Senior Lawyer

The Electoral Commission; Cardiff; Hybrid; GBP 71,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading public body seeks a Senior Lawyer to oversee a team and contribute to significant legal reforms in electoral services across the UK. This challenging role involves advising on complex legislation and managing legal practices to ensure the Commission meets its obligations effectively and lawfully.

Benefits

Civil Service Pension Scheme

Flexible working hours

Learning & development opportunities

28 days annual leave plus bank holidays

Home working allowance

Qualifications

• Significant experience in advisory work, statutory interpretation, and public law.
• Experience managing staff performance to deliver high-quality service.
• Strong legal analytical skills.

Responsibilities

• Leading and managing a team of lawyers.
• Contributing to the UK-wide electoral reform agenda.
• Advising on electoral law during political events.

Skills

Advisory work

Statutory interpretation

Public law

People management

Job description

Job Title: Senior Lawyer
Directorate: Devolution and Law
Starting salary: D2 - Senior Lawyer Band: £71,654

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 & Permanent: This role works on a hybrid basis which requires a minimum of 2 days office attendance (40%).
Location: London, Cardiff, Belfast, or Edinburgh (for those based outside London, regular travel to London will be required).

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, and endless opportunities for personal development 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 Legal 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.

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 the Head of Legal, a Legal Management Team of Senior Lawyers, Lawyers, and a Legal Officer.

We are currently seeking a Senior Lawyer to join the Electoral Commission’s Legal Management Team.

As well as being responsible for leading and managing a team of lawyers, the successful candidate will be responsible for leading the Commission’s legal contribution to the UK-wide electoral reform agenda and the ambitious and exciting plan of work under the Commission’s new Corporate Plan. They will also lead the legal support we provide to ensure the Commission’s compliance with its wider legal obligations as a public body.

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 introduces performance-based pay progression depending on performance. Eligibility for the 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 range below shows the current pay progression for this role, in addition to any annual inflationary increase to your pay.

The D2-Senior Lawyer Band starts at £71,654 and goes up to £84,951.

Other Benefits

Alongside your salary of £71,654, the Electoral Commission contributes an additional £20,758 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 is 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 a norm of 40% of their time in the office.

The Role

The role will involve:

• Leading and managing a team of Lawyers.
• Contributing to the delivery and development of the legal service as part of the Legal Management Team.
• Leading the legal contribution to the cross-UK electoral reform agenda and the Commission’s new Corporate Plan, including working on proposed legislation and its implementation, and legal-led policy development.
• Leading the Legal Team’s advice and support in relation to the Commission’s wider legal obligations as a public body, including in relation to information law, procurement, contracts, and employment matters.
• Advising on electoral law including during major political events such as UK Parliamentary General Elections, local elections, PC elections, mayoral elections, referendums, and elections for the devolved parliaments.
• Advising on regulatory decisions and enforcement action affecting political parties and campaigners.

Since the Commission operates in a niche area, we do not require or expect candidates to have experience of electoral law, but significant experience of advisory work, statutory interpretation, and public and administrative law will be essential. People and project management skills will also be essential.

Who we are looking for

To be eligible to apply, you must be fully entitled to practice in England and Wales under the rules of the Law Society or Bar Council.

To be successful in this role, your skills and experience will need to include:

• Substantial experience of advisory work, statutory interpretation, administrative and public law and ideally some knowledge of legislative drafting or implementation, and litigation.
• Experience of managing staff performance to deliver a high-quality service.
• Experience of advising senior decision makers and assisting them in reaching sound decisions.
• Strong legal analytical skills, sound public law knowledge base, and the ability confidently and effectively to interpret and apply new and complex legislation.
• A willingness to respond flexibly to the needs of colleagues in a fast-evolving organisation.

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 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.

Closing date is Tuesday 8 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, and shortlisted candidates will also be asked to undertake a written assessment.

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

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact: [e-mail]

No Agencies please.