Employment Lawyer

This is a new standalone role to provide expert legal advice and support on all employment law matters within the organisation, advising on compliance with UK employment law and mitigating associated legal risks across the business. This role will primarily be working with the Human Resources Division. The postholder will also develop and maintain strong working relationships with Government Legal Department (GLD).

Legal Advice & Compliance

• Advise HR and leadership teams on employment law issues including contracts, policies, disciplinary actions, grievances, redundancies, and restructures.
• Advise on compliance with evolving UK employment legislation and workplace regulations.
• Monitor and interpret regulatory changes and communicate implications to stakeholders.

Contracts & Documentation

• Drafting, reviewing, and updating employment contracts and reviewing, and providing legal input to, template letters, staff handbooks, and any related documentation.
• Negotiate and prepare settlement agreements and severance packages.

Transactions and Dispute Resolution

• Advise on transactional work in connection with employment aspects of the Department.
• Manage Employment Tribunal claims and other employment-related disputes.
• Liaise with external counsel and oversee litigation strategy when necessary.

Strategic Support

• Provide employment law input on mergers, acquisitions, and organisational changes.
• Identify potential legal risks in workforce decisions and propose mitigation strategies.

Training & Development

• Coordinate, arrange and deliver training sessions to HR and management, translating employment law into practical day-to-day application.
• Support internal investigations and compliance initiatives.

Other

From time to time, the post holder may be required to advise generally on the wider activities of the organisation which may cover:

• public law matters;
• public procurement law matters;
• international agreements governing the provision of export credits and public international law matters;
• information law, including the Freedom of Information Act and the Environmental Information Regulations requests and the UK GDPR

This list is not exhaustive, and you may be required to carry out additional duties according to business needs.

o Qualified to practice law in England & Wales as a solicitor or barrister (A)

o A 2.1 degree in law or other subject (A)

o Must hold LPC, BVC or equivalent (A)

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)

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

We are assessing candidates using Success Profiles (see Appendix 1) and across the whole process we will assess your Experience, Technical and Behaviours as highlighted below.

The application must be completed by 23.55 on the day of the closing date for it to be accepted.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Please ensure that you read through the Candidate Information Pack attached to this advert, before applying.

All applications will be sifted against our essential criteria outlined in the personal specification.

• Qualifications: Qualified to practice law in England & Wales as a solicitor or barrister (A)
• CV

For the initial sift your application will be evaluated against:

• Experience - CV

If you are successful following the sift stage, you will be invited to an initial technical interview, to be held via MS Teams; this will include the following assessment:

• Technical - you will be assessed across your technical expertise and acumen, in relation to the essential criteria Questions - this will be questions to assess your suitability for the role in relation to the requirements of the role.

If you are successful following the initial technical interview, you will be invited to a panel interview, to be held onsite at 1 Horse Guards Road; this will include the following assessment:

• Behaviours/Experience - a formal panel interview where you will be interviewed across all five behaviours highlighted in Appendix 1.
• Technical - you will be assessed across your technical expertise and acumen, in relation to the essential criteria Presentation - this will be a topic agreed by UKEF and provided to relevant candidates in advance of their interview.

Details of interview panel members will be e-mailed to all successful candidates who are invited for interview.

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