Director of Legal Services

Serious Fraud Office (UK); London; Hybrid; GBP 135,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a Director of Legal Services to join their executive team in London. This pivotal role involves providing strategic legal advice, leading a motivated workforce, and ensuring organizational compliance with legal standards. The successful candidate will enhance relationships with legal stakeholders and oversee the development of legal strategies. With a focus on risk management and assurance, this position offers a unique opportunity to shape the legal landscape within a key governmental organization. If you are a dynamic leader with a passion for law and public service, this role is for you.

Benefits

Civil Service Pension Scheme

Generous Annual Leave

Discretionary Performance Bonus

Interest-free Travel Loan

Learning and Development Opportunities

Flexible Working Arrangements

Eye Care Voucher

Access to Discounts through CSSC

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in legal practice and leadership roles.
• Ability to provide legal advice on complex cases.

Responsibilities

• Lead legal services and provide strategic legal advice.
• Oversee professional development of legal staff.

Skills

Legal Expertise

Leadership

Stakeholder Engagement

Risk Management

Education

Law Degree

Professional Legal Qualification

Job description

Join to apply for the Director of Legal Services role at Serious Fraud Office (UK)

3 days ago Be among the first 25 applicants

Join to apply for the Director of Legal Services role at Serious Fraud Office (UK)

Get AI-powered advice on this job and more exclusive features.

The role will be based at our offices at 2-4 Cockspur Street, London, SW1Y 5BS, in central London. Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas. Informal hybrid working arrangements apply and there is an expectation that staff will attend the office regularly. Work pattern and office attendance will be agreed with successful candidates.

Job Summary

The Director of Legal Services (DLS) is a key member of the Serious Fraud Office’s Executive Team and the SFO Board. The DLS is an organisational leader and is responsible, as the most senior legal professional in the organisation, for the provision of legal advice to the Director and for enhancing the SFO’s relationships with legal stakeholders to deliver the SFO’s strategy. The DLS also has responsibility for leadership and oversight of organisational risk and assurance.

Job Description

As a Director of Legal Services you will be responsible for:

• Providing clear and visible leadership across the SFO to build an engaged and motivated workforce through role modelling the SFO’s and Civil Service values and behaviours, and operating as an inclusive and visible leader;
• Being accountable for the provision of legal advice to the Director, both criminal and civil, and bringing legal expertise to the most complex and highest risk cases;
• Developing and implementing the SFO’s legal strategy, including engagement of stakeholders within the legal sector to deliver the SFO’s organisational strategy;
• Overseeing the professional development of SFO lawyers as Head of the Legal Profession in the SFO;
• Being accountable for the Legal Services budget;
• Implementing and driving organisational initiatives throughout the SFO as a senior and strategic leader;
• Leading and developing the SFO’s understanding and response to organisational risk and assurance;
• Leading and developing the SFO’s operational policy and procedure, including case evaluation and review processes.

Please see the attached Job Description for more information about the role.

Person specification

See Above And Attached Job Description.

Security Clearance Required: Currently have or prepared to undertake DV security clearance.

Alongside your salary of £135,000, Serious Fraud Office contributes £39,109 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Option to join the Civil Service pension scheme. For further details, click here here.

Generous annual leave provision of 25 days which increases to 30 days after five years’ service plus an additional day in recognition of the King’s Birthday and the option to buy or sell up to five days’ leave per year. Different terms may apply if you are already a Civil Servant.

Discretionary performance-related bonus scheme.

Interest-free season travel ticket, bicycle loan and cycle to work scheme.

Access to the Rental Deposit Salary Advance Scheme which assists employees in meeting the costs of deposits for privately rented homes.

Opportunities for learning and development.

Flexible working arrangements and family-friendly policies.

Voucher for eye care and discounted spectacles.

Access to a range of discounts through membership of the Civil Service Sports and Social Club, CSSC Sports and Leisure. http://www.cssc.co.uk/

Maternity and paternity leave provision over and above the statutory entitlements.

Access to My CPS Rewards Gateway. My CPS Rewards offers staff a range of rewards and savings including:

• Discounts with high street retailers
• Savings on grocery shopping at a range of supermarkets
• Special salary sacrifice and recognition schemes
• Reloadable gift cards and e-cards
• Instant vouchers

Any move to the Serious Fraud Office from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/

Selection process details

To apply for this role, please provide the following documents:

• An up-to-date CV. Please submit a PDF document labelled ‘CV’ with your name and the role title.
• A supporting statement. Please submit a PDF document (maximum two pages) that outlines your interest in SFO and this role, and your fit against the essential experience criteria set out in the person specification and role description. Please label this document ‘Supporting Statement’ with your name and the role title.
• A completed diversity monitoring form on the application link.

If you want to know more about the role or selection process, please contact Richard Grayling or James Greengrass from our Executive Search partners, Green Park by emailing [e-mail] or [e-mail]

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

This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is developed vetting. See our vetting charter. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard 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)
• 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.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code 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. The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. We run a Disability Confident Scheme 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. The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition. The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. We run a Disability Confident Scheme for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants at risk of redundancy.

Diversity and Inclusion: The Civil Service is committed to attracting, retaining, and investing in talent wherever it is found. To learn more, see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy. This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

• Name: Richard Grayling
• Email: [e-mail]

Recruitment team

• Email: [e-mail]

Seniority level

• Executive

Employment type

• Full-time

Job function

• Legal
• Law Enforcement

Referrals increase your chances of interviewing at Serious Fraud Office (UK) by 2x

Get notified about new Director of Legal Services jobs in London, England, United Kingdom.