Senior Legal Assistant

Birmingham City University; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 39,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Work-life balance - Generous leave &hy

Career development - Growth & progress

Reward & wellbeing - Competitive pay &

Inclusive culture - Supportive,diverse

Job summary

Birmingham City University’s Legal Services and Compliance team is seeking a Senior Legal Assistant to provide day-to-day legal support across the university, including litigation, projects and commercial matters.

The role involves attending meetings, assisting with court/tribunal work, and helping manage litigation budgets, with hybrid working and a focus on delivering high-quality service to internal stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Education to first degree level is desirable.
• A high level of literacy and numeracy.
• Advanced IT skills: Word, Excel, Docusign, SharePoint, PowerPoint.
• Experience delivering high quality customer service in a complex environment.
• Experience working well in a team.
• Clear written and verbal communication with third parties, students and colleagues.
• Ability to manage own time and workload.
• Ability to meet statutory deadlines.

Responsibilities

• Attending court/tribunal/hearings (in office requirement) to support external lawyers.
• Track litigation budgets and expenses with the relevant team member.
• Assist with litigation tasks, including disclosure (in office requirement may be required).
• Support the wider team in providing excellent service to the Legal Services Team and university colleagues.

Skills

Literacy and numeracy

IT skills

Customer service

Teamwork

Communication skills

Time management

Deadline awareness

Education

First degree (desirable)

Job description

Department Legal Services and Compliance Location Joseph Priestley Building Salary £35,331 to £39,002 per annum Permanent Post Type Full Time Release Date 12 August 2026 Closing Date 23.59 hours BST on Wednesday 26 August 2026 Reference G226005

About Birmingham City University

At Birmingham City University, we are a diverse and inclusive learning community of over 31,400 students from more than 120 countries. We aim to become an exemplar anchor institution, creating and sharing knowledge for a better and more inclusive society. We are committed to providing a transformational educational experience, supporting world-class research, and fostering a collaborative and supportive working environment for our staff.

Recognised as one of the UK’s Top 250 employers (Financial Times & Statista), we pride ourselves on being a place where colleagues feel valued, supported, and able to grow their careers while contributing to the success of our students and communities.

Our student demographic reflects the rich cultural and ethnic diversity of Birmingham itself, with a significant proportion of students from minoritised ethnic backgrounds and the majority of our home students coming from the West Midlands. This diversity is a strength, and it calls for a workforce that is equipped to challenge deficit narratives and thinking - those assumptions that position students from underrepresented groups as lacking rather than recognising their assets, strengths and potential.

By embracing this perspective, we aim to create an environment where all students and colleagues can thrive, and where our work contributes positively to the social, cultural and economic life of Birmingham and beyond.

Role Summary

We are seeking an experienced Senior Legal Assistant to support the Legal Services team in delivering a full legal service across the University. This includes day-to-day support with legal advice on a wide range of operational and strategic issues, primarily focused on litigation, projects and commercial matters.

The Senior Legal Assistant will be responsible for attending and representing the legal team both at internal working groups and supporting with attendance at court/tribunal/hearings.

Main activities and responsibilities

• Attending court/tribunal/hearings (in office requirement) to support external lawyers/counsel.
• Supporting to track litigation budgets expenses, disbursements, with the relevant team member/lawyer.
• Supporting internal stakeholders in relation to litigation tasks, such as disclosure (in office requirement may be required)
• Support the wider team to provide excellent service to the Legal Services Team and colleagues across the University when responding to any external request for advice
• Support on wider legal projects and commercial work
• Undertake various legal operational and administrative tasks

Skills and Experience

• Education to first degree level is desirable.
• A high level of literacy and numeracy.
• Reasonable level of IT skills including advanced knowledge of web based solution, word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software packages, preferably Microsoft Word, Excel, Docusign, Sharepoint and PowerPoint.
• Experience of providing high quality customer service in a complex environment.
• Experience of working successfully as part of a team.
• Ability to communicate clearly and in appropriate language with third parties, students and colleagues both orally and in writing.
• Ability to manage own time and workload.
• Ability to work to statutory deadlines.

Further Information

If you are excited by the opportunity to help shape the future of the Legal team, we would love to hear from you.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Gary Dalton, Legal Services Director at [e-mail].

• Work-life balance- Generous leave and hybrid working (role dependent).
• Career development- Opportunities to grow, develop and progress your career.
• Reward and wellbeing- Competitive pay, pension, wellbeingsupportand staff benefits.
• Inclusive culture- A supportive, diverse environment where everyone belongs.

At BCU, we welcome applications that clearly demonstrate how your skills and experience meet the requirements of the role. AI tools may be used to support you in preparing your application, but the information you provide must be accurate, authentic and based on your own experience. Applications that rely too heavily on AI, appear generic or do not provide specific evidence against the role criteria are less likely to progress to the next stage of the recruitment process. For more information, please refer to our candidate guidance;

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and to an environment that supports lawful free speech and academic freedom. We will continuously review and improve our policies, practices, and procedures to ensure that we are promoting these in all aspects of our operations. We believe that by working together, combining our many different backgrounds and life experiences, we will empower each other to reach our full potential.

Disability Confident Employer

Birmingham City University is proud to be a Disability Confident Committed Employer. We are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. Disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role will be guaranteed an interview.

The appointed candidate will normally be employed through our subsidiary company, BCU Support Services Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Birmingham City University. Appointees with prior LGPS membership who wish to re-enter the scheme may do so and will be employed directly by the University.