Litigation and Prosecution Lawyer

Job summary

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is a non-ministerial department with over 1,600 staff, dedicated to protecting public health and consumers’ interests in food across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Our vision is to deliver “food you can trust” and to support a healthier, more sustainable food system.

Our legal team is central to achieving these aims, providing expert support across criminal and civil litigation, regulatory matters, and judicial reviews. We are seeking a Litigation and Prosecution Lawyer to join us and contribute to this important work.

In this role, you will manage a varied caseload, including criminal prosecutions, public law litigation, regulatory challenges, and judicial review proceedings. You will provide legal advice and analysis to our investigations team, manage appeals in the First-tier Tribunal, Upper Tribunal, and Magistrates’ Court, and offer feedback on cases to help the FSA continually improve its procedures and practices. Your work will help ensure the FSA is able to represent its interests effectively and protect the public at every turn.

Job description

We are looking for someone with experience in criminal prosecutions and public law litigation, who can demonstrate sound legal judgment and work effectively both independently and as part of a team. You will have the opportunity to use your skills in litigation, research, and legal analysis to make a positive impact on food safety and public health. Experience with judicial review proceedings is particularly valuable, as you will play a key role in supporting the FSA’s response to these complex and high-profile cases.

If you are interested in joining a team that values collaboration and expertise, and you are committed to supporting the FSA’s mission, we encourage you to apply for this role. This is an excellent opportunity to develop your legal career while making a tangible difference to the wellbeing of consumers across the UK.

We look forward to receiving your application.

Working pattern guidance

If applying as a job share partnership you should both complete separate application forms on Civil Service Jobs but should make it clear that you are applying as job sharers. Further details on job sharing can be found here JSF – What is the recruitment process for job sharers? , Civil Service Careers (civil-service-careers.gov.uk)

Due to the nature of the role, we are unable to consider requests for part time working.

Person specification

Please read the attached Candidate Pack to discover further details about the role, our organisation, who we are looking for and the criteria we will assess against during the selection process.

We look forward to receiving your application and wish you every success.

Qualifications

You must be qualified to practice as a Solicitor or Barrister in England and Wales. You must have completed a training contract/pupillage/qualifying employment or have been exempted by the Law Society or the Bar Council. (Please ensure full details are included in Qualifications section of your application)

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Qualified to practice as a Solicitor or Barrister in England and Wales.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £61,608, Food Standards Agency contributes £17,847 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.Our candidate pack details the benefits that the FSA has to offer. Please also refer to the attached Terms and Conditions statement.

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

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.

Full details of the selection process are detailed in the attached candidate pack.

Application and shortlisting

You will be asked to provide personal details (not seen by the Panel) and to confirm your eligibility to apply for the role.

Technical: You will be asked a question to confirm that you meet the Technical requirements of the role.

• You must be qualified to practice as a Solicitor or Barrister in England and Wales. You must have completed a training contract/pupillage/qualifying employment or have been exempted by the Law Society or the Bar Council. (Please ensure full details are included in Qualifications section of your application)

If you cannot answer yes to this question – you will not be able to proceed further with your application.

You will then be asked to complete an application which will be used to assess you against the following essential criteria.

Essential criteria

Experience

• Lead criteria: Sound understanding and demonstrated experience and skills in both criminal prosecutions and public law litigation in particular Judicial Review experience, with the ability to work autonomously, lead on own work areas and to prioritise competing deadlines.

• Experience of drafting court documents e.g. Information/Summons, witness statements, directions and consent orders and of instructing, briefing and liaising with Counsel and participating in case conferences.

• Experience of exercising reliable legal judgement including:

- Recognising legal risk;

- Being able to identify evidential deficiencies and advise on further evidential requirements to solve them;

- Leading on and advising in respect of negotiation of settlements with other parties.

• Demonstrated ability to think strategically and creatively, and in identifying cross-cutting legal issues in their wider context and advising accordingly.

• Demonstrated sound analysis and legal research skills, necessary to deliver accurate and timely legal advice and representation.

• Excellent interpersonal skills with demonstrable experience of building and maintaining relationships with a wide range of stakeholders to achieve corporate priorities and to ensure effective and successful outcomes, including the ability to communicate in a clear, honest way in order to deliver difficult messages with clarity and sensitivity, being persuasive when required.

Lead Criteria An initial sift will take place on the Lead Criteria.

In the event that we receive a large number of applications, the minimum pass mark for the Lead Criteria may be raised at shortlisting stage. Candidates who apply under the DCS, GPTW or RIS schemes and meet the minimum requirements will be unaffected by the pass mark raise.

Interview

If successful at shortlisting stage, you will be invited to a final interview in whichwe will assess you against the following Experience and Strengths requirements of the role and Civil Service Behaviours.

Behaviours

• Managing a Quality Service

• Making Effective Decisions

• Delivering at Pace

• Communicating and Influencing

Full details of the positive indicators being assessed for each Behaviour can be found in the Candidate Pack.

Experience

• Experience in both criminal prosecutions and public law litigation, with significant experience in civil litigation. (Assessed via assessment exercise to be completed in the 24 hours prior to interview and interview questions)

Strengths

We will also assess you against a number of Civil Service Strengths – these are not disclosed prior to interview.

Assessment exercise

As part of the interview process, you will be asked to undertake a case study / briefing exercise. Details of arrangements for the case study/briefing exercise will be included in the invitation to interview.

Expected Timeline

Advert closes: 25 January 2026 (23:55)

Sift: Expected to take place during week commencing 26 January 2026

Final panel interview: Expected to take place during week commencing 9 February 2026

Interviews will be held remotely via MS Teams. (If you do not have the Microsoft Teams application installed on your computer, you can join on the web without installing the application).

Please note that indicated dates may be subject to change.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to the Food Standards Agency from another employer will mean you can no longer access 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

Reserve List

A reserve list will be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made.

Candidates that do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.

Visa Sponsorship

Please note that the FSA does not offer visa sponsorship and cannot provide advice on visa applications

Making a complaint

The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles.

If you feel your application has not been treated fairly in accordance with the principles, and you wish to make a complaint, you should email the FSA’s Director of People at jo.bushnell@food.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response, you can contact the Civil Service Commission.

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 : Gurwinder Olive
• Email : Gurwinder.Olive@food.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : hr.recruitment.campaigns@food.gov.uk

Further information

If you wish to raise a complaint then please email hr.recruitment.campaigns@food.gov.uk in the first instance.

Attachments

Terms and Conditions as at April 2020 (1) Opens in new window (pdf, 42kB)Candidate Pack - Litigation and Prosecution Lawyer (G7) Jan 26 Opens in new window (pdf, 1080kB)