Legal Counsel

Job summary

We are looking for lawyers with a background in PFI (Private Finance Initiative)/ PPP (Public-Private Partnerships) or analogous experience to be an integral part of the Contract Expiry Unit. Those individuals will have the ability to lead the legal/commercial aspects on a number of expiry projects within the wider programme, working closely with technical and financial colleagues on those projects. Successful candidates will also be able to contribute to the strategic direction of DfE’s Expiry Programme and help to formulate and improve DfE’s approach to the many issues and challenges arising.

Job description

Job Responsibilities

Expiry projects

• Working alongside other members of the legal team to ensure effective management of legal/commercial support across the Expiry Programme and on individual expiry projects with the aim of providing a consistent approach as far as possible across all expiry projects.
• Taking a lead role in delivering legal/commercial advice internally across a number of expiry projects working with technical and financial colleagues as part of a multi-disciplinary team.
• Contributing to providing strategic and commercial assistance to local authorities and other public sector stakeholders involved in expiring PFI (Private Finance Initiative) contracts within the sector.
• Effectively managing issues and risks across a portfolio of expiring PFI (Private Finance Initiative) projects, escalating where necessary to senior colleagues within the legal team.
• Working alongside technical and financial colleagues in negotiations with equity holders on individual projects and across an equity holder’s portfolio in the education sector.
• Working with technical colleagues to consider the condition related items identified in a condition survey and the contractual mechanisms available to the local authority which may assist the commercial negotiations with the private sector on a particular issue.

Legacy estate (pre BSF, BSF and PF2)

• Provide ad hoc advice to contracting authorities, academy trusts/schools, faith bodies, as part of DfE’s mandate to provide advice and support on the DfE’s portfolio of operational projects.
• Provide ad hoc advice to the contract management unit on DfE’s PF2 projects (46 schools across 5 PF2 contracts).

General

• Contributing to providing ad hoc advice to queries raised by DfE colleagues in relation to their respective remits e.g academies.
• Maintaining current knowledge and understanding of industry best practice standards and market trends.
• Building and maintaining strong relationships with key stakeholders across the DfE and the wider public sector.
• Working with other team members in developing and presenting advice to senior colleagues and Ministers on the legal/commercial aspects of PFI (Private Finance Initiative).
• Contributing to the development of PFI (Private Finance Initiative) training, guidance, standards and other contract management tools and products and providing legal/commercial input into our regular contract managers forums or similar.

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

• Extensive experience of providing legal/commercial advice to either public or private sector organisations.
• Experience of a range of commercial and contractual issues.
• Confident and effective personal communications skills both oral and written and with developed drafting and presentational skills.
• Ability to work independently and manage a busy workload to deliver against deadlines and priorities.
• Experience of dealing with a wide range of stakeholders in public or private sector.
• Ability to think strategically, working with senior leaders and stakeholders in the public and private sectors to ensure operational projects are managed efficiently and effectively.
• Good leadership, maturity and excellent management skills, with the ability to demonstrate and champion the civil service values.

Desirable Criteria:

• Experience of working with LAs and/or academy trusts/schools.
• Experience of providing legal/commercial advice on PPP (Public-Private Partnerships) projects in the English schools’ sector.
• Experience of advising on the legal and commercial aspects of PPP or similar projects. This experience may have been gained as an advisor to public sector contracting authorities, academy trusts/schools, investors, SPVs, FMCos and/or senior lenders.
• Experience of working as part of a multi-disciplinary team of both internal and external colleagues, to provide support and guidance.

Desirable criteria will only be assessed at interview, in the event of a tie break situation, to make an informed decision.

Qualifications

Qualified Solicitor to practice in England and Wales.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £70,854, Department for Education contributes £20,526 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Applicants currently holding a permanent post in the Civil Service should note that, if successful, their salary on appointment would be determined by the Department’s transfer / promotion policies.

As a member of the DfE, you will be entitled to join the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme, which many experts agree is one of the most generous in the UK.

You will have 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years’ service. In addition, all staff receive the King’s Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days’ bank and public holidays.

We offer flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.

Most DfE employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending at least 60% of their time in an office or work setting. Changes to these working arrangements are available in exceptional circumstances but must be agreed with the line manager and in line with the requirements of the role.

Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DfE, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered.

As an organisation, which exists to support education and lifelong learning, we offer our staff excellent professional development opportunities.

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

Application

At this stage, we will assess Experience. Candidates will be sifted through their CV and a personal statement.

• Your CV should include your employment history, including roles held, qualification details and the skills and experience gained from those roles.
• Your personal statement should be no longer than 1000 words and display how your experience meets the essential criteria of the role (listed in the person specification section above).

The sift will be restricted to just assessing personal statements in the event of a large volume of applications.

More guidance on personal statements can be found here – completing your application.

Interview

At interview you will be asked questions to assess your experience in line with the essential criteria listed above.

Other Information

Interviews may be via Microsoft teams or face to face; the vacancy manager will confirm prior to the Interview.

In your application, please don’t include personal information that identifies you.

This means we can recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not background, gender or ethnicity - it's called name blind recruitment (opens in a new window).

Please ensure that you remove from your application, all references to your:

• name/title
• educational institutions
• age
• gender
• email address
• postal address
• phone number
• nationality/immigration status

We reserve the right to raise the minimum pass mark in the event of a high volume or strong field of candidates.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK from the location options provided and not from overseas.

The government is committed to supporting apprenticeships, enabling people to learn and progress in a role whilst earning. We want to monitor the number of people who have completed apprenticeships who are now applying to progress further in their career and are asking this question to all candidates, on all vacancies. You will be asked a question as part of the application process about any previous apprenticeships you have completed. Your response to this question will not affect your application and it is not a requirement of the role to have completed a previous apprenticeship.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check maybe carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstance some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Department of Education of your intention by emailing Pre-Employment.Checks.DFE@education.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Department for Education do not cover the cost of travel to your interview/assessment unless otherwise stated.

A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made.

Candidates will be posted in merit order based upon location preference. Where more than one location is advertised you will be asked to state your preferred location.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

Terms and conditions of candidates transferring from ALBs and NDPBs

Bodies that are not accredited by the Civil Service Commission and are not able to advertise at Across Government on Civil Service jobs will be treated as external new starters and will come into DfE on modernised terms and conditions with a salary at the band minimum.

Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission but do not have civil service status will be offered modernised terms and will not have continuous service recognised for leave or sickness benefits. Salaries should be offered at band minimum, but there is some flexibility where this would cause a detriment to the individual.

Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission and do have Civil Service status will be treated as OGD transfers. Staff appointed on lateral transfer will move on to pre-modernised DfE terms (unless they were on modernised terms in their previous organisation). Staff appointed on promotion will move on to modernised DfE terms. Staff will transfer over on their existing salary (on lateral transfer) and any pay above the DfE pay band maximum will be paid as a mark time allowance. Staff moving on promotion will have their salaries calculated using the principles set out in the attached OGD transfer supplementary information.

Reasonable adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact Department of Education via centralrecruitment.operations@education.gov.uk soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Please refer to the attached ‘Reasonable Adjustments Guide 05_2025 – accessible version’ at the bottom of the advert, for further information.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to Department for Education (DfE) will mean you will no longer be able to carry on claiming childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/

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

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).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.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

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

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.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 : Mark Fallows
• Email : Mark.fallows@education.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : Centralrecruitment.operations@education.gov.uk

Further information

The Department for Education’s recruitment processes are underpinned by the Civil Service Commissioners Recruitment Principles, which outlines that selection for appointment is made on merit based on fair and open competition. You have the right to complain if you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles. In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly with the department concerned via CentralRecruitment.Operations@education.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages

Attachments

DFE Terms & Conditions - accessible version Opens in new window (pdf, 215kB)Reasonable Adjustments guide 05_2025 - accessible version (1) Opens in new window (pdf, 723kB)OGD Transfer Supplementary information - accessible version Opens in new window (pdf, 327kB)