Lawyer

The Electoral Commission; London; On-site; GBP 59,000 - 62,000; Full time

Job summary

The Electoral Commission seeks two Lawyers to join its Legal Team, providing high-quality legal advice on electoral law and regulatory issues. This hybrid-role offers a competitive salary with benefits such as flexible working, ample annual leave, and a robust pension scheme. Applicants should be entitled to practice in England and Wales and have experience in advisory work, public law, or similar fields.

Benefits

Flexible working hours

Civil Service pension scheme

Working from home allowance

28 days annual leave plus bank holidays

Learning and professional development opportunities

Qualifications

• Experience of advisory work, statutory interpretation, and administrative law essential.
• Strong legal analytical skills required.

Responsibilities

• Advising on electoral law during major political events.
• Working on proposed legislation and new legislation implementation.
• Advising on information law, procurement, contracts, and employment issues.

Skills

Legal analytical skills

Public law knowledge

Statutory interpretation

Education

Entitlement to practice in England and Wales

Job description

Job Title: Lawyer x 2
Directorate: Devolution and Law
Starting salary band:

• D2 grade: £59,971 - £61,020 per annum depending on skills, experience and qualification.
• Staff with the London Office as their work location will attract a London weighting allowance of £3,217 on top of their base salary.

Full time and permanent: This role is on a hybrid basis which requires a minimum of 2 days office attendance (40%).

Location: London, Cardiff, Belfast or Edinburgh.

Working at the Electoral Commission

The Electoral Commission is the independent body which oversees elections and regulates political finance in the UK. We work to promote public confidence in the democratic process and to ensure its integrity. The Commission is directly accountable to the UK Parliament, Scottish Parliament and the Senedd.

We offer excellent terms and conditions, including flexible working hours and the opportunity to join the Civil Service pension arrangements, fantastic office space, extensive personal development opportunities and continuous learning.

The Commission operates a system of flexible and hybrid working and has offices in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. While most of the team are based in London, it would be possible for the successful candidate to carry out this role from any of the Commission’s offices and we would welcome applications from dual qualified lawyers who are able to practice in Scotland as well as England & Wales.

We are currently seeking two full time, or equivalent, Lawyers to join the Commission’s Legal Team.

As a statutory body, the Commission relies on its Legal Team for high quality legal advice to advance its objectives and ensure it exercises its functions lawfully. The team is currently comprised of a Head of Legal, a Legal Management Team of Senior Lawyers, Lawyers and a Legal Officer.

This is an exciting time to be joining the Commission. Our work is high-profile and varied with electoral reform, the regulation of parties and candidates, and devolution all being hot topics across the whole of the UK. The work is interesting, intellectually challenging and varied.

Pay Progression

The Commission is about to launch a new Pay Structure in July 2025 which will introduce performance based pay progression. Eligibility for performance based pay progression in April of the following year is dependent on having completed the required six months service at the progression rating date (31 January). The new structure allows the potential for pay progression on top of any inflationary increase for staff. The D2 Band starts at £59,971 and goes up to £71,100. Please note that the starting salary for new Lawyers is £59,971 - £61,020 per annum depending on skills, experience and qualification.

Other Benefits

Assuming a salary of £59,971, the Electoral Commission contributes an additional £17,373 of your basic salary towards you being a member of the Civil Service Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides and the conditions involved.

The Electoral Commission offers a competitive mix of benefits including:

• A culture of flexible working, such as flexi scheme, homeworking and compressed hours.
• Automatic enrolment into the Civil Service Pension Scheme, with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
• A working from home allowance of £312 per annum paid as a tax free working from home allowance.
• A minimum of 28 days of paid annual leave, plus 8 bank holidays, increasing up to a maximum of 30 days after 4 years.
• An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities which all staff are actively encouraged to pursue.
• Eye care vouchers, Ride 2 Work and an opportunity to sell up to 5 days annual leave at the end of the annual leave period.
• A hybrid office/home based working model where staff will spend at least 40% of their time in the office.

The Role

The role will involve:

• advising on electoral law including during major political events such as UK Parliamentary General Elections, local elections, PCC elections, mayoral elections, referendums and elections for the devolved parliaments
• advising on regulatory decisions and enforcement action affecting political parties and campaigners
• working on proposed legislation and the implementation of new legislation and
• advising on the Commission’s wider legal obligations as a public body including in relation to information law, procurement, contracts and employment matters.

Since the Commission operates in a niche area, we do not require or expect candidates to have experience of electoral law but experience of advisory work, statutory interpretation and public and administrative law will be essential. You will be supported by one of the Senior Lawyers and receive training in role.

Who we are looking for

To be successful in this role, you will need to:

• be fully entitled to practice in England and Wales under the rules of the Law Society or Bar Council
• have experience of advisory work, statutory interpretation and administrative and public law
• have strong legal analytical skills, a sound public law knowledge base and the ability confidently and effectively to interpret and apply new and complex legislation.

For a full list of competencies, please refer to the job description and person specification.

More information on how to apply

Please ensure that your supporting statement sets out how your skills and experience meet the criteria for the role as set out in the person specification.

To remove bias from our recruitment process the Electoral Commission operates anonymous recruitment. Please apply by supplying an anonymous CV, without reference to your name, age, ethnicity or other identifiable information. Failure to supply an anonymous CV will result in your application being rejected.

We want to attract the broadest range of talented people who are passionate about democracy. The more diverse our workforce, the better we can adapt to and reflect the needs of society. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and as a staff member you will become part of an inclusive culture, where you will have the opportunity to achieve your full potential and enhance your career through learning and development.

The closing date is Wednesday 9 July 2025 at 23:59 although we reserve to close the advert earlier if we receive a high volume of interest so please don’t delay applying if interested.

Interviews for shortlisted candidates will be held shortly thereafter, most likely during the week commencing Monday 28 July.

Shortlisted candidates will also be asked to undertake a written assessment.

If you are interested in applying for this role please read the job description before applying online.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact [e-mail].
No agencies please.