Legal Officer

Rainbow Migration; Greater London; Hybride; GBP 43 000 - 48 000; Temps partiel

Résumé du poste

Rainbow Migration is seeking a Legal Officer to advise LGBTQI+ asylum seekers in the UK. You will be a qualified solicitor or barrister with valid practising certificate, or accredited Level 3 IAA, and have two years of asylum advice and legal aid experience.

The role focuses on delivering one-off advice, facilitating referrals to quality legal aid and pro bono lawyers, and providing second tier guidance to peers. Part-time, remote or hybrid options are available.

Qualifications

• Qualified solicitor or barrister with valid practising certificate, or accredited Level 3 IAA.
• Two years’ experience in providing advice and representation in asylum including working in legal aid.

Responsabilités

• Delivering one-off advice to LGBTQI+ people seeking asylum.
• Referral to quality legal aid and pro bono lawyers.
• Providing casework assistance in some individual cases.
• Providing advice (within competence) on other issues affecting asylum and partnership service users.
• Delivering second tier advice to the legal representatives of LGBTQI+ people seeking asylum.

Connaissances

Qualified solicitor or barrister

IAA Level 3 accreditation

Asylum law experience

Legal aid experience

Formation

Qualified solicitor or barrister admission

Description du poste

We are recruiting a Legal Officer to advise and help improve the representation of LGBTQI+ people seeking asylum.

We are looking for a qualified solicitor or barrister with valid practising certificate, or already accredited to Level 3 IAA, with two years’ experience in providing advice and representation in asylum including working in legal aid.

You will be responsible for the day-to-day delivery of the legal advice service. Under the guidance of our Legal Service Manager, you will also build capacity amongst legal representatives by designing and delivering training and giving second tier advice

This is a unique opportunity to build on your experience as a lawyer/IAA advisor to improve representation across the sector. You will be supported to develop as a specialist in LGBTQI+ asylum.

Responsibilities will include:

• Delivering one-off advice to LGBTQI+ people seeking asylum
• Working with colleagues to refer service users to quality legal aid and pro bono lawyers
• Providing casework assistance in some individual cases
• Providing advice (within competence) on other issues affecting asylum and partnership service users
• Delivering second tier advice to the legal representatives of LGBTQI+ people seeking asylum

You will not be providing direct legal representation of service users. However, the role includes substantive advice and casework within the scope of legal support and referrals for our service users, as well as merits testing and second tier advice.

Rainbow Migration’s vision is that LGBTQI+ people can settle in the UK and lead fulfilling lives.

Diversity, inclusion and anti-oppression

At Rainbow Migration, we don’t just accept difference – we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on it. We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and do not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, or disability status. We consider all qualified applicants, consistent with any legal requirements.

We strive to build a team that reflects the diversity of the community we work in. We are also reviewing what we do and how we do it through an anti-oppression and anti-racism lens and investing in being more informed and led by LGBTQI+ people who have sought asylum.

We welcome applications from candidates who have been through the UK asylum system and people of colour, who are currently underrepresented among our staff in relation to our service users.

We offer a guaranteed interview scheme for anyone considered as disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if they meet the necessary criteria in the person specification.

To support candidates during the interview process, we send a selection of questions in advance. You are welcome to bring notes with you and also take notes in interviews to help process information. If your interview is online, we can also put questions in the meeting chat. If your interview is in person, we will send details of how to get to the building from both local tube stations and a video showing the interview space. Please let us know if we can make other adjustments to support your interview process.

Role overview

Contract type: Permanent

Hours: Part-time (21 hours per week). Occasional work in the evenings and at weekends may be required but with plenty of notice. Rainbow Migration encourages staff to maintain a good work life balance and has a TOIL system in place.

Salary: Starting at £43,078, with a potential step increase each year up to £48,110 (pro-rata), plus statutory employer’s pension contribution. We also try to give a separate inflationary increase every April.

Location: Remote or from Rainbow Migration’s step-free offices which are based in London between Vauxhall and the Oval. Hybrid working will also be considered and can be agreed with the line manager as per our hybrid working policy. The successful candidate could work from anywhere in the UK but would be expected to occasionally travel to London and other parts of the country for meetings and events. At the time of posting this advert, none of our staff are going into the office every day. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Annual Leave: Initially 25 days per year. After two years of employment, this will increase by one day per year up to a maximum of 28 days (pro rata if working part-time).