Legal Adviser

Ofsted is looking for a skilled and motivated Legal Adviser to join our Legal Services team. This is an exciting opportunity to work at the heart of a high‑profile organisation, providing expert legal advice that supports our vital regulatory and inspection functions.

The Legal Services team provides expert legal and professional advice across all aspects of Ofsted’s work. We are a supportive, collaborative group of specialists working across a broad range of law, including public law, judicial review, children’s social care law, education law, and litigation relevant to Ofsted’s regulatory role.

You will be confident working across a range of legal issues, able to manage competing priorities, and comfortable collaborating with colleagues and external partners. In this role, you will provide or commission accurate, timely and cost‑effective legal services to support Ofsted’s work, applying sound judgement and clear communication to help the organisation make robust, well‑informed decisions while delivering positive outcomes for children and learners.

This is a fantastic opportunity to further your experience in Ofsted’s well-established team. The post holder will work with high-achieving professionals at all levels, surrounded by a friendly and supportive team. They will have access to amazing benefits, such as flexible working hours, the Civil Service Pension Scheme, and 32.5 days annual leave + 8 bank holidays. We offer a hybrid working model, so you may also choose to spend a proportion of time working from home.

Please refer to the job specification for further information.

Qualified Solicitor or Barrister with three years post qualification experience.

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.

Application and shortlisting

The selection panel will assess your application/personal statement explaining how you meet the essential and, where applicable, desirable criteria outlined in the job description and person specification.

You will also be asked to provide information within the “Employer/Activity History” section of the application form. This information is equivalent to the information you would provide on a CV setting out your career history (this may be used in the sifting process).

Assessment and interview

Candidates who pass the benchmark at the shortlisting stage will be invited to an interview where you will be assessed against a combination of the the Civil Service behaviours and the technical/experience skills set out in section 3 of the job specification.

Assessment and interviews will be held during the week commencing 28 September 2026 via Microsoft Teams.

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