Legal Adviser Office for Students

Job summary

Legal Adviser

London or Bristol

£56,209 - £58,820 + £5,000 allowance (and London weighting of £3,566 where appropriate) plus generous Civil Service defined benefit pension

Develop your legal expertise in an organisation that’s shaping policy and regulation

The challenge

Make a real difference to the lives of students by bringing your legal skills to the Office for Students (OfS).

As the independent regulator of higher education in England, we ensure the best experience and the best value – for students, for taxpayers, for the economy and for the public good. This is an opportunity to grow your legal expertise by working across our diverse and rapidly evolving organisation on a wide range of regulatory and corporate issues.

Job description

The role

You’ll lead on provision of legal advice and support for a broad range of legal matters. As well as advising on precedent-setting matters of higher education and public law, you can expect a varied and evolving caseload, where you will advise on matters of consumer protection, charity law, human rights, data protection and information law.

Expect to work collaboratively with internal legal and policy colleagues, as well as external legal support.

Responsibilities may include:

Acting on a wide range of legal matters running in parallel – providing advice and support on the following legal areas and topics:

• Legislation applying to the higher education sector including the Higher Education and Research Act 2017

• Data protection and information law, including legislation implementing the GDPR and the Freedom of information Act 2000

• Legal topics relevant to decision making and supporting processes, such as public law principles, statutory duties and considerations, the delegation of functions and equalities legislation

• Human rights law

• Charity law

• The law relating to defamation

• Managing the conduct of litigation activities, such as judicial review proceedings, statutory appeals and regulatory investigations (including the use of dawn raid powers);

• Consumer protection law

• The use of the OfS’s enforcement and information gathering powers;

• The regulatory framework and registration conditions that apply to higher education providers.

Supporting the Legal Senior Leadership Team and other senior lawyers in operating the legal function within the OfS

• Commissioning external legal support (including Counsel)

• Fees are negotiated with external legal and other support service providers and Barristers’ clerks in or‐ der to ensure value for money

• Lead on the production of internal guidance documents on key legal and regulatory issues to a high standard

• Training for the legal team is organised in line with professional CPD requirements

External and internal stakeholder management

• Working closely with the Legal Senior Leadership Team and senior lawyers in the team to deliver the objectives of the OfS

• An understanding of senior leadership team objectives, concerns and aspirations is developed

• Engages with internal and external stakeholders, including by building on proven experience of developing and maintaining productive relationships with key internal stakeholders, eg heads of teams, policy leads

• Knowledge development

• An expert knowledge and understanding of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 is developed

• A thorough knowledge and understanding of the work and operations of the OfS is established

Person specification

About you

This role would suit a qualified solicitor or barrister with a strong interest in public law and regulatory issues, and a flexible, creative approach. Excellent written and spoken communication and presentation skills are essential, including the ability to influence and negotiate.

While your legal career to date may have been in a different sector, you will have directly transferable regulatory and/or public law experience. We offer a supportive environment that enables you to get up to speed, but you will need experience in at least two of the following areas:

• Working on litigation cases involving judicial review and/or regulatory appeals;

• The interpretation of regulatory rules such as licence conditions

• The interpretation and application of sector-specific legislation which relates to a regulatory body

• Investigation and enforcement in a regulatory context

For the purposes of recruitment to the role, we are measuring the following core competencies:

Seeing the big picture

Level 2: Managing and influencing others

• I am aware of emerging trends and issues that might impact or benefit my area of work
• I seek to develop my knowledge of how my own/my team’s work interacts with others’, to support their contribution to the OfS’s regulatory objectives.
• I actively seek out and take account of the views of others whose perspectives are different to my own.
• I seek to contribute and develop my work activities, so they align effectively to the OfS’s regulatory objectives and strategy.
• I can work with the functions granted to the OfS through legislation.
• I can describe the current regulatory environment in which the higher education sector in England operates.

Making effective decisions

Level 3: Managing and influencing complex team or project relationships

• I empower colleagues to make effective decisions.

• I recognise my own biases and assumptions and manage them to make better decisions.

• I actively weigh up information from a range of sources, identifying advantages, disadvantages, risks and impacts to make decisions that take account of the wider organisational, political and regulatory context.

• I encourage innovative suggestions and challenge from others, to support informed decision making.

• I use sound judgment in drawing on legal advice and public consultation approaches, wherever necessary and appropriate.

Delivering at pace

Level 2: Managing and influencing others

• I promote the importance of following the appropriate procedures to ensure results are achieved on time and are of the right quality.

• I regularly monitor my own and my team’s progress against milestones, ensuring individual needs are considered when setting tasks.

• I act promptly to reassess workloads and priorities when there are conflicting demands to be resolved.

• I show a positive approach to keeping the team’s efforts focused on top priorities.

Communicating and influencing

Level 3: Managing and influencing complex team or project relationships

• I actively deploy different methods for influencing others, including making the most of digital resources to respond to different learning styles.

• I act as a role model to others by communicating with clarity, honesty, and enthusiasm to build trust.

• I am open-minded and impartial in discussion so I can adjust my arguments to respect the diverse interests and opinions of others.

• I deliver difficult messages with clarity and sensitivity.

• I can articulate arguments and reasons in a clear and persuasive manner.

Collaborating and partnering

Level 2: Managing and influencing others:

• I seek information, resources, and support as appropriate from others across the OfS, to help achieve results.

• I invest time to develop an OfS common focus and team spirit where colleagues feel valued and respect one another.

• I take responsibility for creating an OfS working environment that encourages collaboration, diversity, and inclusion.

• I actively seek and consider input of people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives.

Developing self and others

Level 2: Managing and influencing others

• I identify gaps in my and my team’s skills, capability and knowledge and look for opportunities for development.
• I promote inclusiveness by respecting different personal needs in the team and using these to develop others.
• I ensure development objectives are set and achieved to address gaps and enable delivery of the OfS’s work as it evolves into the future.
• I reflect on my own work, continuously seeking and acting on feedback to improve my and my team’s performance.

Changing and improving

Level 2: Managing and influencing others

• I encourage ideas from a wide range of sources and interested groups and use these to inform my thinking.
• I prepare for and respond appropriately to the range of possible effects that change may have on my role and that of my team.
• I can clearly explain the reasons for change to colleagues and how to implement them, supporting individuals with different needs to adapt to change.
• I evaluate the impact of activities in relation to the OfS’s objectives and priorities.

Managing a quality service

Level 2: Managing and influencing others

• I keep teams across the OfS, stakeholders and partners informed of plans and possibilities.
• I understand and manage the risks and costs of providing for our stakeholders in my own area of work.
• I establish channels to seek and respond to feedback from stakeholders.
• I develop, implement, maintain, and review systems / services to ensure delivery of professional excellence.

Reasonable adjustment

We are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is accessible to everyone. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support you through the application stage, please contact us at recruitmentteam@officeforstudents.org.uk and we will be happy to help.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £56,209, Office for Students contributes £16,283 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

Working for us

The OfS regulates the higher education sector on behalf of all students. We value diversity and the wealth of perspectives, experience and ideas that it brings to our work, and we strive to embed equality of opportunity in everything we do.

We recruit based on fair and open competition and welcome applications from candidates regardless of age, disability, race and ethnicity, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

Flexibility is important to the OfS, as we recognise that it can enable people to work more effectively. A set of organisation-wide principles shape our approach to flexible and hybrid working, which our teams then use as guidance on how they deliver their business goals. This would usually mean working from the office for two or three days in a typical week.

To attract the widest possible field of qualified applicants, flexible working, for example job share and part time working apply to this role.

Closing date for applications: 30 March 2026

Interviews: From 13 April 2026

For information: the OfS does not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker Sponsor Licence.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Recruitment Team
• Email : RecruitmentTeam@officeforstudents.org.uk
• Telephone : 0117 931 7444

Recruitment team

• Email : RecruitmentTeam@officeforstudents.org.uk

Further information

Careers - Office for Students

Attachments

Why work for the OfS Feb 2026 Opens in new window (pdf, 425kB)