Head of Information Rights

BBC; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 115,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading broadcasting corporation seeks a Head of Legal to oversee the Information Rights team. This role involves managing legal advice on Freedom of Information and media law, ensuring compliance and providing guidance to journalists. The ideal candidate will have significant experience in law, preferably with a strong focus on complex FOI issues and media law. This position offers a permanent full-time contract with opportunities for hybrid working.

Benefits

Flexible working options

Qualifications

• Significant experience in advising on complex Freedom of Information matters.
• Strong background in media law and excellent problem-solving skills.
• Experience advising clients in urgent situations.

Responsibilities

• Manage the FOI legal and compliance teams.
• Provide pre-transmission advice on media law.
• Supervise legal advice on appeals to the ICO.

Skills

Advising on Freedom of Information matters

Managing a team

Defamation advice

Privacy law expertise

Analytical skills

Education

Qualified solicitor or barrister with minimum 7 years PQE

Minimum 7 years PQE

Job description

JOB DETAILS

JOB BAND : F

CONTRACT TYPE : Permanent Full-time.

JOB TITLE : In-house title is Head of Legal.

DEPARTMENT : Information Rights BBC Legal.

LOCATION : London based role with some hybrid working currently Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday.

PROPOSED SALARY RANGE : 115000 - 125000pa depending on relevant skills knowledge and experience. The expected salary range for this role reflects internal benchmarking and external market insights.

Were happy to discuss flexible working. If youd like to please indicate your preference in the application though theres no obligation to do so now. Flexible working will be part of the discussion at offer stage.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

Join the BBC Legal team for this exciting new role in Information Rights. We are looking for an experiencedlawyertotake management responsibilityfor the Information Rights team. You will also act as a legal adviser on content matters as part of the Programme Legal Advice team : spending approximately 50 per cent of time with each team.

In this role you will have overall management responsibility for the teams providing legal advice and compliance in relation to Freedom of Information and SARs. You will also undertake pre transmission legal advisory work on BBC content. This will include supporting journalists gain access to information and potentially participating in a news duty roster including out of usual business hours as experience is gained.

WHY JOIN THE TEAM

The FOI legal and compliance teams areresponsible for responding to approximately 1800 FOI requests received by the BBC each year as well as Subject Access Requests. They alsoadvise on the BBCs obligations under the Freedom of Information Actincluding conducting internal reviews responding to ICO complaints or tribunal proceedings or occasionally proceedings in the High Court and beyond.

The roles sits within theBBC LegalDivision which is responsible for providing legal advice and assistance acrossthe BBC and for developing and implementing the BBCs legal strategy. The Legal Division is led by the BBCs General Counsel. It is made up of the following departments : General Counsels Office Litigation and Information Rights Intellectual Property Employment ProgrammeLegal Advice Commercial Data Protection and Technology Distributionand Competition and Regulatory Law.

Our overall structure is similar to that found in private practice firms and we provide advice and support on a wide range of matters. Whilst this means the work can be challenging and fast-paced at times we are open to hybrid ways of working to support our staff where appropriate and in line with our flexible working policies.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES AND IMPACT

If you want to find out more about us

• Manage the FOI legal and compliance teams
• Supervise the provision of advice on FOI and Sarsat all levels across the BBC Group including the conduct of appeals to the ICO and Information tribunal
• Work effectively with other team members within the Litigationand Information RightsDepartment and the wider legal team to provide a first class legal service.
• Working in the Programme Legal Advice team you will provide pre-transmission advice on defamation contempt privacy and other aspects of media law to journalists and content producers across the BBC. This will potentially include occasional participation in our duty lawyer service providing 24 / 7 support for BBC News outlets.
• You will also support BBC journalism by challenging reporting restrictions and applying to courts and other bodies seeking access to and the right to report information.

YOUR SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA :

• Significant experience in advising on complex Freedom of information matters including up to Tribunallevel as well as experience in advising pre-publication on defamation privacy and contempt.
• Qualified as a solicitor or barrister in a leading law firm or chambers with a minimum of 7 yearsPQE and possess a strong academic background and excellent problemsolving and analytical skills.
• Line Management - you will have the skills required to manage a team and great interpersonal skills.
• Proven experience of advising clients directly and in sometimes urgent circumstances.
• The ability to understand the varied needs of clients across the BBC and to advise and communicate with them on legal and other matters.

If you can bring these skills and experience along with transferable strengths wed love to hear from you and encourage you to apply.

Before your start date you may need to disclose any unspent convictions or police charges in line with our Contracts of Employment policy. This allows us to discuss any support you may need and assess any risks. Failure to disclose may result in the withdrawal of your offer.