagues when in need.
• Contributing to an inclusive working environment where all opinions and challenges are listened to and all individual needs are taken into account.
• Ensuring it is clear that bullying, harassment and discrimination are unacceptable.

Behaviour: Communicating and Influencing (application and Interview)

• Communicating clearly and concisely both orally and in writing.
• Taking time to consider the best communication channel to use for the audience including making the best of digital resources and considering value for money.
• Listening to and valuing different ideas, views and ways of working and acting with respect for others.
• Responding constructively and objectively to comments and questions.

Behaviour: Seeing the big picture (application only)

• Understanding how the work of the team supports wider objectives and meetings the diverse needs of stakeholders.
• Focusing on overall goals and not just specific tasks to meet priorities.
• Taking a keen interest in expanding knowledge in areas relating to Legal Training.

Behaviour: Delivering at Pace (interview only)

• Identifying who and what is required to ensure success, setting clear goals and areas of responsibility and continually assessing workloads considering individual needs.
• Following relevant policies, procedures and legislation to complete work.
• Ensuring that colleagues are supported where tasks are challenging.
• Having a positive and focused attitude to achieving outcomes, despite any setbacks.
• Regularly checking performance against objectives, making suggestions for improvement or taking corrective action where necessary.

Experience

Essential Criteria

• Experience of MS Teams, Outlook, PowerPoint, Word and Excel is essential.
• Experience of problem solving and working in a responsive and dynamic way is essential.
• Very good written and oral communication, interpersonal and influencing skills.
• Very good organisational skills, ability to plan work, manage own time and deliver to deadlines.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience of presenting or facilitating online meetings or events.
• Experience of working in a learning and development role
• Experience of designing learning events.
• Experience of electronic knowledge and learning systems.
  

Civil Service Code

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of you and other civil servants. These are based on the core values which are set out in legislation. As a civil servant, you are expected to carry out your role with dedication and a commitment to the Civil Service and its core values of:

• ‘integrity’ is putting the obligations of public service above your own personal interests
• ‘honesty’ is being truthful and open
• 'objectivity’ is basing your advice and decisions on rigorous analysis of the evidence
• ‘impartiality’ is acting solely according to the merits of the case and serving equally well governments of different political persuasions

These core values support good government and ensures the achievement of the highest possible standards in all that the Civil Service does.

For further information about Civil Service recruitment processes and Success profiles, please visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/success-profiles

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £26,733, Government Legal Department contributes £7,217 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, Strengths and Experience.

Application

Applicants must apply online via CS Jobs. On completion of the short form, applicants will be asked to complete a CV which will be scored and assessed. They will also be asked to provide 3x 250-word supporting statements of suitability outlining how they meet each of the criteria for the role– amounting to a maximum total of 750 words.

• Behaviour: Working together (lead behaviour)
• Behaviour: Communicating and influencing
• Behaviour: Seeing the big picture

Your application should demonstrate how you meet the criteria for the post, with relevant examples. It will not be sufficient to reiterate the criteria; you are expected to illustrate how you have met the requirements.

Your application will be sifted by a GLD panel. Should we receive a high number of applications then we may only sift on the lead behaviour and CV. If your application progresses to a full sift, your additional statements will also be considered.

Selection Process

After the closing date, the appointing panel shall assess candidates’ suitability for the role based on evidence provided in their application against the behaviours and experience outlined in the person specification.

Interview

Should you be successful in being invited to interview, you will be assessed on your performance in all essential criteria as listed in the Person Specification, alongside scenario-based exercises and strength-based questions. Candidates invited to interview will be given further information on the day and time to prepare.

• Behaviour: Working together
• Behaviour: Communicating and influencing
• Behaviour: Delivering at pace

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview.

Interviews will take place remotely via video conference, full details of the interview format will be provided to shortlisted candidates prior to interview. The timeline later in this pack indicates the date by which decisions are expected to be made, and all shortlisted candidates will be advised of the outcome as soon as possible thereafter.

Offer

Regardless of the outcome, we will notify all candidates as soon as possible after the final interview.

We appoint in strict order of merit. If you meet the minimum criteria for this position but are not successful for a post, you will be placed on the reserve list for up to 12 months. We then may contact you to see if you are interested in a post at the same, or a lower grade, in GLD should one arise.

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.